I have had a number of copies of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME over the years but this is by far and away the best that I have ever seen and easily the best that I have ever heard. This clearly demonstrates how much Max Steiner’s score contributes to the film just as it would for KING KONG. The opening hunting horn call now sounds more mournful than ever and the strings have real bite. The picture quality, as commented on elsewhere, has a vividness that not even the recent Criterion DVD can match. The booklet and commentary provide a wealth of background information including the fact that Leslie Banks (who looks like a 1930s version of Kenneth Brannagh) was injured fighting in World War I and that his scar was real. However since THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME is well covered in a number of reviews here and elsewhere, it ‘s Edward A. Salisbury’s GOW THE HEADHUNTER that I really want to focus on.
I already knew about Merian C. Cooper’s and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s careers as cameramen and documentary filmmakers before they made KING KONG. I have the Milestone DVD versions of GRASS and CHANG and still consider GRASS to be one of the most remarkable pieces of documentary filmmaking that I have ever seen. It therefore comes as no surprise that they were cameramen on the California born Salisbury’s sojourns to the South Sea Islands in the early 1920s to make a visual record of Native life there. Their experiences assisting principal cameraman Thomas Middleton in shooting the various tribes they encountered would serve them well when they set out to make GRASS and CHANG. It also helped to bring a sense of visual excitement to GAME & KONG. Some of that sense would show up later in SHE (the journey to the Lost City) and even in DR CYCLOPS (the scenes of the tiny people in the jungle).
I’ve always enjoyed the documentary style travelogue films of the the silent era starting with NANOOK OF THE NORTH. I have many of the titles in Milestone Films’ AGE OF DISCOVERY series including Ernest Shackelton’s Endurance saga and Edward S. Curtis’ remarkable IN THE LAND OF THE HEADHUNTERS. GOW however was amazing. Not only for the fascinating subject matter of a vanishing savage culture but for the quality of the film itself considering its incredible history of reissues. This print is of the 1956 release which was retitled CANNIBAL ISLAND and the HD transfer looks better than one could possibly have hoped for. The 1931 narration by crew member William Peck is of greater historical value for capturing the prevailing attitudes of the day than it is for a description of the events taking place. The modern commentary by Matthew Spriggs helps to accurately date and relate what is going on. A truly astonishing release!
The Capsule Critic 