1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 Now, Roma Wines presents... 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Suspense! 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:24,000 Tonight, the most dangerous game starring Joseph Cotton with J. Carroll Nash. 4 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:31,000 Suspense is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines. 5 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:36,000 Those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live. 6 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:42,000 A most interesting woman who extracts all the simple pleasure and happiness possible from living is 7 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:49,000 Elsa Maxwell, International Authority on Hospitality. She offers you some friendly counsel. 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:56,000 I am always telling people to take it easy, as they say, to be moderate and natural and at ease. 9 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:04,000 And so obviously I suggest the enjoyment of a glass of Roma California Port after dinner or during the evening. 10 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:11,000 It is also very smart to serve when friends drop in, for this is one of the most glorious of all wines. 11 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Richly fruity in flavor, with wonderful deep red color, utterly delicious. 12 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:21,000 This is simple enjoyment, easy and restful enjoyment. 13 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:26,000 Moderate pleasure that helps you feel calmly at ease and so happier. 14 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:33,000 Don't bother about special glasses. Just use whatever glasses are convenient and enjoy your wine. 15 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,000 You really should act on Miss Maxwell's suggestion. 16 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:44,000 Roma Port, as all Roma wines, is the best that California's magnificent sun-rifened grapes can provide. 17 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:51,000 In glorious flavor, color, and aroma is unvaryingly good, always enjoyable. 18 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Protected for you by the ancient skill of the noted Roma wineries located in the choicest vineyard areas of California. 19 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:03,000 Yet all this delight costs you only pennies a glass. 20 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:09,000 Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 21 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,000 Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma wines. 22 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant as Roma wines bring you Mr. Joseph Cotton as Sang Aranford, 23 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,000 with J. Carroll Nash as General Zoroff in the greatest manhunt story written in our time, 24 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:34,000 the most dangerous game, a supreme adventure in suspense. 25 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:55,000 I haven't much time. Any moment now I may come in, and when he does, I'm going to kill him. 26 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000 It's him or me, and I'm going to do my best to make it him. 27 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Maybe it sounds crazy to you, I guess it does. 28 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,000 It would have sounded crazy to me a few days ago when I was laughing and joking with Whitney on the yacht. 29 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,000 I was on a pleasure trip. 30 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,000 A pleasure trip. 31 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000 How could I or anyone realize then the horror and torment I was to go through? 32 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000 How was I to know of Ivan and the death swamp and the hounds? 33 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,000 How was I to know of Zoroff? 34 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Think of it. 35 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,000 It was only four nights ago that the ship went down. 36 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:29,000 We'd been talking about the island, Ship Trap Island, Whitney said it was called on the charts. 37 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:32,000 He was sleepy and started on down below to turn in. 38 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:36,000 I was mixing myself a nightcap when I looked up and saw it. 39 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,000 A tremendous reef racing at us out of the fog. 40 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,000 It screamed out a warning, but it was too late. 41 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:59,000 We were right up on it. 42 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 The ship exploded right on top of Whitney and the members of the crew. 43 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,000 The force of the explosion hurled me into the blood-warm waters. 44 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:12,000 Terrified of the suddenness, surprised, my stomach weak and thick at the thought of the others. 45 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,000 The sea was eddying furiously around, thinking rampant for the ship and a certain coolheadedness. 46 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:22,000 It came to me making me swim desperately away or I might not have lived to go through the horror which was soon to come. 47 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:26,000 I struck out to the right in the direction of the island Whitney had been telling me about. 48 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:33,000 I have no recollection of how long I swam, but all at once I heard the muttering and growling of the sea breaking on a rocky shore. 49 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000 With my remaining strength, I dragged myself from the swirling waters. 50 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,000 Jagged crags appeared to jet up endlessly into the night. 51 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,000 All in, gasping, my hands raw. 52 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,000 I at last reached a flat place at the top. 53 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,000 Plung myself down at the jungle edge. 54 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,000 Tumbled headlong into the deepest sleep of my life. 55 00:04:55,000 --> 00:05:04,000 When I awoke, I was in a strange place, having no idea how I got there. 56 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,000 Our friend seems to be awakening. 57 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Hmm? What? 58 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,000 Who? Where is this? 59 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,000 Where am I? Where's Whitney? 60 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,000 Oh, do not be alarmed, my friend. 61 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,000 My man, Ivan, found you on the cliff. 62 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,000 He brought you here to be taken care of. 63 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,000 Oh, that's life on this island. I hardly believed. 