Tonight's Movie: The Most Dangerous Game (1932) at UCLA

Last night at UCLA MEET JOHN DOE (1941) was followed by THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932). Both films were shown as part of UCLA's current series Fay Wray + Robert Riskin.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is a horror/adventure film which stars Joel McCrea and Fay Wray. It's an RKO movie which was screened in 16mm.

The movie was written by James Ashmore Creelman based on the classic short story by Richard Connell. It's been remade multiple times, including as A GAME OF DEATH (1945) and RUN FOR THE SUN (1956).

I read the story in high school, and it made quite an impression. At some point during my high school years I set an alarm and got up to watch the movie in the middle of the night! (The fact it stars longtime favorite Joel McCrea didn't hurt.) In turn some of my kids read the story and watched the movie during their homeschool years.

It had been quite a while since my last viewing and I'd honestly forgotten just how creepy the movie is. I enjoyed it and was glad to have the chance to finally see it on a big screen, but by the end I was also feeling like maybe I've seen it enough times now, as it features some pretty disturbing moments.

McCrea plays Bob, a sportsman and hunter who is the lone survivor of a shipwreck off the shore of a small island. Bob finds a very spooky house on the island owned by Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks). Zaroff is also hosting Eve (Wray) and Martin (Robert Armstrong), a brother and sister who had very recently been shipwrecked just like Bob.

Eve quietly tips Bob off that concerning things have been happening since their arrival, including the disappearance of a couple of crew members who had also survived the shipwreck. Soon after, Martin also disappears, and Bob and Eve later find his body in the Count's "trophy room." I don't do horror well and didn't look at the screen in the trophy room scenes, as I've read that the original unedited very "pre-Code" version is worse than what was shown on commercial TV, and I wasn't sure exactly what I might see!

Bob and Eve soon learn the awful truth: The Count likes to hunt for his "guests" and kill them. He gives Bob and Eve a head start and tells them Bob must stay alive till dawn if he wants to "win" and stay alive. The winner also gets to claim Eve as the "prize." The movie is very pre-Code in its depictions of the Count's lust...like the horror scenes, it was honestly a little too pre-Code for me.

Fortunately the movie is a very fast-paced 63 minutes long or the suspense would be unbearable! The creepy unpleasantness is offset by the pleasure of watching the young McCrea and Wray, who are absolutely gorgeous as they run all over the island; McCrea's athleticism makes him very believable as he takes on all comers, and Wray's Eve gamely keeps up with Bob and helps where she can -- in between screaming, of course, at which Wray excelled. I very much enjoyed watching both actors.

Eve was not a character in the original story, but I think adding her character makes the film work much better than it would have if it were just Bob versus the Count. Her presence raises the stakes and also provides the opportunity to verbally explain plans and reactions; otherwise it would have turned into the equivalent of a silent movie at that point in the story. The 1945 and 1956 remakes similarly feature a man and woman on the run.

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME was directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack. It was filmed by Henry W. Gerrard.

The jungle sequences were built on sets also used for KING KONG (1933). Some sources state that the Great Danes used in the chase sequences were borrowed from Harold Lloyd!

THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is available on DVD from the Criterion Collection. It was also released on VHS.

It's also shown from time to time on Turner Classic Movies.