Bound by Flesh Trailer (2014)

Trailer for Bound by Flesh.

Beautiful and talented, conjoined twin sisters Violet and Daisy Hilton were the toast of the sideshow circuit for a time in the early decades of the 20th century. This engrossing documentary about their peculiar lives, their ascendancy in show business and their eventual fall at the hands of exploitive charlatans makes for riveting viewing, though not without inherent ironies in this era of reality television run amok.

Joined at the hip and buttocks, the sisters were born to an unwed barmaid in Brighton, England in 1908, and subsequently given up to her boss, Mary Hilton, who saw the twins’ commercial potential. Taught to sing and dance, they were taken on a tour of Europe and the U.S., and subsequently moved to the States permanently, working for a time with Bob Hope as part of an act known as the Dancemedians. What followed provides a fascinating glimpse into the dark side of the entertainment world, as the girls – now young women – confronted both the highs and the lows of a life spent in the spotlight.