64 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Well, few people do. 65 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Yes, you are quite safe here in my castle. Mr. uh... 66 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,000 Rainsford. I'm Sanger Rainsford of New York. My yard... 67 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Oh, ho! Sanger Rainsford. 68 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Well, it is indeed a very great pleasure and an honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home. 69 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:47,000 You know me? 70 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:52,000 By reputation only. I've read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet. 71 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:53,000 Oh. 72 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,000 You see, my name is General Zaroff. 73 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:00,000 Well, I can't tell you how happy I am to meet you, General. 74 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,000 And I cannot tell you how happy I am to meet you, Mr. Rainsford. 75 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:09,000 But come, we shouldn't be chatting here. We can talk later. You must be hungry. 76 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:10,000 I am, Ruffer. 77 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Uh... 78 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:12,000 What? 79 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,000 Well, Ivan, he thought you would like a robe. He's drying your clothes for you. 80 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:17,000 Oh, thank you. 81 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:21,000 Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow, but you must not mind his look. 82 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:26,000 His ears were cut off in battle and he has the misfortune to be deaf and dumb. 83 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,000 He is sensitive about his appearance. 84 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:34,000 A simple fellow, really, but I'm afraid a bit savage. 85 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Oh? 86 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:36,000 He has been in our family for years. 87 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:37,000 Uh... 88 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Uh... 89 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:45,000 Follow Ivan if you please, Mr. Rainsford. I was about to have lunch just before you woke, but we can have it together now. 90 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,000 Uh... does the robe fit you all right? 91 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Oh, yes, yes. Perfectly. Thanks. 92 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,000 Hmm. 93 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:57,000 You have quite a collection of heads here. Lions, tigers, elephants, moose, bears. 94 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,000 I don't believe I've ever seen more perfect specimens. 95 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,000 They are nice. I take great pride in them. 96 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,000 You have good cards. 97 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Well, coming from you, Mr. Rainsford, that is a great compliment. 98 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,000 Well, here we are. If you will sit over there, please. 99 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:10,000 Oh, thank you. 100 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,000 All right, Ivan. 101 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Oh. 102 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Well. 103 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:16,000 This soup looks delicious. 104 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,000 Thank you. 105 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Perhaps you were surprised that I recognized your name, Mr. Rainsford. 106 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,000 Well, you see, I read all books on hunting. 107 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,000 I have but one passion in my life, and it is the hunt. 108 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,000 Your head's a really remarkable, General. That Cape Buffalo is the largest I've ever seen. 109 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,000 You know, I've always thought the Cape Buffalo the most dangerous of all games. 110 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 No, you are wrong, sir. The Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous game. 111 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,000 He runs. He runs. 112 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,000 How does he understand you? 113 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,000 He reads my lips. 114 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:55,000 I think you will like the champagne, Mr. Rainsford. Ivan chills it expertly. 115 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,000 No, the Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous game. 116 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,000 Here in my preserve on this island, I hunt more dangerous games. 117 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,000 Is there a big game on this island? 118 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:06,000 The biggest. 119 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:07,000 Really? 120 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,000 Oh, it isn't here naturally. Of course, I have to start the island. 121 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,000 Oh, well, what have you imported, General? Jaguars? 122 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,000 No, hunting jaguars ceased to interest me some years ago. 123 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,000 I exhausted their possibilities, you see. 124 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,000 Oh, may I pour you another glass of champagne, Mr. Rainsford? 125 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Thank you, General. 126 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,000 Hmm. Well, that's good. 127 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:32,000 You know, God makes some men poets, some he makes kings, some beggars. 128 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:37,000 Me, he made a hunter. My hand was made for the trigger my father once said. 129 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,000 My whole life has been one prolonged hunt. 130 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 I have hunted every kind of game in every land. 131 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,000 Grizzlies in the Iraqis, crocodiles in the Ganges, rhinoceros in East Africa. 132 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,000 Ha! Jaguars. 133 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,000 In the Amazon, I hunted jaguars. 134 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:56,000 I heard they were unusually cunning. 135 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,000 Ah, they weren't. 136 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:03,000 They were no much at all for a hunter with his wits about him and a high-powered rifle. 