''Black Zoo'' is a 1963 American horror film directed by Robert Gordon and starring

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

Jeanne Cooper Wilma Jeanne Cooper (October 25, 1928 – May 8, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her role as Katherine Chancellor on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'' (1973–2013). At the time of her death, she was eighth on the ...

, Rod Lauren,

Virginia Grey Virginia Grey (March 22, 1917 – July 31, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in over 100 films and a number of radio and television shows from the 1930s to the early 1980s. Biography Grey was born on March 22, 1917, in Edendale, Calif ...

Jerome Cowan Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palm ...

, and Elisha Cook, Jr. It was produced and co-written by

Herman Cohen Herman Cohen (August 27, 1925 – June 2, 2002) was an American producer of B-movies during the 1950s, and helped to popularize the teen horror movie genre with films like the cult classic ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf''. Career Born in Detroit, ...

. It is a violent, gore-filled tale.

Plot

Michael Conrad is a private

zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

who owns Conrad's Animal Kingdom. He leads a cult group who literally worship the animals he tends — especially the big cats: 3 lions, a lioness, a pair of cheetahs, a tiger, a cougar, and a black leopard; as well as a gorilla. Conrad plays

organ music The organ repertoire is considered to be the largest and oldest repertory of all musical instruments. Because of the organ's (or pipe organ's) prominence in worship in Western Europe from the Middle Ages on, a significant portion of organ repert ...

to the animals in his living room, and uses them to kill anyone who gets in his way. Conrad is married to Edna and forces his mute son Carl to assist him.

Cast

Production

had the idea for the film, and hired

Aben Kandel Aben Kandel (15 August 1897 – 28 January 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and (earlier in life) boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as '' I Was A Teenage Werewolf'', Joan Crawford's final movie '' Trog'', and one of ...

to work with him on the script. Cohen had worked with Gough previously in '' Horrors of the Black Museum'' and ''

Konga Konga () is a locality situated in Tingsryd Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of ...

''. The animals were provided by

Ralph Helfer Ralph Helfer (born April 9, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa USA, and author of books about animals. He was born in Chicago and had one sister, Sally. In 1942, his mother left her husband ...

, most notably Zamba, who played one of the two male lions (Zamba Jr. and Tammy also appeared playing another lion and a lioness, respectively). The zoo was built at Raleigh Studio (formerly

Producers Studio Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations * Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does no ...

) on North Bronson in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. The entire zoo seen in the picture was an interior set.Tom Weaver, ''Attack of the Monster Movie Makers'' (

Jefferson, North Carolina Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,611 at the 2010 census. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat for As ...

: McFarland & Co. 1994, , ) Publicity was done with the cats—including an appearance on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. Cohen did not like the title, preferring ''Horrors of the Black Zoo''.

Home media

''Black Zoo'' was released on a VHS tape by The Fang ( Floral Park, NY) in 2001.

Footnotes

External links

* *{{Amg movie, 85273, Black Zoo
''Black Zoo''
at a

fansite 1963 films 1963 horror films American natural horror films American splatter films Allied Artists films Films directed by Robert Gordon Films scored by Paul Dunlap 1960s English-language films 1960s American films