The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Directors:

Irving Pichel
Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writers:

Richard Connell (story) and
James Ashmore Creelman (writer)

Release Date:

16 septiembre 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Thriller | Horror | Mystery

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Russian | Obsession | Great Dane | Trap | Madman

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Working Up to "King Kong" With Style

Cast

Joel McCrea	...	Robert "Bob" Rainsford
Fay Wray	...	Eve Trowbridge
Leslie Banks	...	Count Zaroff
Robert Armstrong	...	Martin Trowbridge
Noble Johnson	...	Ivan
Steve Clemente	...	Tartar (as Steve Clemento)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Scarface (as Dutch Hendrian)
William B. Davidson	...	Captain (as William Davidson)
listado alfabético del resto del reparto:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Undetermined Role (unconfirmed)
Cornelius Keefe	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Walter McGrail	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

También conocida como:

Malvado Zaroff, El (Spain) (dubbed version) [es]

Duración:

63 min | USA:78 min (original version)

País:

USA

Idioma:

English | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Clasificación:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 (1987) | South Korea:12 | Finland:(Banned) (1934) | UK:12 (re-rating) | UK:A (cut) | USA:Passed | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | USA:PG (re-rating)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivialidades:

During WWI, Leslie Banks suffered a disfiguring injury that paralyzed the left side of his face. Never once letting this injury interrupt his career, he went back to the stage after his release from service in 1918, and within six years was an international stage star. He was one of the most popular British actors on Broadway throughout most of the 1920s since his appearance in the 1924 production of "Peter Pan" as Captain Hook.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Count Zaroff is first giving the knife to Rainsford, he is pointing the blade at him. There is a cut to a closer shot, and the blade is now facing away.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Edited from Bird of Paradise (1932)

Soundtrack:

A Moment in the Dark

Working Up to "King Kong" With Style

Films from the 1930s often featured imaginary and exotic worlds brought to life on sound stages. For us today the sets are unreal, creations of both limited imagination and limited budgets. Most of those movies are justifiably in the "B" range. A few aren't and among those is the relatively little seen "The Most Dangerous Game."

Joel McRae is globetrotting big game hunter Bob Rainsford on a yacht bound for exotic adventure. Deliberately misplaced channel lights cause the vessel to hit rocks and founder. Only Rainsford survives to drag himself onto the shore of a nearby island. To his surprise the island is dominated by an eerie mansion owned by Count Zaroff, Leslie Banks. A Cossack attended by a retinue of his countrymen, Zaroff exudes silken hospitality and refined culture. Already there as guests are two people from a previous shipwreck, Eve Trowbridge, Fay Wray, and her perpetually drunken brother.

Zaroff is the film version of that familiar figure from Russian literature, the eternally bored aristocrat whose anomie can only be defeated by extreme diversions. In Zaroff's case it turns out that he, a skilled huntsman since boyhood, is only brought to vibrant life by stalking and killing the most dangerous prey - man.

Zaroff offers Rainsford a deal he literally can't refuse. Escape being slain by the count by outwitting him for a number of hours and he goes free. Eve elects to accompany the intrepid hunter on his journey through impenetrable backlot settings. Romance is in the humid air.

Zaroff is, of course, evil but he's also oddly sympathetic. What's a count to do when he can buy anything and only the most extraordinary hunting will bring him happiness? In that light his trophy room becomes understandable, his bloody diversion almost sympathetic. Banks is very effective in this role where he swings between culture and carnage.

Directors Irving Pickel and Ernest B. Schoedsack made "The Most Dangerous Game" on the same sets they'd employ a year later for the universally revered "King Kong." This film is only 63 minutes long indicating they intended it to be a second feature. What they got was a truly engrossing movie with Fay Wray and Joel McCrea turning in first-rate performances. Max Steiner's score is excellent (did he ever compose a bad one?).

Released on DVD by Alpha Video, it's both a bargain and a pleasure.

8/10