The Most Dangerous Game

The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Runtime: A brisk 63 minutes

Directed by: Irving Pichel/Ernest B. Schoedsack

Starring: Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Leslie Banks, Nobel Johnson

From: RKO

This was an easy Friday night watch, as I explain below: 

This film was on (TCM Friday) night and as it is barely over an hour long, the time was right for me to see the movie (based on a short story by Richard Connell) that spawned an idea which will be evergreen and always popular in entertainment: man hunting man as sport. It can be modified to be “alien hunting man” as sport or otherwise and it brings in things like the Alien or Predator franchise; even Deadly Prey wouldn't be possible without that story originally being written and becoming a success almost 100 years ago. A lot can be done with the idea and that's a reason why it's evergreen... whether it's social commentary or otherwise, the trope is one which will never go away.

The movie, I understand it doesn't deviate too much from the original Connell story; a big game hunter is shipwrecked on a mysterious South American island and he meets up with some people who recently suffered the same fate at a castle owned by a crazed Russian dude (no, not Putin; a dude named Zaroff) who of course has a large mute bearded guy as a servant. They soon find out what he means when he says he found “the most dangerous game” to hunt as he's an avid hunter himself and animals like tigers are too dull for him.

The creators of the original King Kong were also responsible for this; no surprise that the same jungle sets were used and they both share Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray. I wish the original version (about 15 minutes longer) was still around; I know some gruesome moments had to be taken out but I don't know the content of the rest that was cut. I do wish the actual hunt would have been lengthier and there are some moments so over the top they are ripe.

Yet, I can still say the movie is pretty good as it's never dull, and not just because of the runtime. While the impact of the movie has been dulled due to how familiar the idea is and how no one who sees this doesn't know what it's about and you have to wait awhile before the heroes figure it out... some moments seemed far ahead of their time, and that is but one reason why I don't regret finally seeing something so influential.