the english class canon

watching the most dangerous game

Joel McCrea as Sanger Rainsford in The Most Dangerous Game

“I wanted the ideal animal to hunt,” explained the general. “So I said, ‘What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?’ And the answer was, of course, ‘It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason.’”

“But no animal can reason,” objected Rainsford.

“My dear fellow,” said the general, “there is one that can.”

You don’t need me to tell you the story, but I’ll tell you anyway: a man is shipwrecked on an island. His name is Sanger Rainsford, he’s a hunter. His genial host, General Zaroff, is a hunter too. A hunter of a curious sort of animal… that’s right… MAN.

The 1932 adaptation of The Most Dangerous Game tweaks its source in numerous ways. First, it adds in a romance in the form of Fay Wray, who does a good job with rather weak material. (Her role’s all right before the hunting kicks off, but after that she is reduced to screaming.) Second, it removes the derangedly principled sportsmanship of Zaroff, making…