IMDb RATING
6.4/10
1.8K
YOUR RATING
A monomaniacal zoologist is pathologically jealous of his beautiful but unfaithful wife Evelyn and will not stop short of murder to keep her.A monomaniacal zoologist is pathologically jealous of his beautiful but unfaithful wife Evelyn and will not stop short of murder to keep her.A monomaniacal zoologist is pathologically jealous of his beautiful but unfaithful wife Evelyn and will not stop short of murder to keep her.
Charles Ruggles
- Peter Yates
- (as Charlie Ruggles)
Nancy Crowley
- Little Girl at the Zoo
- (uncredited)
Jane Darwell
- Banquet Guest
- (uncredited)
Samuel S. Hinds
- Banquet Guest
- (uncredited)
Carmencita Johnson
- Little Girl at the Zoo
- (uncredited)
Cullen Johnson
- Little Boy at the Zoo
- (uncredited)
Ethan Laidlaw
- Policeman Reardon
- (uncredited)
Howard Leeds
- Telegraph Messenger
- (uncredited)
Edward McWade
- Dan Baker - Zoo Guard
- (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse
- Apartment Desk Clerk
- (uncredited)
Edward Pawley
- Bob Taylor
- (uncredited)
Lee Phelps
- Banquet Photographer
- (uncredited)
- …
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of over 700 Paramount productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.
- GoofsGorman invites Hewitt to the benefit dinner, which he says will be on Thursday. Moments later, we see a printed invitation, which says "Wednesday".
- Quotes
Eric Gorman: Mr. Gates, never be afraid of a wild animal. Let it alone, and it'll leave you alone. That's more than we can say of most humans.
Peter Yates: You mean that you really like these, eh?
Eric Gorman: Beasts? I love them. They're honest in their simplicity, their primative emotions... They love, they hate, they kill.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Svengoolie: Murders in the Zoo (2016)
Featured review
He's the zoo keeper!
Eric Gorman (Lionel Atwill) hunts down exotic wildlife for a zoo back in the States. He also has an intense jealous streak when it comes to men interacting with his wife (Kathleen Burke from THE horror film of the 30's, Island of Lost Souls). So jealous that he's more than willing to kill any man he deems a threat, and his weapons of choice are the animals that he has access to.
This is a solid 30's horror picture with a unique storyline. It also has a pretty potent mean streak for a film of it's time, one scene involving an alligator pit coming immediately to mind. Lionel Atwill has an effective screen presence as the sinister Gorman. As murderous as he may be, I found it hard to root against the man. What can I say? I'm not remotely sympathetic towards philanderers. His idea to utilize animals as murder weapons is both one of convenience and a clever way to be free of incriminating evidence. The animal attacks, including an encounter with a large python, are intense and believable.
My main qualm with the film is a problem that plagues many pictures of the era, that being the style of comic relief that was popular back then. The Peter Yates character is pretty annoying, and we're treated to a particularly absurd scene where he pops a lion on the head. Charlie Ruggles plays Yates, and he's about as unfunny as it gets. Why he has such a prevailing presence in an otherwise serious film is beyond me. The time taken up by his antics could have been used to further develop our main storyline.
However, this is worth seeing. It's also well-paced, clocking in at just a little more than an hour in length.
This is a solid 30's horror picture with a unique storyline. It also has a pretty potent mean streak for a film of it's time, one scene involving an alligator pit coming immediately to mind. Lionel Atwill has an effective screen presence as the sinister Gorman. As murderous as he may be, I found it hard to root against the man. What can I say? I'm not remotely sympathetic towards philanderers. His idea to utilize animals as murder weapons is both one of convenience and a clever way to be free of incriminating evidence. The animal attacks, including an encounter with a large python, are intense and believable.
My main qualm with the film is a problem that plagues many pictures of the era, that being the style of comic relief that was popular back then. The Peter Yates character is pretty annoying, and we're treated to a particularly absurd scene where he pops a lion on the head. Charlie Ruggles plays Yates, and he's about as unfunny as it gets. Why he has such a prevailing presence in an otherwise serious film is beyond me. The time taken up by his antics could have been used to further develop our main storyline.
However, this is worth seeing. It's also well-paced, clocking in at just a little more than an hour in length.
- How long is Murders in the Zoo?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Murder at the Zoo
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Mono(Western Electric Noiseless Recording, original)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content