La pericolosa partita

Ignoring the captain's fears, a ship makes its way through two signal buoys that are slightly off from where they're supposed to be. This is a big mistake, leading to a shipwreck, death, and the sole survivor, named Bob (Joel McCrea) having to swim his way to an island.

Said island is inhabited by a man named Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), who lives in an enormous, fortress-like house, with his frightening henchman, Ivan (Noble Johnson). Bob is introduced to two other "guests", named Martin (Robert Armstrong) and Eve (Fay Wray). As the evening wears on, the Count takes inordinate interest in the fact that Bob is a hunter. Zaroff reveals his own love of hunting, and soon facilitates his next big hunt. Obviously, this is when the title comes into play.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is an excellent thriller, filled with foreboding and macabre imagery (i e: the "trophy room"). The house is loaded with dark hallways and vast rooms, and the jungle hunting ground is well-realized. Banks is perfect in his devilishly demented role. McCrea is a strong, heroic lead, and Ms. Wray puts in another great performance. Highly recommended!...

This tale was efficiently developed in this first of several versions using Richard Connell's famed novel , one of the most anthologized short stories of all time . The picture gets adventure , noisy action , a love story , thriller , exciting pursuits with numerous odds , risks and perils and results to be pretty entertaining . After their luxury cabin cruiser crashes on a reef, and sinking itself , Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea) finds himself washed ashore on a far island . He finds a remote fortress-like house and the owner , Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks film debut) who seems to be quite welcoming . While their host is initially hospitable, he quickly reveals his true purpose : to hunt down and kill each of his visitors , as he has done with everyone unlucky enough to set foot on his island . Apart from Zaroff's servant "Ivan the Cossack" (Noble Johnson, a multi-talented African-American actor) , the only other people present are Eve (Fay Wray) and her brother Martin (Robert Armstrong) , also survivors of their own shipwreck . As the crazed hunter Zaroff kidnaps people and turns them loose on his private estate , where he hunts them for sport . Bob along with the stirring heroine in distress who's threaten by the nutty villain go out throughout the lush jungle . Maniac Hunts Humans . In A Jungle Hell! ...Defenseless against the deadly hunter . Hunting Humans Was His Favorite Game He hunted humans for the sheer sport of killing ... and made his island paradise into a Hell on Earth! The foulest passion of them all! A race for life in a chase against death¡ How far will you go to Stay Alive?

This is a classic of the horror genre with spellbinding direction by Ernest B. Schoedsack , dealing with Count Zaroff kidnaps people and releases them into his jungle island and then hunts them down . The movie contains terror , adventure , action , moving pursuits with an "outdoor chess" game and a deep disquisition about human nature . The yarn is compellingly paced in this first of a great number of adaptations based on Richard Connell notorious novel . This film and "King Kong" were filmed at the same time, though "Kong" was released later probably due to the special effects required for it . The sets are perfectly atmospheric and production uses most of actors , scenary , set design , exteriors and some of the screams of the sailors as the ship sinks are the same as the screams of the sailors from ¨King Kong¨ (1933) . Most of the standing sets and jungle scenes were also used for simultaneous shooting of jungle scenes in King Kong . Thus , here appears same King Kong's actors : Fay Wray , Robert Armstrong , composer Max Steiner and filmmaker Ernest B. Schoedsack who usually shot with Merian C. Cooper. The flick will appeal to terror fans and adventure cinema-goers . The movie all still holds up after more than 70 years . Rating : Good , if you haven't seen it , you don't miss the chance the next time .

It has been remade several times , as the reboots of Richard Connell's famous short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," about a madman who hunts human prey on his personal island habitat are the following ones : ¨A Game of Death¨(1945) by Robert Wise with John Loder , Audrey Long , Edgar Barrier, Russell Wade . ¨Run for the sun¨ by John Boulting with Richard Widmark , Jane Greer , Trevor Howard . ¨Bloodlust!¨(1961) by Ralph Brook . ¨The Suckers¨(1972) by Stu Segall . An erotic rendition titled ¨La comtesse perverse¨ (1974) by Jesús Franco with Robert Woods , Alice Arno , Lina Romay . ¨Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity¨ (1987) by Ken Dixon . ¨Surviving the Game¨ (1994) by Ernest Dickerson with Ice T , Charles S. Dutton , F. Murray Abraham , Gary Busey and Rutger Hauer that is more violent and noisy than preceding ones .

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

"The Most Dangerous Game" is a classic of horror genre and the first survival flick ever made.In this gripping and suspenseful tale Russian nobleman Count Zaroff hunts for shipwrecked victims on his deserted tropical island.The guests soon find themselves sucked into the insane games of their host.Zaroff bored with stalking animals has decided to go hunting the Most Dangerous Game of all-man...The script of "The Most Dangerous Game" is loosely based on Robert Connell's short story,which I haven't read.The film was quite shocking for its time with several subtle sexual undercurrents.The scene where Eve and Ransford discover Zaroff's trophy room is unforgettable.I rarely review 30's and 40's horror,but "The Most Dangerous Game" deserves my comment.Often remade,never equaled it's a must-see for fans of "Deliverance","Turkey Shoot" or "Rovdyr".8 out of 10.

The Most Dangerous Game is a film totally dominated by Leslie Banks's florid portrayal of the mad Russian Count Zaroff who has built is own little world on a Pacific island where he hunts for sport and pleasure what he considers The Most Dangerous Game.

Though I'm sure he must have had a lot of offers from American studios after this film, Leslie Banks went back to the United Kingdom where he was a stalwart presence in a variety of roles for British cinema. Still Banks never got a part as good as Count Zaroff in which he could chew enough scenery for a three course meal and not be noticed.

Joel McCrea plays an American big game hunter who is the sole survivor of a shipwreck who is washed up on Banks's island. In the palatial home he's built out of an old Portugese fort, McCrea encounters brother and sister Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray. Armstrong, in an unusual part for him, plays a wastrel playboy who is consuming the liquor at the home at a prodigious rate. He's taken to the 'trophy' room and not seen again.

The next night McCrea and Wray discover that The Most Dangerous Game is man himself. Banks sends his guests out into the woods and stalks them like wild animals. Supposedly if they can elude him for 24 hours they earn their freedom, but no one ever has.

The Most Dangerous Game is one of those films where you have no doubt who the hero and villain are. No moral ambiguities in this one. For all of Banks's talk about man being the most challenging animal to hunt, the only other man besides McCrea we see him hunt is drunk and pathetic Robert Armstrong. In McCrea because he's a hunter Banks finally meets an opponent who's a challenge. If Armstrong is a sample of what he hunted before, Banks ranks as one of the most malevolent villains ever portrayed on screen.

If the sets look familiar to you remember the team of Meriam C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack is bringing you this film. A year later these same sets were utilized by RKO for the classic King Kong. Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong got to know that back lot jungle very well.

Banks meets a most fitting end for one as evil as he which I can't reveal, but viewers will find it poetic indeed. After 75 years, The Most Dangerous Game is still one exciting, heart pounding, entertaining film.