Murders in the Zoo (1933)

A monomaniacal zoologist is pathologically jealous of his beautiful but unfaithful wife Evelyn and will not stop short of murder to keep her.

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland (as Edward Sutherland)

Writers:

Philip Wylie, Seton I. Miller

Stars:

Charles Ruggles, Lionel Atwill, Gail Patrick

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Ruggles	...	Peter Yates (as Charlie Ruggles)
Lionel Atwill	...	Eric Gorman
Gail Patrick	...	Jerry Evans
Randolph Scott	...	Dr. Jack Woodford
John Lodge	...	Roger Hewitt
Kathleen Burke	...	Evelyn Gorman
Harry Beresford	...	Professor G.A. Evans

Storyline

Eric Gorman returns with his wife Evelyn from a trip to the Orient collecting zoo animals, having killed a member of his expedition who happened one day to kiss Mrs. Gorman. On board ship Evelyn meets Roger Hewitt, who falls in love with her. After delivering his animals to the zoo, Gorman plots a way to dispose of Hewitt using one of his latest specimens, then continues using the zoo's non-human residents to do his beastly work.

---

Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | zoo | murder | zoologist | eaten by an animal | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Horror

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Murder at the Zoo

Filming Locations:

Selig Mission Zoo - 3800 Mission Road, Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording) (original)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Working title: "Murder at the Zoo"

---

Goofs

The "green mamba" is very obviously a nonvenomous python.

---

Quotes

Jerry Evans: [Releasing Peter, obviously in shock, from cage] Peter, Peter, listen to me! Say something to me!
Peter Yates: [With his knees bent and apart] Is there a good laundry in this town!

---

Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: Murders in the Zoo (2016)

---

Soundtracks

Please
(uncredited)
Music by Ralph Rainger
Lyrics by Leo Robin
Hummed and sung a cappella by Charles Ruggles
Played as background music at the end

User Reviews

Classic casting blunder

There's a famous gag that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. Murders in the Zoo is a good, creepy early '30s thriller with one design flaw so wrong as to sink the whole thing. Every thriller has a little comic relief character. In this one it's the zoo's publicist who is afraid of animals. But somebody came up with the bright idea of casting Charlie Ruggles in this role. Now Ruggles is basically a one-note comic actor who inexplicably attained name-above-the-title stardom. And with his name in the cast, suddenly this supporting role became the starring role. You can see all the places where scenes were added or expanded to give the character more screen time. But he is still just the comic relief--he is not involved in any way with any major development in the storyline. He could be excised completely and never be missed. Randolph Scott is the hero and Lionel Atwill the villain, and both acquit themselves admirably. But every few minutes the forward movement of the story comes to a screeching halt while we are treated to the antics of the "star", and so the poor camel never quite gets his gait. The film has some genuinely classic "horror movie" moments, but it would be so very much better with a reliable character man providing the "comic relief" instead of making this relatively insignificant role into a star turn (for ANY star).