While it’s a perfectly entertaining West German noir, Hans Müller’s Gift im zoo (US: Poison in the Zoo) is included in this collection primarily as a gift to animal lovers. A handful of noirs feature scenes set in aquariums or zoos (see, for example, The Lady from Shanghai, 1947, or Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, 1948), but no other film takes place entirely in such a setting. Elephants, rhinos, bears, chimps, and an adorably curious puppy (who falls into the lion’s cage) dominate the first act, establishing a lively atmosphere fit for a child, but once the animals begin dropping dead, and once we learn there’s a crazed lunatic in our midst, a chill seizes the night, and a noir blanket descends. Carl Raddatz plays Dr Martin Rettberg, chief veterinarian at the Hamburg zoo, Irene von Meyendorff plays animal trainer Vera Pauly (she’s the one who saves the puppy), and Ernst Schröder, who looks like he was born to play German villains, plays the former zoo director Oskar Beck, who now works in a smaller role due in part to accusations of animal cruelty, a demotion from which he still holds a grudge and may have an incentive to make Rettberg look incompetent. Culminating in a nighttime chase in which a polar bear plays a pivotal role, the film was co-directed by Wolfgang Staudte (Murderers Among Us, 1946), who was forced to hand over the reins after refusing to sever ties with DEFA, the communist East German studio for whom he also worked.