Murders in the Zoo
Murders in the Zoo | |
---|---|
Directed by | A. Edward Sutherland |
Written by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Ernest Haller[1] |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Productions, Inc. |
Release date | March 31, 1933 |
Country | United States[1] |
Murders in the Zoo is a 1933
Plot
Big-game hunter and wealthy
The zoo is beginning to run into financial trouble and the new press agent, Peter Yates, a man terrified of most of the zoo's animals and considered to be an alcoholic, suggests hosting a fundraising dinner for the rich to raise funds and awareness. The last straw is when Gorman finds his wife at Hewitt's apartment where they have been plotting their escape and her divorce. Gorman invites Hewitt to the dinner and poisons him with mamba venom that he obtained from the zoo's laboratory doctor, Jack Woodford. Evelyn accuses her husband of murdering Hewitt. Outraged, Gorman attacks her, but she is able to escape into his office where she finds a mechanical mamba head seeping with real mamba poison in his desk. She now knows for a fact that he killed Hewitt, and takes the snake head with the intention of telling Dr. Woodford. Gorman finds his wife and throws her to the alligators, where she is torn to shreds.
The following day the zoo is closed as keepers search for the missing poisonous mamba. A group of children who sneak into the zoo discover tattered remains of Evelyn's dress. Dr. Woodford accuses Gorman of murdering both his wife and Roger Hewitt. Gorman attacks Woodford with the mechanical snake head, just as he had done to Hewitt. The doctor's assistant Jerry gives Woodford a shot of the antitoxin he had created in time to save his life. She also realizes that Gorman is responsible for the apparent mamba attack when he tries to stop her, and sounds the zoo's alarms. A police chase ensues as Gorman is pursued through the zoo. Gorman releases big cats from the carnivore house to keep the police back but they chase Gorman and force him into the cage of a boa constrictor, which then slowly kills and devours him.
In the epilogue, Jerry visits a convalescing Dr. Woodford in the hospital. The stress, meanwhile, has caused Yates to fall off the wagon, and he is seen fearlessly meandering through the zoo, even swatting on the nose a still free lion that had been stalking him. The lion turns away and Yates drunkenly moseys on singing a song.
Cast
Cast sourced from the American Film Institute.[1]
- Charlie Ruggles as Peter Yates
- Lionel Atwill as Eric Gorman
- Gail Patrick as Jerry Evans
- Randolph Scott as Dr. Jack Woodford
- John Lodge as Roger Hewitt
- Kathleen Burke as Evelyn Gorman
- Harry Beresford as Professor Evans
- Edward McWade as Dan
Production
Following the release of
William Wright sent the censors the final script for Murders in the Zoo on December 28, despite the film being set to start filming the day beforehand.[4] Censors objected to scenes of where a character proclaims "Good God!" and where a character kicks his wife's hand loose to drop her into a pond.[4] Further casting is completed after this letter including Kathleen Burke from Island of Lost Souls, taking it away from Adrienne Ames, Lona Andre and Susan Fleming.[4][5] The films final script is dated January 4, 1933 and is in production by January 5, 1933.[5]
To promote the film, Paramount invited the press and some of their stars (including
Release
On February 28, 1933, Paramount previews Murders in the Zoo at the Alexander Theatre in Glendale.[7] The preview version of the film ran for 65 minutes while the final release ran at 61 minutes.[8] Several censors from New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ontario, and the United Kingdom requested censorship between March 10 and March 23, ranging from requests to remove scenes of a man's mouth sewn together to scenes of a woman being thrown into the alligator pond.[9][10] The film was banned in Germany, Sweden and Latvia. While Quebec and Australia initially banned the film, it later passed with a variety of cuts.[10]
Murders in the Zoo was distributed theatrically by Paramount Productions, Inc. on March 31, 1933 where it opened in New York at Broadway's Paramount Theatre.[1][9] For its first six days at the Paramount the film took in $18,540.[10] In comparison, the high had been Finn and Hattie with $85,900 and the low was Hello, Everybody which took in $15,600.[10] In Los Angeles, the film grossed $14,000 in its one-week run at the Paramount and $23,000 at Hollywood's Paramount.[10] Film historian Gregory William Mank described the film as "a box office disappointment", while Norbert Lusk wrote in the Los Angeles Times about the New York Box Office that the film had "pretty good reviews on the whole, but with no enthusiasm wasted. The latter is difficult to understand for horror films go this is more convincing and out of the ordinary than many and provides legitimate thrills... However, in spite of these merits, the cast is not strong in box office names and because of this it may never achieve the success it deserves"[10]
Along with
Reception
From contemporary reviews,
From retrospective reviews, Mark Clark wrote an article on Lionel Atwill as an actor and says that Murders in the Zoo was the "quintessential Lionel Atwill film." In the article Clark claims that "Atwill performs here with the quiet, coiled striking power of a beast tracking its prey. He glides effortlessly across the screen, speaking volumes with a barely perceptible change in tenor in his voice, unveiling his character's hidden passions with a simple, unguarded glance."[15]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Murders in the Zoo". American Film Institute. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ TCM Database entry
- ^ a b Mank 2014, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e f Mank 2014, p. 72.
- ^ a b Mank 2014, p. 73.
- ^ a b Mank 2014, p. 80.
- ^ a b Mank 2014, p. 83.
- ^ a b c Mank 2014, p. 84.
- ^ a b c Mank 2014, p. 85.
- ^ a b c d e f Mank 2014, p. 87.
- Shout Factory. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ "Creeping Horror". Eureka Entertainment. 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Scott, John (April 7, 1933). "'Murders in Zoo' Opens on Screen". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ A.D.S. (April 3, 1933). "Murders in the Zoo (1933): An Imaginative Killer". New York Times.
- ^ Miller, John (2014). "Murders in the Zoo". Turner Classic Movies.
Sources
- Mank, Gregory William (2014). The Very Witching Time of Night: Dark Alleys of Classic Horror Cinema. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-44955-2.