True to its title, Zoo in Budapest takes place in the capital of Hungary - as envisioned by Twentieth Century-Fox, of course, which makes it about as authentic as the Budapest cooked up by MGM for The Shop Around the Corner in 1940 or the Poland concocted by United Artists for To Be or Not to Be in 1942. The action transpires almost entirely at the city zoo, presided over by sedate Dr. Grunbaum, who has plenty of things to take care of: one of the monkeys is gravely ill, the tiger keeper is feuding with the elephant keeper, and a young employee named Zani loves all of the animals so much that his loyalty is stirring up trouble.
Zani has deep roots in the zoo community. His father was a zookeeper who died after being mauled by a lion, whereupon he was taken in and raised by Dr. Grunbaum, who taught him everything there is about caring for animals. Zani learned his lessons all too well, developing such great compassion that every time a visitor arrives wearing a garment made of fur, he finds a way to steal and burn it as a protest. Reluctantly deciding that Zani must face punishment under the law if he persists, Dr. Grunbaum extracts a promise from the irrepressible youth that he'll never, ever do this again. No sooner does Zani give his word, however, than he overhears a woman telling her husband that she simply must have another fox pelt to match the one she's wearing. This is more than the lad can bear. Snatching the lady's fur right off her shoulders, he becomes a fugitive, hiding from justice inside the zoo that he calls home.
There's a love angle too, of course. A group of orphans visits the zoo under the surveillance of a guardian more strict and stern than the people who guard the lions and bears. One of the young women is Eve, who's just reached the age when she'll have to leave the institution and do years of obligatory work in a nasty old tannery. Eve has a crush on Zani, and with help from another girl she escapes from the group, disappearing into the shrubbery, and waiting there for the man of her dreams, who promptly falls for her. They conceal themselves in an abandoned bear shelter. But since half the people in Budapest are hunting for Zani and the other half are searching for Eve, their position is precarious at best. Even worse, Zani has a bitter enemy - the hyena keeper, Heinie by name - and all will be lost if he discovers their den. Also present is a little boy in a fancy suit, who has slipped away from his parents and gotten lost. He touches off the climax when he tries to help a zookeeper who has gotten locked in a cage, pulling the wrong lever and causing a zoo-wide animal riot.
The movie's secondary characters are walking Hollywood clichés - the bearded Dr. Grunbaum, the sour orphanage matron, the ill-shaven Heinie, and so on. The same goes for Eve, played by Loretta Young as a pert and pretty stereotype, albeit an extremely fetching one. Zani stands out conspicuously from the crowd, however, thanks to Raymond's energetic acting. Using his whole body to express Zani's exuberant personality and emotions, Raymond cavorts around the set like one of the zoo's monkeys, vaulting over fences and clambering up cages like a born acrobat. He serves as a living link between the human and animal characters, and is always a pleasure to watch.
Zoo in Budapest also benefits from clever touches provided by director Rowland V. Lee and his crew, especially in the idyllic scenes showing Zani and Eve in their Eden-like garden. Here the cinematography turns almost dreamlike - credit the gifted Lee Garmes for this - and Harold Schuster's editing brings flora, fauna, and lovers into a gentle flow of images. This portion of the film works considerably better than the climax, which tries desperately to be thrilling but doesn't quite succeed. The problem is obvious budget limitations that necessitate clunky process shots and tricky editing in place of visually convincing hand-to-hand, or rather fang-to-claw, excitement.
Released a year before Production Code censors took on full power in June 1934, Zoo in Budapest manages to be a little racy from time to time - either enticingly, as when Eve changes clothes in the vegetation, or harshly, as when Heinie tries to rape Eve in the bear shelter. It also anticipates today's animal-rights crusades, and anti-fur activists will find it very sympathetic to their cause. The picture was released eight years before the Animal Humane Association started monitoring the treatment of nonhuman movie actors, however, and while there's no footage of obvious abuse, one can't help wondering how carefully the film's many animals were protected, especially during the free-for-all that climaxes the story.
To finish with a more offbeat concern about the picture, a friend who knows a lot about hyenas tells me they're actually brave and imposing beasts, not the scavengers and cowards they're made out to be in so much pop culture. Zoo in Budapest perpetuates false notions of hyenas by picturing them as creepy and associating them with Heinie, the zoo's most craven and devious keeper - and not even Zani comes to their defense. So let's hear it, hyena lovers! Enjoy the rest of Zoo in Budapest, but raise your voices against Hollywood's injustice toward these noble beasts!
Director: Rowland V. Lee
Producer: Jesse L. Lasky
Screenplay: Dan Totheroh, Louise Long, and Rowland V. Lee; story by Melville Baker and Jack Kirkland
Cinematographer: Lee Garmes
Film Editing: Harold Schuster
Art Direction: William Darling
With: Loretta Young (Eve), Gene Raymond (Zani), O.P. Heggie (Dr. Grunbaum), Wally Albright (Paul Vandor), Paul Fix (Heinie), Murray Kinnell (Garbosh), Ruth Warren (Katrina), Roy Stewart (Karl), Frances Rich (Elsie), Niles Welch (Mr. Vandor), Lucille Ward (Miss Murst), Russ Powell (Toski), Dorothy Libaire (Rosita)
BW-83m.
by David Sterritt