137 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 I was bitterly disappointed. 138 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:10,000 I was lying in my tent with a splitting headache one night 139 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,000 when a terrible thought pushed its way into my mind. 140 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,000 Hunting was beginning to bore me, and hunting, remember, had been my life. 141 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Well, this was a tragic moment, was it not, Mr. Rainsford? 142 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,000 It must have been indeed, General Zara. 143 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,000 Fortunately, that never happened to me. 144 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,000 Ah, but you are much younger than I am, Mr. Rainsford, and you have not hunted much. 145 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:34,000 But you perhaps can guess why the hunt no longer fascinated me. 146 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,000 You'll have to tell me, General. 147 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:41,000 Well, hunting had ceased to be what you call a sporting proposition. 148 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,000 It had become too easy. I always got my quarry, always. 149 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,000 No animal had a chance with me anymore. 150 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,000 The animal had nothing but his legs and his instinct. 151 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,000 Instinct is no match for reason. 152 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:53,000 I see. 153 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 It came to me as an inspiration, what I must do. 154 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:58,000 And that was? 155 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,000 Well, I had to invent a new animal to hunt. 156 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,000 A new animal? Are you kidding? 157 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,000 Not at all. 158 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,000 I never joke about hunting. 159 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:10,000 I needed a new animal. I found one, so I bought this island and built this castle. 160 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,000 And here I do my hunting. 161 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:15,000 The island is perfect for my purposes. 162 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,000 There are jungles with mazes of prails in them hills, swamps. 163 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,000 But the animal, General Zara... 164 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 Well, I wanted the ideal animal to hunt. 165 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:27,000 So I said, what are the attributes of an ideal quarry? 166 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,000 And the answer was, of course. 167 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:34,000 It must have courage, cunning, and above all, it must be able to reason. 168 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,000 But no animal can reason. 169 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,000 My dear fellow, there is one that can. 170 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:41,000 One? 171 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:42,000 One. 172 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:43,000 You can't mean... 173 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,000 And why not? 174 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,000 I can't believe you're serious, General Zara, if you're just joking. 175 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,000 Joking? I'm quite serious. 176 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,000 I'm speaking about hunting. 177 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Hunting? You're speaking of murder. 178 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:01,000 You may not know the words, but I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill-founded. 179 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:02,000 I doubt that. 180 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,000 I hunt the scum of the earth. 181 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,000 Sailors from tramp ships, laskas, mongrels. 182 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:08,000 But they are men. 183 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,000 Precisely. 184 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,000 That is why I use them. 185 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,000 They can reason after refraction. 186 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,000 Oh, they are dangerous. 187 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,000 But where do you get them? 188 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,000 Well, we will visit my training school. It is in the cellar. 189 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,000 I have about a hundred of them. 190 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,000 I have about a dozen of them. 191 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,000 They are from the Spanish bar, Sanlacal. 192 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 They are very lucky to go on the rocks out there. 193 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,000 A very inferior lot, I regret to say. 194 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:35,000 Another glass? No. 195 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,000 You see, it is a game. 196 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,000 I suggest to one of them that we go hunting. 197 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,000 I give him a supply of food and an excellent hunting knife. 198 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,000 I give him two hours to start. 199 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:49,000 If my quarry loses me for three whole days, he wins the game. 200 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,000 If I find him... 201 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,000 If I find him... 202 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,000 Who will he lose to? 203 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,000 Suppose he refused to be hunted. 204 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,000 Well, I give him his choice, of course. 205 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,000 He need not play that game if he does not wish to. 206 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,000 If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan. 207 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:11,000 Ivan used to be official knouter to my old king. 208 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,000 And he has his own ideas of sport. 209 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Invariably, Mr. Rensford, invariably they choose to hunt. 210 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,000 And if they win? 211 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,000 Well, to date, I have not lost. 212 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,000 Oh, I do not wish to think me a brag of Mr. Rensford. 