Just how brutal can things get when all the animals are in cages? 1933's Murders in the Zoo shows it can get quite brutal indeed. Starring Lionel Atwill in an astonishing performance as a serial killer, this pre-Code film definitely lives up to the reputation of the era.
I watched it last night on The Criterion Channel's new pre-Code playlist. It's one of the few I hadn't already seen. It's amazing to think how long some movies have waited for me to see them. I've seen Lionel Atwill in other films but I'm going to appreciate him a lot more from now on.
He plays Eric Gorman, a man who hunts and captures exotic animals for the zoo. The film begins in French Indochina where he's just finished sewing a man's mouth shut.
This man had committed the crime of speaking flirtatiously with Gorman's wife, Evelyn, played by smoky eyed vamp Kathleen Burke. She's wonderfully elegant and a perfect contrast to the refined but looming bull in her life.
Atwill's performance when he confronts her on another man who's been sweet to her is truly chilling. The zeal in his eyes as he grips her shoulders shows us a man focused on someone else yet clearly more consumed with the mad world in his brain.
There are a lot of things in this movie that would have been impossible after the enforcement of the Hays Code. Even the simple fact that Evelyn is clearly justified in wanting a divorce would be forbidden. Then, of course, there's the free for all of live leopards, lions, and pumas at the end.
Animals were harmed in the making of this film. I feel bad about that, though it's not quite as bad as Cannibal Holocaust. At least these animals could defend themselves.
Murders in the Zoo is available on The Criterion Channel.
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