Stubs - The Most Dangerous Game

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) Starring: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Leslie Banks Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel Screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman Based on the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Edward Connell in Collier's (19 Jan 1924). Produced by David O. Selznick (Executive Producer) and Merian C. Cooper (Associate Producer) Run Time: 61 minutes. USA Black and White Adventure

If the undertaking of filming King Kong (1933) wasn’t enough, Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper were also making another movie at the same time, The Most Dangerous Game. Described as the first in a series of adventure and mystery films the two were going to make at RKO, the film is based on the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Edward Connell, which appeared in Collier’s magazine in January 19, 1924. You have no doubt been exposed to the short story at some time during your schooling. The short story has been called the "most popular short story ever written in English” and upon publication, won the O. Henry Award.

Using many of the same sets as King Kong, The Most Dangerous Game was shot during the day while the other film was shot at night. In addition to Schoedsack and Cooper, the two films also shared two of the same actors, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong, though the latter’s presence was not as prominent. The film was shot on a budget of $219,869.

Bill (Hale Hamilton), Doc (Landers Stevens), and two other passengers aboard the yacht.

The story opens aboard a luxury yacht somewhere off the coast of South America, though the destination is unknown. Aboard, besides Bill (Hale Hamilton), the owner of the yacht, and Doc (Landers Stevens) are two other unnamed passengers (Arnold Gray and Phil Tead), who are enjoying drinks and conversation.

The Captain (William B. Davidson) and hunter Robert "Bob" Rainsford (Joel McCrea).

Meanwhile, the Captain (William B. Davidson) and his First Mate (James Flavin) are concerned about the difference about the channel lights up ahead not matching the charts for the area.

When the discussion turns to hunting, Robert "Bob" Rainsford (Joel McCrea), another passenger, is called up to the lounge. A well-known big game hunter and writer about his adventures, Bob is a bit of a celebrity. He is asked how he would feel about being the game being hunted as opposed to the hunter.

The yacht hits a reef and sinks.

The Captain makes his concerns about the charts known to the owner, but his concerns are dismissed and the boat continues through the channel. However, the Captain was right and the boat hits a reef. This is quite a boat, as we learn they are worried about the sea water hitting the boilers, which of course it does, resulting in an explosion, which sinks the boat.

Bob is the only one to survive the sinking of the boat and the sharks in the water.

There are only a few people who survive the wreck, but the sharks in the water quickly take all but Robert to their watery graves. Robert swims towards the nearby island and collapses on the beach.

Ivan (Noble Johnson) is a large deaf-mute and servant to Zaroff.

When he wakes up, Robert makes his way to a house on a nearby hill. The house is owned by Russian Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), who welcomes Robert inside. Zaroff’s house, quite luxurious considering its remote location, is run by his two main servants, Ivan (Noble Johnson), who is a large deaf-mute, and Tartar (Steve Clemente). There is a third unnamed servant played by Dutch Hedrian.

Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks) takes Robert in and introduces him to Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray).

Zaroff tells Robert that there is also another shipwrecked party also staying there, brother and sister Martin Trowbridge (Robert Armstrong) and Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray), as well as two sailors on their ship, whom we never see. Ivan then shows him to a room for the night.

Martin Trowbridge (Robert Armstrong) is loud and a heavy drinker
who gets on everyone's nerves, including Zaroff's.

The next day, Robert meets the Trowbridges. Martin is loud and a heavy drinker, who gets on everyone’s nerves at some point. Eve, meanwhile, tries to confess her concerns about Zaroff’s hospitality, telling him that she hasn’t seen the two sailors since Zaroff took them down, one by one, to his trophy room. Zaroff knows who Robert is and they discuss hunting. Zaroff tells Robert that he’s found the most dangerous game to hunt on the island, but doesn’t say more.

There are human heads on the wall of Zaroff's trophy room.

That night, after Eve and Robert go to bed, Martin, who is very intoxicated, gets invited down to the trophy room. Later, Eve comes to Robert’s room, worried that her brother has not returned. The two go down to the trophy room to see what’s there and find human heads on the wall as trophies. When they hear Zaroff returning, they hide, but they realize Ivan and Tartar are carrying a body, which Robert examines and realizes is Martin’s.

Robert discovers that he is the next subject of Zaroff's hunt.

