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Terry (Steve Oliver) is a writer "between books", so
presently he more enjoys the lifestyle than doing anything creatife,
meaning he does plenty of drugs and booze, and has over time also become
quite the womanizer. Of course, this lifestyle doesn't come free, so on
the side he does work as a gigolo, doing "favours" to the older
women in the neighbourhood - like Helen Golden (Rita Hayworth), whose
husband Harry's (Ford Rainey) is wheelchair-bound, which of course is no
reason for her to deny herself some bedroom fun. Unfortunately, Harry one
day catches her with Terry, and unfortunately he packs a gun. However,
chasing after Terry, he falls out of his wheelchair by mere accident,
bangs his head and dies. As mentioned, a mere accident, and yet Terry's
quick to take a powder, leaving Helen to deal with the affair on her own.
Another client of his, Pauline (Fay Spain), asks him out soon afterwards,
but he finds it hilarious to drug her to the hilt and humiliate her as the
centerpiece of the spontaneous party he's throwing at his place. This
gives him an idea how to deal with Helen who he's sure will squeal at the
earliest opportunity ... One of the very last films by
Hollywood legend Rita Hayworth, this is of course not a film that lives up
to her standards - but she handles her role with all the diginity you'd
expect her to and turns in a fine performance while the film, while
definitely from the low budget end of the spectrum, isn't at all bad,
pretty much an exploitation drama firmly set in the drug-infused late
1960s/early 70s that on a surface level of course plays to the balcony,
but that actually also paints a disturbing picture of a man without
conscience, and how that ultimately breaks him, and some scenes (like
Pauline's humiliation at the party) strike a really unpleasant chord and
will stay with one for a while, and yet make perfect sense in the film's
context. That said, I'm not at all saying The Naked Zoo is a hidden
gem or forgotten masterpiece, as that would simply do the film too much
honour, but it sure is an interesting watch, even beyond being one of Rita
Hayworth's last movies.
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