213 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,000 Many of them for only the most elementary sort of problem. 214 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Occasionally, I strike a tartar. 215 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,000 One almost did win. 216 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,000 I eventually had to use the hound. 217 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,000 The hound? 218 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,000 This way, please. Come, I will show you. 219 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,000 See, wait a minute. I will open the window. 220 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:50,000 Ah, nice boy. 221 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Hello, boy. 222 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,000 They are a rather good lot, I think. 223 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,000 They are let out at seven every night. 224 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:03,000 If anyone should try to get into my castle or out of it... 225 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Something extremely regrettable would occur to him. 226 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,000 But enough of this. Come. 227 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,000 I want to show you a collection of heads I am quite sure you have never seen before. 228 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,000 Will you join me in the laboratory for a moment? 229 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,000 Look here, General Zoroff. 230 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:22,000 I appreciate your hospitality and your rescuing me more than I can say, but I... 231 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,000 Well, I am not bored with hunting. 232 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,000 Oh, good, good, excellent. 233 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,000 Tonight we will hunt, then, eh, Rensford? 234 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,000 General, I wish to leave this island at once. 235 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,000 Tonight, I wish to leave this island at once. 236 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Tonight, we will hunt, you and I. 237 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:41,000 You are wrong, General. I won't hunt. I won't murder. 238 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,000 Oh, that is too bad. 239 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,000 Well, as you wish, my friend. 240 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,000 The choice rests entirely with you. 241 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:53,000 But may I not venture to suggest to you that you will find my idea of sport more 242 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,000 more fun than you want? 243 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,000 Now, wait a minute. 244 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,000 My dear fellow. 245 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,000 You don't... you... you don't mean you plan to hunt me. 246 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,000 My dear fellow, I will not let you go. 247 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:09,000 My dear fellow, have I not told you I always mean what I say about hunting? 248 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:11,000 This is really an inspiration. 249 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,000 I drink to a form and worthy of my steel at last. 250 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,000 I simply can't believe this must be some sort of a dream. 251 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:26,000 Your brain against mine, your woodcraft against mine, your strength, your stamina against mine, 252 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,000 outdoor chess, and the steak is not without value, eh? 253 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,000 And if I win? 254 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Oh, then I will cheerfully acknowledge myself defeated, and if I do not find you by midnight 255 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,000 of the third day, my sloop will place you on the mainland near the town. 256 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,000 Oh, you can trust me. 257 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,000 I will give you my word as a gentleman and a sportsman. 258 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Of course, you in turn must agree to say nothing of your visit here. 259 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,000 I'll agree to nothing of the kind. 260 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Oh. 261 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:54,000 Well, in that case... 262 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,000 Well, but why discuss that now? 263 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Three days hence, we can discuss it, unless... 264 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000 Well, what is your choice, Mr. Raines Walsh? 265 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,000 I'm a hunter. You know my choice. 266 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,000 Good. 267 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,000 Ivan Hero will supply you with hunting clothes, food, and knives. 268 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,000 I suggest you wear markers since they leave a poor trail. 269 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:23,000 I suggest too that you avoid the big swamp in the northeast corner of the island. 270 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 We call it Death Swamp. 271 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000 There's quicksand there. 272 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,000 Well, I must beg you to excuse me now. 273 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,000 I always take siesta after lunch. 274 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,000 You will want to start, no doubt. 275 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,000 Well, au revoir, Mr. Raines Walsh. 276 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,000 Look here. Isn't there any way I can... 277 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,000 I had fought my way through the bush for two hours, 278 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 repeating to myself over and over again, 279 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,000 I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve. 280 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 My whole idea at first was to put distance between myself and General Zorov, 281 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,000 and to this end I had plunged along through the thicket, 282 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:08,000 spurred on by the sharp growls of something very much like panic. 283 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,000 Now, I had got a grip on myself, it stopped, 284 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,000 and was taking stock of the situation. 285 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,000 I saw that straight flight was futile. 