Reviewing Murders in the Zoo
I was intrigued reading the synopsis for 1933’s Murders in the Zoo. It’s a horror film about a big-game hunter who kills a number of people. As an animal activist, I wondered if there would be any suggestion the hunter’s violence toward his fellow humans was connected to his violence toward other creatures.
The A. Edward Sutherland movie wasn’t available on any streaming service, so far as I was aware. Ultimately, I found a copy on a sketchy website for pirated media. This version was just barely over 60 minutes. I saw different run times for the film listed on various corners of the internet.
Lionel Atwill stars as Eric Gorman, the hunter. In addition to killing exotic animals, he captures them for the titular zoo. Eric is a dangerously jealous husband to his wife, Evelyn Gorman, played by Kathleen Burke. Early in the movie, we see him sewing shut the lips of a man who kissed his spouse.
I should note this is a pre-Code film. The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines outlining what was acceptable cinematic content and what wasn’t. It was adopted in 1930, but wasn’t seriously enforced until the year after Murders in the Zoo’s release. The code was replaced in 1968 by a rating system.
While the Gormans are on a ship, packed with captive animals Eric intends to bring back to the United States, we learn Evelyn is engaged in an affair with another passenger, Roger Hewitt, played by John Lodge. When Eric discovers this, he begins to concoct a scheme to murder Hewitt.
Back in America, the hunter steals mamba venom from the zoo’s laboratory doctor, Jack Woodford, played by Randolph Scott. During a fundraiser for the institution, Eric poisons Hewitt and throws Evelyn in an alligator pond after she threatens to expose his misdeeds. Both are killed.
Woodford eventually figures out what Eric is up to, so the hunter poisons him as well. However, Gail Patrick, as the doctor’s assistant, Jerry Evans, gives Woodford an antitoxin, saving his life. She sounds the alarm. Eric tries to escape but is ultimately strangled by a boa constrictor, while hiding in the snake’s cage.
I was disappointed there wasn’t a more explicit connection between the hunter’s treatment of humans and his treatment of animals. Still, Eric kills humans with the same callousness with which he kills animals. Arguably, he wants to possess his wife in the same way he possesses lions and tigers.
I’m opposed to the use of nonhumans as actors. There’s a large number here. It’s hard to know which of these is the most mistreated, without knowing more about production. For example, there’s a scene in which various species of big cats are released from their cages and appear to fight.
The New York Times review from 1933 was positive: “Lionel Atwill as the insanely jealous husband is almost too convincing for comfort, and Kathleen Burke as the wife suggests the domestic terrors of her life capably. Judged by its ability to chill and terrify, this film is a successful melodrama.”
Overall, it’s an interesting piece of cinema history. I don’t think I’ve seen a pre-Code movie in the horror genre before. A couple of the scenes, such as when Eric sews a man’s mouth shut, remain shocking. Otherwise, I imagine many of the scares will barely register for today’s audiences.