The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

I know, I know...  Some of you folks are saying The Most Dangerous Game is a really good film.  And I totally agree .  Let me just say I'm not a big fan of the colorization process or the attempt to colorize classic films and shorts.  I've always lived by the adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", especially when it comes to the classics.  That's where the guilt comes in ...  Watching The Most Dangerous Game colorized.

The problem is that the color really isn't that good, although some scenes are better than others.  It seems as though the color becomes more of an issue, understandably, when there's more movement and action on screen.  The edges of the moving objects seem to blur and blend with other surrounding objects and colors in the scene, which results in a very fuzzy image.  But. a few of the scenes do look pretty good in color and those kind of help get you through the film.

Based on the 1924 short story of the same name written by Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game is a great adventure/drama/horror film.  It was the first screen adaptation of the short story, although there were other variations of the story produced afterwards, even being spoofed in a Gilligan's Island episode "The Hunter" with Rory Calhoun guest starring as the title character who hunts Gilligan.  There are a lot of big names associated with this film.  It was released by RKO, produced by Merian C. Cooper and David O. Selznick, directed by Irving Pichel and Robert Schoedsack, and it boasts a pretty good lineup of stars including Fay Wray, Joel McCrea, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, and Leslie Banks.  The musical score by Max Steiner is incredible with, according to IMDB.com, an uncredited Wally Westmore doing a great job as always with the makeup.  There's also an uncredited appearance by Larry "Buster" Crabbe as a sailor who falls into the water when the ship explodes, don't blink or you'll miss him!

A yacht carrying a group of men returning from a hunting trip are shipwrecked after hitting a reef in shark infested waters off the coast of a remote island.  A sole survivor Bob Rainsford (McCrea), manages to swim to the island's shore.  While searching the island he discovers an old secluded fortress inhabited by an eccentric Russian, Count Zaroff (Banks), and his Cossack servants.  Speaking to his host Rainsford finds that there are other survivors, brother and sister Martin and Eve Trowbridge (Armstrong and Wray), from a previous shipwreck already staying as guests of the Count.  After dinner the other guests explain to the newly arrived Rainsford that they are stranded on the island "temporarily" while the Count's launch is being repaired.

While entertaining his guests the Count recognizes Rainsford as a famous hunter and author, and Zaroff explains how he is a hunter himself, and how he received the scar on his forehead as a result of an attack by a Cape Buffalo in Africa.  Zaroff also explains how he was becoming bored with hunting, and after trying different weapons, found that what he needed was to find "a new animal" to hunt.  Pulling Rainsford aside Eve expresses her concern about their safety and being held prisoner.  She explains how sailors who were shipwrecked with them had each disappeared after the count had showed them his "trophy room".

 After the Count sends Eve and Rainsford off to retire for the evening, and quite obviously annoyed by Martin's excessive drinking, Zaroff offers to show Martin his trophy room.  Later in the evening, Eve goes to Rainsford's room to ask him for help when she becomes concerned about her brother being missing, and that he was last seen with their host earlier.  They come to the conclusion that the most obvious place to begin looking is in the trophy room.  While investigating the secret room they discover the gruesome secret to Zaroff's "most dangerous game".  When Zaroff  returns unexpectedly with his servants carrying a covered body on a stretcher. he finds the two hiding and has Eve taken away to her room (at this point Wray cuts loose with some of her signature screaming) and has Rainsford shackled to the wall.

The Count admits to Rainsford that he had shifted the marker buoys in the channel off the coast in order to sink passing ships and divert survivors to his island.  Zaroff, actually trying to reason with Rainsford, tries to talk him into joining him on the hunt.  When Rainsford balks at the idea he soon realizes that he is to be the Count's next victim.  After escaping from her room Eve finds Zaroff and Rainsford outside the fortress as the Count explains the rules of "the game" and releases the pair into the wild.  If Rainsford, taking Eve with him, can survive and elude Zaroff until sunrise he wins the girl and their freedom.

So the hunter becomes the hunted and the stage is set for the deadly game of cat and mouse through the island jungle.  The mad Count exchanges his Tartar war bow for a rifle, and then finally releases his hunting dogs on the pair as he chases them through the jungle and swamp, and the pair struggle to stay ahead of him as sunrise slowly approaches.

Armstrong plays his part well but does become more annoying than comical after a while.  McCrea is good through most of the film.  And Fay Wray, pretty in pink, does a nice job considering her part was created for the film and doesn't exist in the short story.  But Banks steals the show playing the part of Zaroff to the hilt as the character seems to drift back and forth over the fine line between sanity and insanity, spending more time in the latter than the former, and rubbing his scarred forehead evoking the demented hunter from within. 

Steiner's score drives the chase through the jungle as there is less dialogue during the chase in the second half of the film.  Special effects master Ray Harryhausen has explained how important music is to "enhance the visual image" of a film and it definitely works extremely well here.  Steiner also composed the music for King Kong (1933) and She (1935), two more great Merian C. Cooper productions. 

The film was fairly inexpensive to make, costing only about $200,000, so The Most Dangerous Game was more profitable for RKO than the more expensive production of King Kong was.  You'll notice some other  similarities between The Most Dangerous Game and King Kong other than the cast.  Much of The Most Dangerous Game was shot during the filming of King Kong, so many of the jungle sets were shared  by the two films.

So even though I think the original black and white version of the film is better, my guilty pleasure is watching the colorized version of The Most Dangerous Game ...  every now and then ...