Zaroff is disappointed in Robert’s reaction and informs him that he is the next unwilling subject of the hunt. Robert is also told the rules of the game: like those before him, Robert will be turned loose at dawn, given a hunting knife and some provisions and allowed the entire day to roam the island until midnight, when Zaroff will begin his hunt. If Robert survives until 4 a.m., then Robert "wins" the game and Zaroff will give him keys to his boathouse so he can leave the island. Robert insists on Eve also leaving with him after Zaroff not so subtly hints that he plans to have her sexually after the hunt.

Zaroff begins the hunt with a bow and arrow though he later switched to a high-powered rifle.

Eve insists on going with Robert and the two of them try to find a place to hide. They find to their chagrin that the island is, in fact, very small and there are few places to hide. They spend several hours constructing what Robert thinks is a fool-proof and deadly trap for Zaroff. Zaroff appears, using a bow and arrow but while they watch, he avoids the trap they’ve set. When they won’t come out voluntarily, Zaroff leaves, later returning with a high-powered rifle as his weapon.

On the run, Robert sets another trap, which Zaroff also avoids before the two head off into a foggy marsh part of the island. Since the rifle will be of no use, Zaroff calls for a pack of hunting dogs that he keeps on the island, with Ivan and Tartar controlling them. Robert does manage to set a trap that kills Ivan, but the chase continues.

Robert and Eve run through the marsh but the dogs have no trouble following their trail, even chasing them up a tree. Robert finds that the tree will lead them to higher ground but there is no escape. The pursuit ends near the top of a waterfall a few minutes before four a.m. When Zaroff sends one dog in after them, Robert manages to fight it off. However, a second dog seems to be winning in their struggle before Zaroff fires at them and both Robert and the dog go over the falls. Eve is recaptured and taken back to the house.

The next day, Zaroff calls for his servants to bring Eve to him, his own prize of sorts. But before she gets there, Robert emerges and demands his prize. While Zaroff gives him the key to the boathouse, located in the trophy room, he doesn’t plan on letting Robert and Eve leave the island. A fight ensues and Robert ends up killing the two servants before getting into a final fight with Zaroff. Stabbing him in the back with one of his own arrows, Robert thinks it’s over. He and Eve go down to the boathouse and get into the launch.

Robert turns out not to be dead and fights Zaroff for his and Eve's freedom.

Zaroff, however, is not really dead yet and tries to ambush the boat when it comes out of the house and into view. Weak from his wounds, Zaroff collapses and falls, apparently to his death into the pack of hungry dogs, while Robert and Eve make their escape.

The film is, not surprisingly, fairly fast-paced, as it’s short running time would suggest. While the story diverts somewhat from the short story, adding in the Eve character to give it a love interest, man’s inhumanity to man, which is at the center of the story, still comes through.

Well received at the time of its release, the film made $443,000 during its initial release. Critics, like Mordaunt Hall at the New York Times called it “a highly satisfactory melodrama”. He wrote, “It has the much-desired virtue of originality, which, in no small measure, compensates for some of its gruesome ideas and its weird plot.”

In typical Hollywood fashion, this was not the last time Richard Edward Connell's short story was filmed. Versions include a 1946 RKO version, Game of Death, directed by Robert Wise, starring John Loder and Audrey Long and featuring Noble Johnson, and a 1956 United Artists film, Run for the Sun, directed by Roy Boulting and starring Richard Widmark and Jane Greer.

Joel McCrea was an actor who came into his own during the pre-code era in Hollywood. A former stunt man for MGM, McCrea moved to RKO in 1930. One of his first starring roles was in Birds of Paradise (1932), which caused controversy for his co-star Dolores Del Rio's nude swimming scenes. McCrea is good here as the rugged leading man, the sort of role he was born to play.

Fay Wray is also good here in a role that I would say was superior to the one she would play in King Kong. While she is the beautiful love interest in both films, she seems to take a bigger role in the action in this one. She is less the helpless victim than she is in Kong.

Leslie Banks is perhaps best known for this role and with good reason, he’s very good in the role of the diabolical Count Zaroff. He would appear in both British and American films, including the lead, two years later, in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). A scar that he received while serving during World War I adds to the look and in typical Hollywood fashion is hinted at as being the cause of his insanity; he’s seen several times rubbing the scar on his forehead.

While Robert Armstrong has a more prominent role in King Kong, he is sort of an also-ran here, playing a character who, despite limited screen time, manages to get on your nerves. His character has to be done away with so that the plot can boil down to Robert and Eve alone.

Overall, I would say that The Most Dangerous Game is worth watching, even if you’ve somehow missed reading the original short story. There are some pretty interesting production values and the acting, given the material, is pretty spot-on for the roles. And, given the short running time, there are a lot of worse ways to spend 60 minutes.