The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

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.

Directors:

Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writers:

James Ashmore Creelman (screen play), Richard Connell (from the O.Henry prize winning collection story by)

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks

Cast

Complete credited 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)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Tartar Servant (as Dutch Hendrian)

Storyline

After their luxury cabin cruiser crashes on a reef, Bob Rainsford finds himself washed ashore on a remote island. He finds a fortress-like house and the owner, Count Zaroff, seems to be quite welcoming. Apart from Zaroff's servant Ivan, the only other people present are Eve Trowbridge and her brother Martin, also survivors of their own shipwreck. Other survivors are missing however and Rainsford soon learns why. Zaroff releases them into his jungle island and then hunts them down in his grisly "outdoor chess" game! Then after Martin disappears, Bob realizes that he and Eve are to be the next "pawns" in Zaroff's deadly game.

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Plot Keywords:

island | hunter | shipwreck | reef | hunting | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

16 September 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Most Dangerous Game

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$218,869 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min 78 min (preview)

Sound Mix:

Mono (recorded by) (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The actor playing "Ivan the Cossack" was Noble Johnson, a multi-talented African-American who was a childhood friend of Lon Chaney. This is the earliest known instance of a black actor working in "whiteface" to play a Caucasian character.

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Goofs

When a gunshot causes a flock of birds to flutter out of a tree, strings are visible suspending the birds.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain: The channel's here on the chart, all right, and so are the marking lights.
First Mate on Yacht: 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 on Yacht: Two light buoys means a safe channel between the world over!
Captain: "Safe between the world over" doesn't go in these waters.

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Alternate Versions

Some British re-release prints were printed on green-tinted stock.

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Connections

Edited from Bird of Paradise (1932)

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Soundtracks

A Moment in the Dark
(uncredited)
Music by Carmen Lombardo

User Reviews

A Solid Little Thriller

A solid little thriller with several things going for it, "The Most Dangerous Game" easily holds your attention all the way through, even at the more predictable points. It takes good advantage of an often-used plot idea, without trying to squeeze too much out of it. Joel McCrea makes a likable and confident hero, and he fits in well with Leslie Banks and with "King Kong" stars Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong. Banks's performance is a little on the eccentric side, but he has enough energy to make the character and the plot work most of the time.

The opening sequence is a little slow, but it does set up some of the themes of the rest of the movie. The first half of the movie is generally predictable, yet even so it builds up a good amount of tension. In the last half, the suspense is sustained quite well for an extended time, and though the last few scenes may lack plausibility, they work well dramatically because they were set up carefully. Overall, it is an effective and rather efficiently-made thriller.