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 .

This is an exceptional film and the granddaddy of all ripoffs of the story, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. Countless TV shows (such as FANTASY ISLAND and GET SMART!) have "appropriated" the plot, and so it's nice to see the original.

What some may see as a shortcoming, I see as a strength--and that is that the film was made by a lower-budget studio (Radio Pictures). Because of that, the acting (especially by bad guy Leslie Banks) is over-the-top and the action is a little more sensationalistic. And for this movie, it definitely works. If the movie were done by a more high-minded studio (such as MGM),it probably would have been more cerebral, longer and less violent. I loved most all of the film. However, I paid very close attention to Fay Wray's performance because I recently heard someone say she was a terrible actress. Well, they were right--repeatedly, she stumbled on her delivery and was not an asset to the film. Well, no matter as the film is definitely more of a battle between good guy Joel McCrae and sadistic Banks. This movie would be appreciated by fans of old horror or adventure films, such as the original ISLAND OF LOST SOULS.

This influential film has a quick pace and so much action that it hasn't dated at all in the past seventy years. While most films of the period were slow and stately, this wastes little time in setting up the characters, instead preferring to cut right to the chase. The short running time means that the plot is constantly furthered and there is no time for hanging about. The simple idea of a human using other humans for sport is one with limitless possibilities and one which has been used countless times since in the likes of GAME OF DEATH and HARD TARGET. It also probably influenced the man vs. man cat-and-mouse antics of DIE HARD and all the films which followed but here you see it for the first time.

The acting is pretty good, with Joel McCrea as a talented and likable hero who does everything that an action man should. The unbeatable Fay Wray (from KING KONG, of course) lends her vocal chords to a glamorous woman-in-peril role, just a year before she'd appear in the same sets being chased by a gigantic ape. Leslie Banks puts in a camp performance as the sinister Count Zaroff and seems to be trying to ape Bela Lugosi's acting style. The fact that half his face was paralysed as a result of injuries sustained during the First World War makes him all the more eerie. Noble Johnson, a black actor used to playing slaves, zombies or man servants, is unusually cast as a Cossack and dons 'white face' makeup throughout.

The plot is kept nicely simple and doesn't need to be complicated - there are no unnecessary characters, everybody has their own purpose. The only flaw I can think of with the film is a blatantly unrealistic shipwreck scene which looks just like a model - other than this, everything about the film is flawless. Obviously the best part of the film is the 20-minute chase at the conclusion, which has plenty of danger and excitement to please any fan. Traps are set up, arrows and bullets fly everywhere, and a pack of vicious, evil-looking stinking dogs run about and savage people. Remember how in Dracula the camera shied away from all the violence and left it off screen? Not so here. If you ever thought that all '30s films were prudish when it came to violence then think again. This film has it all - people being killed on screen, severed heads on plaques and in tanks, stabbings, and even a gruesome spine-breaking which comes out of nowhere. Apparently the film was even more gruesome, but after the adverse reaction of a test audience the gory shots had to be significantly reduced and the footage is now lost, which is a shame. Still, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is nevertheless a supremely entertaining thrill-ride of a film that stands up to repeat viewing and should be a staple for all fans of classic cinema.