I have always wanted to see this: A friend's mother told me many years ago it was her favorite movie as a child.
It's a lovely creation. Gene Raymond, in surely his most appealing screen role, plays a Dr. Doolittle type who works at the zoo. Raymond wears a cap throughout, covering his marcelled blond hair. His character was decades ahead of PETA: When wealthy women come in wearing furs, he steals and burns them. And he has a very believable way with the animals.
The animals and birds are filmed gorgeously by Lee Garmes. In a later, better movie animals watch over the goings on of the human characters in a similar way: "The Night of the Hunter." But this is lovely itself.
Loretta Young, one of the screen's great beauties, looks ravishing as an orphan who slips away from the other girls and the evil matrons on their outing at the zoo. A child who does the same is thrown in, to little effect. Adorable children were in vogue at the time but his character is unnecessary and not especially appealing.
O.P. Heggie is likable and handsomely photographed as the sympathetic veterinary doctor. And Paul Fix is an effective villain.
Anyone who likes animals will be touched by this. Yes, opinion toward zoos has changed since the early 1930s. But we see them treated with nothing but love and understanding, other than by the villain. It is sure to win you over.
