The Most Dangerous Game

This article is about the short story by Richard Edward Connell. For the novel by Gavyn Lyall see The Most Dangerous Game (1963).

"The Most Dangerous Game" (1924) is a short story by Richard Connell. It concerns a big game hunter trapped on the island of a fellow hunter who, bored with conventional prey, has come to see humans as the only quarry worthy of his skill.

Synopsis

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Sanger Rainsford and his friend, Whitney, and are on a boat headed for the Amazon Rainforest, where Rainsford intends to hunt big game. In the middle of the night, Rainsford falls off the boat and washes ashore on an island inhabited by General Zaroff, a Russian noble described as being similar to Count Dracula in appearance. At first Zaroff appears to be a generous host, but it soon becomes clear that he is a madman who has tired of hunting big game and has chosen to hunt humans instead. General Zaroff's experience as a Cossack gives him the perfect qualities for a dangerous, clever hunter. Rainsford is released into the island's jungle, where he is hunted by Zaroff, his deaf/dumb henchman Ivan, and their dogs. After a series of close calls, Rainsford kills Ivan and eludes Zaroff, who returns to his home to find Rainsford waiting for him. Pleased with the opportunity for a final showdown, Zaroff remarks that soon one of them will be food for the dogs and the other will sleep, untroubled, in Zaroff's luxurious bed. The scene then shifts to the aftermath of the fight, as Rainsford concludes that "he had never slept in a better bed."

Direct adaptations

The story has been adapted for film numerous times. The most significant of these adaptations (and apparently the only one to use the original characters) was released in 1932, having been shot (mostly at night) on sets used during the day for the "Skull Island" sequences of King Kong. It starred Joel McCrea as Rainsford (now named "Rober" instead of "Sanger") and Leslie Banks as Zaroff, and added two other principal characters: brother and sister Martin and Eve Trowbridge, played by King Kong stars Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray. The addition of the Trowbridges (stranded along with Rainsford when Zaroff lured their ship onto the rocks) was one of the film's two principal departures from Connell's story. The other was showing the final fight between Rainsford and Zaroff, rather than simply alluding to its outcome. Yet another difference is that Rainsford escapes the island rather than staying in Zaroff's bed at the end.

Running only 63 minutes, the 1932 film was a low-budget production probably intended to play as the lesser half of a double feature. Its tight pacing, accomplished actors, and famous source material have given it a longer life, however, than most B movies of the era.

The story was also twice produced as a radio play for the series Suspense, on 23 September 1943 with Orson Welles as Zaroff, and on 1 February 1945 with frequent Welles collaborator Joseph Cotten playing Rainsford. In these productions, Rainsford narrates the story in retrospect as he waits in Zaroff's bedroom for the final confrontation. The shift from third-person to first-person narration can, like the depiction of the final fight in the movie, be seen as a necessary adaptation to the storytelling conventions of a different medium.

A second movie adaptation, or a remake of the 1932 movie, was produced by RKO (the studio that produced the 1932 original) as A Game of Death, and released in 1945. Directed by Robert Wise at the very beginning of his long and distinguished directing career, the movie was regarded poorly. Footage from the original was recycled, and one actor from the original, Noble Johnson, was cast in this remake. In keeping with events of the time, A Game of Death changed Zaroff into "Erich Kreiger", a German Nazi.

Other adaptations

The basic man-hunting-man plot of "The Most Dangerous Game" has been recycled many times. The following list (which currently includes only English-language examples), is representative but not exhaustive.

Movies

Bloodlust! (1961) starring Robert Reed, which was mocked as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) ends with a lethal duel between James Bond and an infamous assassin, Francisco Scaramanga, on Scaramanga's private island. Bond wins and the movie ends with him sleeping well in Scaramanga's bed (on a yacht, with a woman).
Predator (1987), which has an alien hunter stalking human soldiers led by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the jungles of Central America.
The Running Man (1987), Set in the year 2017, a government sponsored gladiatorial-style competition that takes place in an earthquake-ruined section of Los Angeles, in which several "runners" attempt to survive while being chased by "stalkers".
Hard Target (1993) starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, has wealthy businessmen hunting homeless vets across desolate urban landscapes.
Surviving the Game (1994), which involves a homeless man Ice T being hunted by Gary Busey, Rutger Hauer, and others.
Jumanji (1995) in which the hunter in the magical board game central to the story, Van Pelt , hunts the main character because "[he] rolled the dice".
The Pest (1997) is a comic version of the story in which a Miami con man has to stay alive for 24 hours in order to get $50,000, all the while being hunted by a German hunter.
Series 7: The Contenders (2001) in this darkly comedic spoof of the reality show genre, six contestants are selected from a random lottery and spend the entire show's season hunting each other. The last survivor moves on to the next season. They must survive three seasons in order to obtain their freedom.
The Eliminator (2004) in which six men, each "sponsored" by a different "player" are pitted against professional hunters and against each other, with a fabulous prize promised to the survivor.
Battle Royale - A film about a government-sponsored manhunt event involving middle school children in a dystopian Japan

