This page is about the short story. If a link for "humans hunting humans" brought you here, please change it to Hunting the Most Dangerous Game.
The Most Dangerous Game (also known as The Hounds of Zaroff) is the 1924 short story by Richard Connell.Rainsford, a hunter of big game from New York, finds himself shipwrecked on an island. He finds a big mansion with a bored old general there, who describes his one true passion: hunting. The general tells Rainsford that he only hunts the most dangerous game of all... humans. The full story can be found here.The title has a double meaning, referring both to a "game" or contest between the general and his quarry, as well as "game" in the sense of an animal that is hunted.The story has been directly adapted for film at least eight times, though only twice under its original title: in 1932, with Joel McCrea as Rainsford and Leslie Banks as Zaroff, and in 2008, with Brian Spangler-Campbell and Mark Motyl, respectively. However, it has been imitated by a vastly greater number of works, and is the source and Trope Namer of the Hunting the Most Dangerous Game plot.
Aristocrats Are Evil: In the original film, Zaroff is changed from a general to a count.
Bad Ass: The main character. Not only manages to survive three days in the woods, but also kills two of Zaroff's best hounds and his bodyguard, followed by Zaroff himself.
Big "NO!": By Rainsford at the climax of the movie.
Duel to the Death: Rainsford and Zaroff square off at the end of the story; the winner gets to sleep in Zaroff's opulent bed, while the loser's body will be fed to the hounds. It's pretty clear that Rainsford wins.
He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: In the original film, Zaroff has a large scar on the side of his skull, attributed to an encounter with a Cape buffalo. In Real Life, Leslie Banks was permanently disfigured fighting in World War One.
Modern Minstrelsy: Inverted in the first film. The actor playing Ivan the Cossack (Noble Johnson) was actually an African-American, who went on to have a respected career. This was one of the first ever instances of a black actor donning "whiteface" for a role.
One Name Only: Whitney and Zaroff have no first names, Ivan has no last name.
Prop Recycling: The first movie reused the jungle sets (as well as the stock screams) from King Kong (they were being filmed at the same time, Kong in the daytime and Game at night).
Psychopathic Manchild: Zaroff, essentially with his whole "I always get what I want" mentality.
Rule of Three: Rainsford makes three traps for Zaroff. The first time Rainsford makes the first is a confusing false trail, only for Zaroff to find him because he's just that good. The second time he makes a Malaccan man-catcher, which almost kills Zaroff, but the man dodges just in time. The third trap is a tiger pit with sharpened stakes, which succeeds in killing Zaroff's best hunting dog.
That first one wasn't a trap so much as relatively weak and underestimating attempt to throw Zaroff off. Which makes the Man catcher and the tiger pit the first and second traps respectively. The third trap is a Ugandan knife trap, which takes out Ivan.
Scarily Competent Tracker: As soon as the game begins Rainsford sets out on making the most confounding false trail he can, then covering up his real path. Zaroff finds him anyway.
"I refuse to believe that so modern and civilized a young man as you seem to be harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life... Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships—lascars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels—a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them."
.The title has a double meaning, referring both to a "game" or contest between the general and his quarry, as well as "game" in the sense of an animal that is hunted.The story has been directly adapted for film at least eight times, though only twice under its original title: in 1932, with Joel McCrea as Rainsford and Leslie Banks as Zaroff, and in 2008, with Brian Spangler-Campbell and Mark Motyl, respectively. However, it has been imitated by a vastly greater number of works, and is the source and Trope Namer of the Hunting the Most Dangerous Game plot.
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