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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Taglines:

"The Finest Specimen I Ever Killed"

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The drunken Armstrong is a loaded script element: he's supposed to be annoying. At the time this film was released, Prohibition was still in effect, but the law was widely ignored. Producer Merian C. Cooper was strongly critical of alcohol use and of the glamorization of drunkenness in movies. There is a similar scene in both Mighty Joe Young (1949) (where inebriated nightclub patrons precipitate the creature's escape and rampage) and Son of Kong (1933) (where drunkenness proves disastrous for the heroine's father). Zaroff's reveling in his hunting exploits was also deliberate beyond the needs of the story, downplaying its glamorization in other movies of the period.

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Goofs

When Rainsford comes ashore after the shipwreck, his clothes are wet and he falls asleep. His clothes are dry after he wakes and and travels to where he meets Zaroff, but Zaroff refers to his "wet clothes" a few minutes later.

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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

The film was originally 76min long. Some excess gore like scenes with the trophy heads was cut out of the release making the film shorter.

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Connections

Referenced in 30 Rock: Apollo, Apollo (2009)

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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.

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