Révolte au zoo

This film was transmitted in the early hours on the UK's Channel 4 terrestrial channel. (5 Dec 1998). It was an unusual film set in a zoo in Budapest and concerned the relationship between an enlightened keeper (Gene Raymond) and an escaped orphan (Loretta Young). There was a little too much anthropomorphism as far as the animals were concerned but overall that was forgivable. Some of the shots involving the animals were realistic and I suspect the modern disclaimer about animals not being hurt during the making of the picture could not have been made. There was a dream and fairy-tale air about the film and I wonder if it was regarded as unusual when it was made in 1933. It does not fit easily into any of the usual categories. I would recommend any one having the chance of seeing this film to take that chance. They will be rewarded with a pleasant novelty of a film.

It will take more than a little suspension of disbelief to buy the core fantasy: that fast talking Gene Raymond has lived his entire life inside the Budapest Zoo, ditto the idea that gorgeous Loretta Young is a poor orphan. But no matter, for the film is a marvelous and unusual piece of work, seldom seen and well worth finding. In fact, the sets alone make it a must see. As a side note, Raymond's character may be one of the sound era's first animal rights activists...I recall no previous studio film taking a stand against fur (though don't get your hopes up--the thrilling finale, featuring lions and elephants on the loose, surely traumatized the animals involved).

How I loved this film! I always seek the forgotten and obscure- what a perfect film. Gorgeous photography, and the cast is ever so appealing. Has Loretta Young ever looked more beautiful than here? And Gene Raymond was just delightful. A film treasure not to be missed.

This rare film is one of the best of the 1930's. The story is very original and the way the director did it is simply amazing! Beautiful and creative piece of work. It's absolutely very unique!

When he presented it at the Pacific Film Archive in 1989, historian William K. Everson described this charming early sound feature as a Disney-esque fairy tale, and he had a point: there's a disarming, almost childlike innocence to the characters and scenario. The film is part love story and part wildlife protection fable, following a pair of stray visitors (a precocious young boy and a beautiful, runaway orphan girl) who find adventure and (for the latter, at least) romance while trespassing after hours among the other caged animals in Hungary's capitol city. The setting may not have a convincing Middle European flavor, but the film is remarkably free of the awkward sentiment common to many early talkie productions. And the script shows surprising consistency for an effort credited to five writers, one of whom couldn't resist adding a slam-bang safari stampede climax totally out of step with the otherwise sensitive melodrama preceding it. The beautiful camera-work, no longer pristine in this surviving print, is the work of Lee Garmes.