Movie Review: The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest P. Schoedsack

Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), famous game hunter, is shipwrecked under mysterious circumstances on a seemingly deserted jungle island. He hikes into the interior and finds a castle owned by Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), a Russian nobleman who fled the communist takeover of his homeland. Zaroff is also a hunter and has some other shipwrecked guests--Martin (Robert Armstrong) and Eve (Fay Wray), a brother and sister stranded a few weeks ago with a couple of sailors from their ship. Zaroff's boat is under repair, so he can't send them back to the mainland just yet. At dinner, Eve draws Bob aside and warns him that there is some sort of danger, because Zaroff has taken the sailors one by one to see his trophy room. The sailors still haven't returned. Zaroff claims there is some special animals on the island that are ideal for hunting but he gives no details at all.

The plot is based on a popular short story by Richard Connell and has been imitated many times in cinematic and televisual history. It makes for an exciting story, with fine performances from the cast and some good hunting and chase sequences. The movie's lean 63-minute run time makes the story move at a satisfyingly quick pace. This was probably a warm-up for the cast and crew to make King Kong a year later, with some similar sets and great action sequences. Even though it is overshadowed by the later film, this is a solid entertainment and well worth watching.

Recommended.

I watched this on Kanopy available through my local library.