The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Directors:

Irving Pichel
Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writers:

James Ashmore Creelman (screenplay)
Richard Connell (story)

Release Date:

16 September 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An insane hunter arranges for a ship to be wrecked on an island where he can indulge in some sort of hunting and killing of the passengers.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Hunter | Reef | Hunting | Shipwreck

Cast

Joel McCrea	...	Bob
Fay Wray	...	Eve
Robert Armstrong	...	Martin
Leslie Banks	...	Zaroff
Noble Johnson	...	Ivan
Steve Clemente	...	Tartar (as Steve Clemento)
William B. Davidson	...	Captain (as William Davidson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Buster Crabbe	...	Sailor who falls off boat (uncredited)
James Flavin	...	First Mate on Yacht (uncredited)
Arnold Gray	...	Passenger on Yacht (uncredited)
Hale Hamilton	...	Bill - Owner of Yacht (uncredited)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Tarter Servant (uncredited)
Landers Stevens	...	'Doc' - Passenger on Yacht (uncredited)
Phil Tead	...	Passenger on Yacht (uncredited)

Directed by
Irving Pichel
Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writing credits
James Ashmore Creelman		(screenplay)
Richard Connell		(story)

Produced by
Merian C. Cooper	....	associate producer
David O. Selznick	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Henry W. Gerrard		(photographed by) (as Henry Gerrard)

Film Editing by
Archie Marshek		(as Archie E. Marshek)

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Art Department
John Cerisoli	....	special props (uncredited)
Byron L. Crabbe	....	art department technician (uncredited)
Marcel Delgado	....	special props (uncredited)
Mario Larrinaga	....	art department technician (uncredited)

Sound Department
Clem Portman	....	sound recordist
Murray Spivack	....	sound effects (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Lloyd Knechtel	....	photographic effects (uncredited)
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)
Vernon L. Walker	....	photographic effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Linwood G. Dunn	....	optical effects (uncredited)
Orville Goldner	....	miniatures (uncredited)
Donald Jahraus	....	miniatures (uncredited)
Bud Thackery	....	process photography (uncredited)

Stunts
Buster Crabbe	....	stunt double: Joel McCrea (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert De Grasse	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Gaston Longet	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Norma Drury Boleslavsky	....	musician: piano (uncredited)
Emil Gerstenberger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures (a Cooper and Schoedsack production)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Radio Pictures (1932) (UK) (theatrical)
• Franfilmdis (1934) (France) (theatrical)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Bach Films (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Bach Films (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Castle Communications (1995) (Finland) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (USA) (DVD) (first print)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• DTP Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• E-Realbiz.com (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• E-Realbiz.com (2003) (USA) (VHS)
• Genius Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (75th anniversary edition)
• Legend Films (2007) (worldwide) (DVD)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD) (75th anniversary edition)
• Magnus Opus (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Legend Films  colorization
• Legend Films  restoration

Also Known As:

Runtime:

63 min | USA:78 min (preview version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1934) | UK:12 (re-rating) | UK:A (cut) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 (1987) | South Korea:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #1348-R: 29 August 1935 for re-release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The trophy room scenes were much longer in the preview version of 78 minutes: there were more heads in jars. But there was also an emaciated sailor, stuffed and mounted next to a tree where he was impaled by Zaroff's arrow, and another full-body figure stuffed, with the bodies of two of the hunting dogs mounted in a death grip. Preview audiences cringed and shuddered at the head in the bottle and the mounted heads, but when they saw the mounted figures and heard Zaroff's dialog describing in detail how each man had died, they began heading for the exit - so these shots disappeared.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rainsford and Zaroff are exiting the bedroom in a scene 14 minutes into the movie, Rainsford is quite clearly entering the door first. When we cut to the hallway, it is Zaroff who is leading the way.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Captain:The channel's here on the chart, all right, and so are the marking lights.
First mate:Then what's wrong with them?
Captain:Those lights don't seem to be in just the right place. They're both a bit out of position according to this.
First mate:Two light buoys means a safe channel between the world over!
Captain:"Safe between the world over" doesn't go in these waters.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Soundtrack:

A Moment in the Dark

Working Up to "King Kong" With Style

Films from the 1930s often featured imaginary and exotic worlds brought to life on sound stages. For us today the sets are unreal, creations of both limited imagination and limited budgets. Most of those movies are justifiably in the "B" range. A few aren't and among those is the relatively little seen "The Most Dangerous Game."

Joel McRae is globetrotting big game hunter Bob Rainsford on a yacht bound for exotic adventure. Deliberately misplaced channel lights cause the vessel to hit rocks and founder. Only Rainsford survives to drag himself onto the shore of a nearby island. To his surprise the island is dominated by an eerie mansion owned by Count Zaroff, Leslie Banks. A Cossack attended by a retinue of his countrymen, Zaroff exudes silken hospitality and refined culture. Already there as guests are two people from a previous shipwreck, Eve Trowbridge, Fay Wray, and her perpetually drunken brother.

Zaroff is the film version of that familiar figure from Russian literature, the eternally bored aristocrat whose anomie can only be defeated by extreme diversions. In Zaroff's case it turns out that he, a skilled huntsman since boyhood, is only brought to vibrant life by stalking and killing the most dangerous prey - man.

Zaroff offers Rainsford a deal he literally can't refuse. Escape being slain by the count by outwitting him for a number of hours and he goes free. Eve elects to accompany the intrepid hunter on his journey through impenetrable backlot settings. Romance is in the humid air.

Zaroff is, of course, evil but he's also oddly sympathetic. What's a count to do when he can buy anything and only the most extraordinary hunting will bring him happiness? In that light his trophy room becomes understandable, his bloody diversion almost sympathetic. Banks is very effective in this role where he swings between culture and carnage.

Directors Irving Pickel and Ernest B. Schoedsack made "The Most Dangerous Game" on the same sets they'd employ a year later for the universally revered "King Kong." This film is only 63 minutes long indicating they intended it to be a second feature. What they got was a truly engrossing movie with Fay Wray and Joel McCrea turning in first-rate performances. Max Steiner's score is excellent (did he ever compose a bad one?).

Released on DVD by Alpha Video, it's both a bargain and a pleasure.

8/10