286 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,000 Inevitably, it would bring me face to face with the sea. 287 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,000 I'll give him a trail to follow, I muttered, 288 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,000 and I struck off from the rude path I had been following 289 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000 and into the trackless wilderness. 290 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,000 I made a series of intricate loops. 291 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,000 I doubled on my trail again and again, 292 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000 recalling all the lore of the fox hunt and all the dodges of the fox. 293 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,000 Night found me exhausted, my hands and face lashed by the branches 294 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,000 on a thickly wooded ridge. 295 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,000 My need for rest was imperative, and I thought, 296 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 I played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable. 297 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,000 The big tree with a thick trunk that outspread branches was nearby, 298 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,000 and taking care to leave not the slightest mark, 299 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:54,000 I climbed up and stretched out on one of the broad limbs. 300 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,000 Rest brought me new confidence and almost a feeling of security, 301 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,000 even so expert a hunter as General Sotov could not trace me here, 302 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,000 I assured myself. 303 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,000 An apprehensive night crawled slowly by, 304 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,000 my mind keenly alert for any sound, any warning, 305 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:14,000 and towards the dawn, an instinct I never knew existed, 306 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:15,000 like an animal must possess, 307 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,000 impel me to look far in the distance and a-west of the direction. 308 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Sure enough, following the trail with the sureness of a bloodhound, 309 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,000 came General Sotov. 310 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Nothing escaped those searching black eyes, 311 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,000 no crushed blade of grass, no bent twig, no mark, 312 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,000 no matter how faint, in the moss. 313 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,000 My heart pounding curiously, I slid down quickly from the tree 314 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,000 and struck off again in the woods. 315 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:37,000 I knew I had to do something desperate, 316 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,000 I knew I had little time in which to do it. 317 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:40,000 Three hundred yards from my hiding place, 318 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,000 I stopped where a huge dead tree leaned precariously 319 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,000 on a smaller living one. 320 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Throwing off my sack of food, I took my knife from the sheep 321 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,000 and began to walk with all my energy. 322 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,000 The job was finished at last, 323 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:57,000 and I threw myself down behind a fallen log a hundred feet away. 324 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,000 I did not have to wait long. 325 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:16,000 Terrible Dyar! 326 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,000 What? 327 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:23,200 Get him, get him. 328 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:25,800 What? 329 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,600 Hey, Rainesborn, if you are with the sound of my voice, 330 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,600 as I suppose you are, let me congratulate you. 331 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,400 Not many men know how to make a Malay mancatcher. 332 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,000 Luckily for me, I too have hunted in Malacca. 333 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,400 You are proving interesting, Mr. Rainesborn. 334 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,200 You are proving interesting. 335 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,800 The tree brushed my shoulder as I jumped back. 336 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,800 I am going to have the wound rest, it is only slight. 337 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,200 But I shall be back, Mr. Rainesborn. 338 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,400 I shall be back. 339 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,400 It was flight now. 340 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,400 A desperate, hopeless flight that carried me on for hours. 341 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,200 I don't know where I got the strength. 342 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,400 I kept telling myself over and over again that I must keep my nerve. 343 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,200 That I was competing with a monster, a super huntsman. 344 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,200 Dust came, then darkness. 345 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,000 And still I managed to press on. 346 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:21,200 The ground grew softer under my moxibustions. 347 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:22,800 The vegetation grew rancor, denser. 348 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:24,800 Insects bit at me savagely. 349 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,800 I was a man of my word. 350 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,800 I was a man of my word. 351 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,800 I was a man of my word. 352 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:32,600 The insects bit at me savagely. 353 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,000 Suddenly as I stepped forward, my foot back into the ooze. 354 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:36,400 I'd wrench it back. 355 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,000 The mud sucked viciously at my foot like a giant leech. 356 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,000 With a vile of effort, I tore my foot loose. 357 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:44,600 I knew where I was then. 358 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:46,800 Death swarmed in its quicksand. 