Murders in the Zoo (1933)

Murders in the Zoo
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland
Written by Phillip Wylie and Seton I Miller
1933/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Eric Gorman: [Said while sewing Taylor’s mouth shut] Mongolian Prince taught me this, Taylor. An ingenius device for the right occasion. You’ll never lie to a friend again, and you’ll never kiss another man’s wife.

If they had ditched the comic relief and the young lovers, this could have been an effective horror film.

Eric Gorman (Lionel Atwill) is a megalomaniac and is insanely jealous of his young wive Evelyn (Kathleen Burke “The Panther Woman”).  Worse he has a cruel, sadistic streak.  He and wife have just returned from a trip to the Orient where they collected animals for the zoo.  Despite Eric’s past horrific revenge on those who dare to come near her, Evelyn started a romance with Roger Hewitt (John Lodge) on the voyage home and has decided to leave Eric.  The body count mounts.

Simultaneously, we get the story of antivenin researcher Dr. Jack Woodward (Randolph Scott) and his fiance (Gail Patrick).  In addition, the zoo has hired Peter Yates (Charlie Ruggles) to publicize the new animals.  He attempts to do this despite the fact that he is plastered 100% of the time.

I don’t know why but Lionel Atwill always gives me the creeps.  He seems to relish performing these perverse characters just a little too much.  The horror parts are really solid.  The rest of the movie is the definition of mediocre.