Director: Irving Pichel, Ernest B. Schoedsack
Screenplay: James Ashmore Creelman
Based on a Short Story by: Richard Connell
Starring: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, William B. Davidson
Country: USA
Running Time: 63 min
Year: 1932
BBFC Certificate: 12
Richard Connell’s short story ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ (a.k.a. ‘The Hounds of Zaroff’), first published in 1924, was hugely popular on release, winning the O. Henry Award for its troubles. It subsequently went on to be adapted into a vast number of films and TV programmes as well as inspiring many other novels and comics. It’s helped shape so many different works of fiction you might even say it spawned a whole subgenre of “hunted human” stories.
The first notable adaptation though came in 1932, with Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s film The Most Dangerous Game, produced by Schoedsack, Merian C. Cooper and David O. Selznick for RKO. It too helped pave the way for what was to come in the following century.
Eureka are releasing this screen debut of the famous story on Blu-ray as part of their Masters of Cinema series. I’ve been keen to see the film for a while so snapped up a copy to review.
The plot is fairly simple. Renowned huntsman Robert “Bob” Rainsford (Joel McCrea) is travelling by yacht near the western coast of South America, before the vessel is shipwrecked due to an incorrectly marked safe channel.
He’s the only survivor, washing up on the shore of a nearby island. As he explores the area, he soon comes across a grand chateau that seems out of place in the wild environment. He heads over to find help and shelter and is greeted by Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks).
Though Zoroff’s servant Ivan (Noble Johnson) isn’t particularly friendly, the host treats Bob well, lending him clothes and feeding him the finest food. He’s also introduced to two other guests, who were also stranded following a shipwreck. These are the beautiful Eve Trowbridge (Fay Wray) and her brother Martin (Robert Armstrong).
Though an unusual man with an obsession with hunting, Zoroff continues to seem amicable until Eve warns Bob that another member of their party has gone missing and she suspects that Zaroff is hunting them for sport!
Eventually, the truth comes out, with Eve’s suspicions proving correct. With the cat out of the bag, Bob becomes Zaroff’s next ‘most dangerous game’ to be hunted, being given a day to try to survive the island with the Russian and his hounds hot on Bob’s trail.
The Most Dangerous Game plays very much to my tastes. I love a good action adventure and I hate flab in a film, and this is a lean, mean movie that races along its meagre 63-minute running time without ever going off on any tangents. After a brief chat setting up the hunter vs hunted theme of the film, we’re thrown straight into a visceral shipwreck sequence, peppered with the blood-curdling screams of the less fortunate passengers and crew. Those who aren’t killed in the shipwreck itself are then attacked by sharks!
There is a lull in the action following this, when Bob meets Zaroff and Eve, and the story is set up. However, this is still quite efficiently done and the steady drip of Zaroff’s suspicious activity builds up tension. Once this reaches boiling point the film really kicks off and races through to its dramatic conclusion.
Whilst modern audiences may feel short-changed by a film that’s only just over an hour long, I actually wish we had more of these quickfire blasts of entertainment. I guess you could say TV shows provide this shorter form but with a film you don’t have to invest in a longer series to get the most out of it.
That said, the preview cut was reportedly 15 minutes longer and contained sequences that sound tantalising, so it’s a shame the material is now lost. Most notably, the trophy room sequence was extended with some particularly gruesome bodies on display. Supposedly audience members were heading to the door at that point so the scene was trimmed.
The film looks good too. It was shot whilst RKO was still working on King Kong and many of the sets for that blockbuster were used for The Most Dangerous Game to save cash. These work a treat in the latter chase scenes, aided by some atmospheric lighting and effective camera moves. It’s all well edited too, bringing the action to vivid life. Some back projection shows the film’s age but it’s not bad for the era.
Fay Wray’s Eve character is more effective than she could have been in the wrong hands too. The original story had no love interest so Eve was an invention of the filmmakers but she’s not a mere damsel in distress. She is the first to figure out Zaroff’s true intentions and volunteers to stay with Bob during the chase. She doesn’t pathetically stumble around as they fight for their lives either, she keeps up and doesn’t do too much fruitless screaming, as many thinly drawn movie heroines did (and often still do).
Overall then, through keeping things brief and to the point whilst building to a pulse-racing final act, The Most Dangerous Game is a rollicking old-fashioned adventure with a deliciously macabre twist. Helping inspire a mountain of imitators over the years, it still stands as one of the best adaptations of the classic story.
Film: 
The Most Dangerous Game is out on 24th October on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by Eureka as part of their Masters of Cinema series. Other than some minor focus aberrations, likely from the original material, and a slight flicker or sign of wear here and there, it has a remarkably sharp and detailed look with a lovely natural grain. The audio is surprisingly strong for a film of its age too.
The Blu-ray includes:
– Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase [2000 copies]
– 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restored scan
– Optional English SDH
– Brand new audio commentary with author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman
– Brand new interview with author / critic Kim Newman on the “hunted human” sub-genre
– Brand new interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower
– Archival audio interview excerpts with Merian C. Cooper
– Three archive radio dramatisations of the story
– A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Craig Ian Mann, illustrated with archival imagery
Stephen Jones and Kim Newman’s commentary is excellent, with the pair racing through the story of the production, similarities and differences between different versions of the story, a little analysis and plenty of admiration for the film, which the pair both clearly enjoy.
Stephen Thrower’s interview provides further information on the history of the production as well as a little analysis. It’s an absorbing and welcome piece.
Newman discusses the influence of the story and this initial screen adaptation. It’s an interesting piece that helps us appreciate just how important the story and film were.
Also welcome are the audio interview excerpts from Cooper. He tells a few stories from his time in the film industry.
The radio adaptations are a lot of fun too. It’s nice to hear slightly different spins on the source material with different casts. They’re all only around 30 minutes long, so also race through the story at a cracking pace.
I haven’t received the booklet yet but Eureka are one of the best in the business at compiling these, so it’s sure to be loaded with insightful material.
Overall then, Eureka have compiled a well-stocked package for a hugely entertaining film. As such, it comes highly recommended.
Disc: 