Television

Television series that used the basic plot elements of "The Most Dangerous Game" include:

Gilligan's Island - a hunter decides to hunt Gilligan while the other castaways struggle to interfere with the hunt. Gilligan wins-and Kincaid the hunter goes insane.
Charlie's Angels - In episode 79, "Angel Hunt," the Angels are trapped on an island and hunted as game by a mysterious man.
The Incredible Hulk - David Banner is trapped on an island with an insane hunter whose job is complicated by Banner's tendency to turn into the Hulk when he is cornered.
Fantasy Island - Mr. Roarke grants a hunting aficionado's wish to hunt the wildest quarry of all — man.
Doctor Who - the serial The Deadly Assassin involves a virtual reality scenario that places the Doctor in a jungle with a villain hunting him.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the episode "Homecoming" features Buffy and Cordelia on the run from manhunters.
The Simpsons - celebrity Rainier Wolfcastle informs Homer that he plans to convert a YMCA into a game park where he can hunt "the most dangerous prey of all: man". The 2005 Halloween Special also features Mr. Burns hunting Springfield men for sport and actually states several times in its dialogue that Burns is hunting "the most dangerous game."
Star Trek - The Squire of Gothos episode-faced with a powerful alien being obsessed with 18th century Earth history, Captain Kirk offers himself up as the quarry in a "fox hunt" in exchange for the freedom of his ship and crew.
Jonny Quest - in the episode "Shadow of the Condor" the Quest team crashland on a mysterious airstrip in the Chilean Mountains and to escape Race Bannon must battle in the skies with an aristoractic former WW1 German air ace who wants to relive his old glory days.
Get Smart - in the episode "Island of the Darned," Agents 86 and 99 are sent to an island where they are hunted by KAOS's Hans Hunter, after agent 27 was murdered by him. {Hunter thinks the chase will be fair-he will have guns and dogs to chase Smart and 99; Smart will have only his intellegence; Smart tries to trade a knife for a gun from one of Hunter's henchmen}.
American Dad! - in "Bullocks To Stan," Stan and his boss, Bullock, take Hayley's boyfriend, Jeff, into the woods to kill him. When Jeff begins crying, Stan suggests that they give him a head-start. Bullock agrees to "make a game of it"; but two seconds into his head-start, Jeff steals their SUV.
Relic Hunter - in "Run Sydney Run," Sydney wakes up on an island and discovers she has been captured by an insane hunter bent on chasing her down and killing her.
Dexter's Laboratory-on an episode of Dial M for Monkey, to save his friends, Monkey must win against Huntor, who tries to hunt Monkey for his trophy wall; Huntor ends up being hunted himself on a alien planet. Huntor later makes a cameo appeareance on Samurai Jack trying to hunt Jack-and failes.

Print

The Marvel Comics supervillain Kraven the Hunter was an insane hunter who repeatedly hunted Spider-Man as the ultimate quarry.
Deathwatch, by Robb White
Hunting Party, by Elizabeth Moon (1993)
Death Game by Franklin W. Dixon Basically the same story-line, except that a renegade ex-Colonel hunts Biff Hooper and the detective brothers.
Dragon, by Clive Cussler (which makes direct reference to the original story).
An article in the January 17, 2006 issue of The Onion, entitled "Maverick Hunter's 'Human Beings As Prey' Plan Not As Challenging As Expected"[1]

Video games

Far Cry (Play begins after protagonist is knocked off a yacht, forcing him to swim away to an exotic tropical island.)
Manhunt A game for the PS2 developed by Rockstar North. The main character is hunted for fun by lethal killers, all the while filmed as the basis for a snuff film. The character must kill or escape his pursuers in order to complete the game.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion makes a short reference to an event where humans are hunted by big game-hunters in the miscellaneous quest "Caught in the Hunt".

External links