The Most Dangerous Game (film)
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| The Most Dangerous Game | |
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| Directed by | Irving Pichel Ernest B. Schoedsack |
| Produced by | Ernest B. Schoedsack Merian C. Cooper |
| Written by | Richard Connell (story) James Ashmore Creelman |
| Starring | Joel McCrea Fay Wray Leslie Banks Robert Armstrong |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Henry W. Gerrard |
| Editing by | Archie Marshek |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | September 16, 1932 |
| Running time | 63 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $218,869 |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Most Dangerous Game is a 1932 film adaptation of the 1924 short story of the same name by Richard Connell, the first film version of that story. The plot concerns a big game hunter on an island who chooses to hunt humans for sport. The film stars Joel McCrea, Leslie Banks, and King Kong leads Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong, and was made by a team including Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper, the co-directors of King Kong (1933).
Because it was so inexpensive to make, costing only $200,000, The Most Dangerous Game made more profit for RKO than the very expensive King Kong did.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Famous big game hunter and author Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) swims to a small, lush island, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. There, he becomes the guest of Russian Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), a fellow hunting enthusiast. Zaroff remarks that Bob's misfortune is not uncommon; in fact, four people from the previous sinking are still staying with him: Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray), her brother Martin (Robert Armstrong), and two sailors.
That night, Zaroff introduces Bob to the Trowbridges and reveals his obsession with hunting. During one of his hunts, a Cape buffalo inflicted a head wound on him. He eventually became bored of the sport, to his great consternation, until he discovered "the most dangerous game" on his island. Bob asks if he means tigers, but Zaroff denies it. Later, Eve shares her suspicions of Zaroff's intentions with the newcomer. The count took each sailor to see his trophy room, on different days, and both have mysteriously disappeared. She believes their host is responsible, but Bob is unconvinced.
Then Martin vanishes as well. In their search for him, Bob and Eve end up in Zaroff's trophy room, where they find a man's head mounted on the wall. Then, Zaroff and his men appear, carrying Martin's body. Zaroff expects Bob to view the matter like him and is gravely disappointed when Bob calls him a madman.
He decides that, as Bob refuses to be a fellow hunter, he must be the next prey. If Bob can stay alive until sunrise, Zaroff promises him and Eve their freedom. However, he has never lost the game of what he calls "outdoor chess". Eve decides to go with Bob.
Eventually, they are trapped by a waterfall. While Bob is being attacked by a hunting dog, Zaroff shoots, and the young man falls into the water. Zaroff takes Eve back to his fortress, to enjoy his prize. However, the dog was shot, not Bob. Bob fights first Zaroff, then his henchmen, killing them. As Bob and Eve sail away, a not-quite-dead Zaroff tries to shoot them, but succumbs to his wounds.
[edit] Production
The Most Dangerous Game was in production from May 16 to June 17 1932 on Stage 12 the RKO-Pathe studios in Culver City.[2][3] Location shooting took place at many spots around the Palos Verdes peninsula, including on the cliffs at "Marineland of the Pacific", at San Pedro, in Long Beach and in Redondo Beach.[4] Studo records indicate that the film cost $218,869 to make.[2]
It was shot using the same sets that were being used for the Skull Island sequences of King Kong.[5], and its shipwreck sequence was lifted from the test footage shot for the scrapped Creation, whose creator, Willis H. O'Brien, was then hired for King Kong.[6] Because of King Kong's laborious special effects, Cooper and Schoedsack had time on their hands, so they decided to make this film at the same time. Wray and her fellow Kong actors worked on one during the day and the other at night.[1]
It had originally been planned that Zaroff would use leopards to chase down Rainsford, but when this didn't work out, Great Danes were borrowed from comedian Harold Lloyd.[3]
The original length of the film was 78 minutes, indicating that fifteen minutes were cut for the final release.[2] The film premiered on September 9, 1932, and went in general American release on September 16.[7]
The Most Dangerous Game
[edit] Cast
- Joel McCrea as Robert "Bob" Rainsford
- Fay Wray as Eve Trowbridge
- Leslie Banks as Count Zaroff
- Robert Armstrong as Martin Trowbridge
- Noble Johnson as Ivan
- Steve Clemente as Tartar
- Oscar "Dutch" Hendrian as Scarface
- William B. Davidson as Captain
- Cast notes
- Buster Crabbe, who later played both Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, has a small stunt part as a sailor who falls off the boat when it is sinking.
- Lon Chaney Jr. reportedly has a part in the film, although this is unconfirmed.[8]
[edit] Adaptations and influence
The Richard Connell short story has been adapted for film a number of times, and its basic concept has been borrowed for numerous films and episodes of television series.
The 1932 film was referenced in the plot of the 2007 David Fincher movie Zodiac. Jake Gyllenhaal's character recognizes quotes from the film in letters from the Zodiac Killer sent to the newspaper office where he works.
[edit] Quotations
"He talks of wine and women as a prelude to the hunt. We barbarians know that it is after the chase, and then only, that man reveals. You know the saying of the Ogandi chieftains: "Hunt first the enemy, then the woman." It is the natural instinct. The blood is quickened by the kill. One passion builds upon another. Kill, then love! When you have known that, you have known ecstasy."
— Count Zaroff
"This world's divided into two kinds of people: the hunter and the hunted. Luckily I'm the hunter. Nothing can change that."
— Bob Rainsford
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Robert Osborne, Turner Classic Movies broadcast, 27 March 2008.
- ^ a b c TCM Notes
- ^ a b Stafford, Jeff "The Most Dangerous Game" (TCM article)
- ^ IMDB Filming locations
- ^ Goldner, Orville and Turner, George. The Making of King Kong, Ballantine Books, 1975
- ^ Pettigrew, Neil, The Stop-Motion Filmography, MacFarland & Co., Inc., 1999, p. 161 and again p. 470
- ^ IMDB Release dates
- ^ IMDB Combined details
