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Sam the polar bear had been a fixture at London Zoo for 24 years, but two years earlier the item 'Spring Comes to the Zoo' (2/4/1923) hinted that all was not well. Now, he is finally put down - or, as the title card more bluntly puts it, "shot at Dawn to end his infirmities". The item doesn't show anything so indelicate as the actual shooting, preferring to create the impression that the rest of the animals are in mourning. According to the titles, Mr Brown Bear is apparently broken-hearted, while Mr Grizzly grieves, though the group of distraught children shown later on do a rather more convincing impression of misery. Appropriately, this tribute is bookended by shots of Sam himself, preserved for ever on film. His successors would be unveiled the following year, in another Topical Budget item entitled 'Spring Comes to the Zoo', this time released on 5 April 1926. Michael Brooke
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Complete film (0:46)
