Normal men... The Most Dangerous Game (1932), Eureka Masters of Cinema Blu-ray, Out Now.

 

Hunting is as much a game as stud poker only the limits are higher.

 

I’ve just been to see the latest superhero film, Black Adam, starring Dwayne the Rock Johnson as the titular anti-hero and coming in with a budget of some $190 million, relatively modest for such films. Back in 1932-3 King Kong was something like a superhero film, laden with state-of-the-art special effects, and it had a then big budget of $672,254.75, which is worth around $15 million in 2022 indicating that film production costs have vastly outpaced inflation. The directors of King Kong, Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper were producers on The Most Dangerous Game, which was shot on the same sets at night when most of the crew we asleep.

Working very long overtime were Fay Wray as cast away, Eve Trowbridge and Robert Armstrong as her brother, Martin; playing drunk most of the time but possibly that was Bob’s way of coping with the insane schedule. The film’s a very neat 62 minutes, just two-thirds of the length of Kong with around a third of the budget, and directors Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, pack a lot of disturbance and menace in that fraught hour, even with few moments still missing from the existing stock.

 

Dangerous Game is based on Richard Connell’s classic 1924 short story, which was much lauded and clearly touched a nerve, being reproduced in many compilations to this day and forming the basis of another RKO film in 1940 and, as film writer Kim Newman says in his video essay, influenced many films since. It’s a primal story that touches on the taboos underpinning our so-called civilisation.

What makes you think it isn’t just as much sport for the animal… as a matter of fact we admired each other.

 

Wray and McRea on a familiar-looking log bridge.

As Newman says, Dangerous Game is absolutely pre-code and, indeed, it’s “one of a run of early 30s horror films that goes too far…” with suggestions of Zaroff’s perversions; he only wants to have his evil way with Fay Wray after his blood is up and the hunt is done, ordinary hunting had not been exciting enough for his libido: arousal is part and parcel of the hunting experience for him. The idea of murder as a sport also ticks more than a few criminal boxes whilst we also see our hero breaking one of the baddies’ backs. It’s graphic, sexually overt and makes the audience complicit in the hunt whether we like it or not.

 

The story begins in a luxury yacht as a group of men have a rather civilised discussion with their friend renowned hunter Robert "Bob" Rainsford (Joel McCrea) about his sport and whether or not it is indeed a “sport”. Bob’s pretty sure of himself, he thinks his recently killed tiger “enjoyed” the cat and rife game but, just as he concludes his argument, their ship hits a rock and very swiftly sinks. Soon there are men clinging onto wreckage as numerous sharks pick them off one by one… the would-be hunters turned quickly into prey. Bob swims ashore, the lone survivor and climbing into a thick jungle, gazes out sadly at his sunken friends – the swellest crowd on earth - and the treacherous channel lights that led them onto the rocks.

 

Bob thinks his luck is in as he spots a large house and makes his way with relief knocking on a gothic door to be greeted by the mute form of Ivan (Noble Johnson), servant of the instantly creepy Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks), a white Russian who escaped with most of his fortune and made his home in this remote island and who has a huge tapestry in his cavernous hall of a satyr about to ravish a woman. He offers Bob room and board, his educated poise conveying a whole tonne of weird who later that evening confesses that, when I lost my love of hunting, I lost my love of life… and love!

Leslie Banks

 

He introduces Bob to the Trowbridges with Eve instantly trying to communicate danger signals to Bob whilst Martin’s boorish drunken ramblings offer a prosaic contrast to the very abnormal atmosphere built up by Zaroff’s intense talk of the new sport he has invented. Zaroff has hunted the world over and became jaded, despite a close encounter with a buffalo which left a scar he keeps touching in moments of high emotion.  These occur whenever the Count discusses the loss and then rediscovery of his lust for life: tried to sink myself to the level of a savage by becoming expert in the Tartar war bow, but what I needed was not a new weapon but a new animal…

 

Later that evening, Eve comes to Bob’s room as her brother has gone missing, the two investigate and find their host’s trophy room filled with the heads of his human prey and the truth is finally revealed as Zaroff captures them and reveals Martin’s dead body. The most dangerous game is about to begin as the Count challenges Bob and sets him and Eve off into the jungle with the promise that if they evade capture by dawn, he will let them live and leave. Bob’s situation is life and death whilst Eve’s is arguable worse… Zaroff doesn’t kill the female of the species and his threat is clear, only after the kill does man know the true ecstasy of love…

 

The game of “outdoor chess”, follows with hunter matched against hunter and pits the wholesome couple well against the evil count who is not averse to shifting the odds in his favour… for all his intellectualising and rationalisation might is right and “do as thy wilt shall be the whole of the law”, leads only one way. He is the true horror in this film, the ultimate in fascistic sadism who serves only his own appetites no matter the misery he causes. With dialogue lifted from Connell’s original story, he is undoubtedly the challenge to our core beliefs the author intended and still men hunt animals for sport and each other for justice, territory and belief.

 

This restoration is presented in crisp 1080p on this Blu-ray from a 2K restored scan and features the longest, un-censored version. It remains a vital piece of filmmaking with superb performances and effects that place the players in the heart of back-projected rapids and wild nature. It’s not a film you’ll forget in a hurry and replays repeat viewing with a taught narrative that’s lean and mean.

 

As is usual with Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series, the special extras are indeed, extra special:

·         Optional English SDH

·         Brand new audio commentary with author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman

·         New interview with author / critic Kim Newman on the “hunted human” sub-genre

·         New interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower

·         There’s also a chunky collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by Craig Ian Mann, illustrated with archival imagery

 

The Most Dangerous Game is out on Monday 24^th October, and is deservedly part of the Masters series; influential and nearly perfect in its execution…

The first 2000 copies come with a Limited-Edition O-Card Slipcase so get in as soon as you can to place your order direct from Eureka.

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We're normal men, just innocent men...

One of the superb matte shots, depth of field and gothic energy