# The Most Dangerous Game (1932 film)
**The Most Dangerous Game** is a 1932 American adventure-horror film directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel for RKO Radio Pictures, adapted from Richard Connell's 1924 short story about a big-game hunter who is shipwrecked on an island owned by a Russian aristocrat who hunts human beings for sport.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) [Joel McCrea](https://www.edgepedia.org/joel-mccrea) plays the hunter Bob Rainsford, Leslie Banks plays Count Zaroff, and [Fay Wray](https://www.edgepedia.org/fay-wray) and Robert Armstrong play shipwrecked siblings Eve and Martin Trowbridge.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) Made by the same RKO unit that produced *King Kong* the following year, it is regarded as one of the defining treatments of the "man hunting man" premise in cinema.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 16 September 1932, RKO Radio Pictures; United States; black and white; 7 reels[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) |
| Runtime | 61 or 63 minutes according to the AFI Catalog; 63 minutes per Criterion; a preview version ran 78 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) |
| Directors | Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel; David O. Selznick executive producer, Merian C. Cooper associate producer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) |
| Source | Short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Edward Connell, first published in *Collier's* on 19 January 1924; screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) |
| Principal cast | Joel McCrea (Bob Rainsford), Fay Wray (Eve Trowbridge), Leslie Banks (Count Zaroff), Robert Armstrong (Martin Trowbridge), Noble Johnson (Ivan)[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) |
| Budget | $218,869, according to RKO studio records[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) |
| Music | Max Steiner; cinematography by Henry Gerrard; editing by Archie F. Marshek[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) |
| Critical standing | 100% Tomatometer from 25 reviews and a 73% Popcornmeter from more than 2,500 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/most_dangerous_game) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
While sailing through shark-infested waters, the yacht carrying the noted big-game hunter Bob Rainsford strikes a coral reef and sinks; Rainsford swims ashore as the only survivor and reaches a mysterious fortress owned by the Russian Count Zaroff.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) Zaroff receives him as a gracious host and introduces him to Eve and Martin Trowbridge, recent shipwreck survivors like himself.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
Finding Rainsford a kindred spirit, Zaroff reveals his obsessive passion for hunting and refers, obliquely at first, to his favorite island pastime: the pursuit of "the most dangerous game."[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) That night he takes the intoxicated Martin to his trophy room, which holds several mounted human heads, and tells him that his own head will soon join them.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) When Martin fails to return, Eve enlists Rainsford's help; the two are caught in the trophy room, and Zaroff declares Rainsford the next player in his game.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
Under Zaroff's rules, Eve is the prize if the count kills Rainsford, but if Rainsford survives until 4 a.m. he wins freedom for both of them.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) The pair flees through a fog-bound swamp, eluding Zaroff's arrows; Rainsford battles one of the count's hunting dogs, and dog and man fall over a cliff into the ocean.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) Zaroff returns to his fortress believing he has won, discovers Rainsford alive, and is killed by him in a fierce fight, after which Rainsford and Eve escape the island.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
## Production and its relationship to King Kong
The film was produced at RKO by the documentary-trained team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with [David O. Selznick](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-o-selznick) as executive producer and Cooper credited as associate producer; contemporary sources conflict over the producer credit, some listing Schoedsack and Cooper as co-producers and others Schoedsack and Pichel.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) According to studio production files, some sets were shared with the *[King Kong](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-kong-1933-film)* production, and Schoedsack directed Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong in this film during the day while he and Cooper directed them in *King Kong* at night.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) The two films also share screenwriter James Ashmore Creelman and much of the same crew.[5](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/most_dangerous_game_the)
**A rushed but complete production.** Modern sources date the shoot from 16 May to 17 June 1932, though trade-paper items suggest a mid-June start.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) The Motion Picture Herald listed a preview running time of 78 minutes, indicating that the picture was cut substantially before general release.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) A July 1932 *Film Daily* item added several actors, including Creighton Chaney and [Ray Milland](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-milland), to the cast, but their participation in the finished film has not been confirmed.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
## Adaptation from the short story
Connell's story, which won the [O. Henry](https://www.edgepedia.org/o-henry) prize, was first published in *Collier's* on 19 January 1924.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME) The screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman made one significant addition: the original story had no love interest, so the character of Eve was invented for the film, though she is written as more than a damsel in distress.[6](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2022/10/the-most-dangerous-game-1932-eureka/) The film's title carries the story's double meaning, in which "game" denotes both the sport and the prey, and the prey is human.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem)
## Reception and legacy
Contemporary and later critics have treated the film as a landmark of early sound horror. [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) calls it "one of the best and most literate movies from the great days of horror," noting that Cooper and Schoedsack made it just before making history with 1933's *King Kong*.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game) Reviewers have singled out the long, choreographed hunt sequence in the final act, in which the human prey prevails by drawing on animal cunning, and Leslie Banks's performance as Zaroff.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-most-dangerous-game) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 100% Tomatometer from 25 critics and a 73% audience score from more than 2,500 ratings.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/most_dangerous_game)
**Influence on later film.** The premise of humans hunting humans became a durable mini-genre, and the film's plot has been credited with inspiring many subsequent movies.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem) Connell's story was filmed again by RKO as *A Game of Death* (1946), directed by [Robert Wise](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-wise) and starring John Loder and Audrey Long, and by [United Artists](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-artists) as *Run for the Sun* (1956), directed by Roy Boulting and starring [Richard Widmark](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-widmark) and Jane Greer.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
**Availability.** The film fell into the public domain, which led to many televised and home-video releases of varying quality; the Criterion DVD (Spine #46) used the best 35mm print source, and Eureka Entertainment issued a Blu-ray in 2022.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem) • [8](https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2024/02/02/essential-the-most-dangerous-game-1932/) Connell's underlying story entered the public domain in the United States on 1 January 2020.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem)
## References
1. [The Most Dangerous Game (1932), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/3937-THE-MOST-DANGEROUS-GAME)
2. [The Most Dangerous Game, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/584-the-most-dangerous-game)
3. [Graeme Virtue, "My streaming gem: why you should watch The Most Dangerous Game," The Guardian, 8 May 2020](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/may/08/the-most-dangerous-game-my-streaming-gem)
4. [The Most Dangerous Game, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/most_dangerous_game)
5. [Most Dangerous Game, The, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/most_dangerous_game_the)
6. [The Most Dangerous Game (1932) – Eureka, Blueprint: Review, October 2022](https://blueprintreview.co.uk/2022/10/the-most-dangerous-game-1932-eureka/)
7. [The Most Dangerous Game (1932), film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-most-dangerous-game)
8. [Essential: The Most Dangerous Game (1932), Of or Involving Motion Pictures, 2 February 2024](https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2024/02/02/essential-the-most-dangerous-game-1932/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Survival and disaster horror films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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