ZOO IN BUDAPEST (1933)
Posted: September 13th, 2007, 10:34 pm
- Yet another “rediscovered” gem of the early 1930s -
My long association with the Classic Cinema as a “whole” really began with one the first film books I owned, a pictorial or illustrated encyclopaedia of Film Stars issued in Britain and written by Ken Wlaschin. I literally “devoured” that book endlessly and it was my main source of reference for many years. I remember reading in that book that the author thought that Loretta Young was a beautiful clothes-horse and tended to dismiss her as a fair actress. He had better critical appreciation of the films she made during the second half of the 1940s (considering that period the nadir of her acting talent) and only listed a few of her early 1930s movies as being good. One of them was "Zoo In Budapest".
Well I've seen many of her 1940s films and I've liked them, but after viewing such films of hers from the early ‘30s, like the one I am reviewing and “Midnight Mary”, I discovered a brand new Loretta. I think that when during this period, miss Young had good material and a competent director she gave very good performances, superior in my opinion, to those she gave later in her career, because there was a fresh, I might even say, “ethereal” quality about her when she was very young that increased her appeal and that she lost later on.
In this exquisite film she plays a “waif”, an orphaned girl who escapes from her caretakers during a visit to the zoo, aided by a very special zookeeper, skilfully played by Gene Raymond. O.P. Heggie plays a kindly veterinarian who is also the zoo’s Superintendent and Wally Albright a boy lost in the zoo.
The work of cameraman Lee Garmes is superb and the film looks like if it really had been filmed in a zoo. Some scenes have a bucolic quality and there’s much romantic rapport between the two leads. Since Miss Young was about 21 or 22 years old when this film was made, she’s totally credible as naïve 18 year old girl and conveys all the innocence of a young lady who’s discovering love for the first time; her eyes are so huge and so beautiful and her long blonde hair with tresses suits her perfectly. She truly looks gorgeous.
Gene Raymond gives the best performance I’ve seen of him, as a devil-may-care, good natured young man who’s grown and lived all his life in this zoo, loving animals above everything.
The film ends with a climactic scene that’s really riveting, although it might seem out of place with the general tone and pace of the rest of the film.
The print I watched, which I believe is the only available (my copy was taped off of Fox Movie Channel) is in fair condition, because it has many missing frames and part of the dialogue is abruptly cut off before the lines are finished. This film deserves a full-scale restoration, especially to appreciate its beautiful cinematography in all its glory.
Has anyone seen this forgotten classic? Any thoughts?
My long association with the Classic Cinema as a “whole” really began with one the first film books I owned, a pictorial or illustrated encyclopaedia of Film Stars issued in Britain and written by Ken Wlaschin. I literally “devoured” that book endlessly and it was my main source of reference for many years. I remember reading in that book that the author thought that Loretta Young was a beautiful clothes-horse and tended to dismiss her as a fair actress. He had better critical appreciation of the films she made during the second half of the 1940s (considering that period the nadir of her acting talent) and only listed a few of her early 1930s movies as being good. One of them was "Zoo In Budapest".
Well I've seen many of her 1940s films and I've liked them, but after viewing such films of hers from the early ‘30s, like the one I am reviewing and “Midnight Mary”, I discovered a brand new Loretta. I think that when during this period, miss Young had good material and a competent director she gave very good performances, superior in my opinion, to those she gave later in her career, because there was a fresh, I might even say, “ethereal” quality about her when she was very young that increased her appeal and that she lost later on.
In this exquisite film she plays a “waif”, an orphaned girl who escapes from her caretakers during a visit to the zoo, aided by a very special zookeeper, skilfully played by Gene Raymond. O.P. Heggie plays a kindly veterinarian who is also the zoo’s Superintendent and Wally Albright a boy lost in the zoo.
The work of cameraman Lee Garmes is superb and the film looks like if it really had been filmed in a zoo. Some scenes have a bucolic quality and there’s much romantic rapport between the two leads. Since Miss Young was about 21 or 22 years old when this film was made, she’s totally credible as naïve 18 year old girl and conveys all the innocence of a young lady who’s discovering love for the first time; her eyes are so huge and so beautiful and her long blonde hair with tresses suits her perfectly. She truly looks gorgeous.
Gene Raymond gives the best performance I’ve seen of him, as a devil-may-care, good natured young man who’s grown and lived all his life in this zoo, loving animals above everything.
The film ends with a climactic scene that’s really riveting, although it might seem out of place with the general tone and pace of the rest of the film.
The print I watched, which I believe is the only available (my copy was taped off of Fox Movie Channel) is in fair condition, because it has many missing frames and part of the dialogue is abruptly cut off before the lines are finished. This film deserves a full-scale restoration, especially to appreciate its beautiful cinematography in all its glory.
Has anyone seen this forgotten classic? Any thoughts?