Maverick producer-director Ivan Tors got his start in Hollywood as an MGM contract writer, contributing to the scripts for In the Good Old Summertime (1949) and That Forsyte Woman (1949) before breaking out on his own to make science fiction films (The Magnetic Monster, Riders to the Stars) based on science fact. Eventually, the Hungarian émigré turned away from overtly fantastic themes to focus on the wonders of the natural world, producing such features as Underwater Warrior (1958), Rhino! (1964), and Around the World Under the Sea (1966), and creating such family-friendly hit TV series as Flipper, Daktari, and Gentle Ben. One of only three features directed by Tors himself, Zebra in the Kitchen (1965) marked the comeback of child star Jay North following the cancellation of Dennis the Menace. Made in Hollywood (and utilizing the old Griffith Park Zoo), this MGM release takes its concern for animal rights to the level of slapstick in the tale of a spirited youngster who frees a menagerie from activity, causing panic in a small American town. In addition to the studio veterans (Andy Devine, Doodles Weaver, Percy Helton) corralled for cameos, Tors cast two actors destined for small screen stardom: Jim Davis, later the patriarch of TV's Dallas, and Martin Milner, whose seems here to be warming up for his long-running gig as prowl car cop Pete Malloy on the Jack Webb series Adam-12. Daktari's Marshall Thompson also turns up in an uncredited bit as a townsman who has a close shave with a black bear (Gentle Ben star Bruno).

By Richard Harland Smith