Short in Length and Quality
Catching Trouble (1936)
Inducted 2017
While Heaven's Gate's horrific treatment of animals was bad, it had nothing on 1936's Catching Trouble. This short produced by Paramount Pictures follows a self-described adventurer named Ross Allen who captures animals that would later be exhibited in zoos and circuses.
Made at a time in which animal welfare laws must have non-existent, the film is a time capsule of an era in which nobody felt bad about invading nature and "taming" animals for people's amusement. Amazingly, the film isn't shy about displaying the brutality perpetrated against the poor wildlife that is savagely ripped from the countryside by the shameless Mr. Allen. When Ross kidnaps a bear cub, the film retains the sad, pitiful cries of the cub with no apologies and no sense of shame.