359 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,400 But the softness of the earth had given me an idea. 360 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:51,000 I stepped back from the quicksand a dozen feet, 361 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:52,400 so I began to dig. 362 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,800 When the pit was above my shoulders, I climbed out. 363 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:56,600 And from some hard saplings, 364 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,000 cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. 365 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:00,800 These stakes I planted in the bottom of the pit, 366 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,800 with a point sticking up as fast as I could. 367 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,000 I wore the rough carpet of weeds and branches, 368 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:06,800 and with it covered the mouth of the pit. 369 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,000 Then, wet with sweat and aching with tiredness, 370 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,600 I crouched behind this stump of a lightning-charred tree. 371 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:15,000 A new zaraf was coming. 372 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,400 I could hear the paddling sound of feet on the soft earth. 373 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:20,800 He was not feeling his way along foot by foot. 374 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,000 He was coming and coming fast. 375 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,200 Crouching there, I couldn't see him nor the pit. 376 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,200 I lived a year and a minute. 377 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,000 Frozen, every muscle tensed. 378 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Excellent, Rainford. 379 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,200 Yes, excellent. 380 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:50,800 You have done well. 381 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,400 Your burmese tiger pit has climbed one of my finest hounds. 382 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:57,200 Again you scored. 383 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,200 I think, Mr. Rainford, 384 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,400 I will see what you can do against my whole pack. 385 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,200 I am going back to get them now. 386 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,600 Thank you for a most amusing evening. 387 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,200 At daybreak, lying near the swamp, 388 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,400 I was awakened by a sound that made me know 389 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,000 that I had new things to learn about fear. 390 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,200 It was a distant sound, faint and wavering, but I knew it. 391 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:31,400 It was the baying of a pack of hounds. 392 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,000 I could do one of two things. 393 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,600 I could stay where I was and wait, if that was suicide. 394 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,800 I could flee, if that was postponing the inevitable. 395 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,000 I put my every last hope into that tiger pit. 396 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,200 For the moment I stood there thinking, 397 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,600 all at once an idea that held a wild chance came to me 398 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,200 and, tightening my pulse, I headed away from the swamp. 399 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,000 The baying of the hounds grew nearer. 400 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:53,600 It would be on me any minute now. 401 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:54,800 My mind worked frantically. 402 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,200 I thought of a native trick I had learned in Gandhi. 403 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,400 I caught hold of a springy young sapling 404 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:01,200 and to it fastened my hunting knife, 405 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,200 with a blade pointing down the trail. 406 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,400 With a bit of wild grapevine, I tied back the sapling. 407 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,600 When I ran for my life, the hounds raised their terrifying voices 408 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,200 as if they hit the fresh set. 409 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,400 I knew then how an animal at bay feels. 410 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,800 Last, I had to stop to keep my breath, 411 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,200 but baying of the hounds stopped just as subtly. 412 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,600 And with it, my heart stopped too. 413 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,400 They must have reached the knife. 414 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,800 Excitedly, I shined it up a tree and looked back. 415 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,000 My pursuers had stopped all right. 416 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:31,800 But the hope that had been in my brain when I climbed, died. 417 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,200 For in the shallow valley, 418 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,600 I saw that General Zoroff was still on his feet. 419 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:37,000 But Ivan was not. 420 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,000 Apparently, he had come along to hold the hounds. 421 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,600 The knife, driven by the recoil of the springing tree, 422 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,600 had splintered through his chest. 423 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,000 I hardly tumbled to the ground when the pack took up the cry again. 424 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,200 Nerve, nerve, nerve, I patted as I dashed along. 425 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,400 A blue gap showed between the trees, dead ahead. 426 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,200 The hounds were almost on top of me. 427 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:57,800 I forced myself toward the gap. I reached it. 428 00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:59,600 It was the shore of the sea. 429 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,200 Across the cove, I could see the gloomy gray stone of Zoroff's castle. 430 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,600 Twenty feet below me, the sea rumbled and hissed. 431 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:06,800 I hesitated. 432 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:08,600 I heard the hounds. 433 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:31,200 I heard the hounds. And I leaped far out into the sea. 434 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,000 Oh, the sea was good to me. 435 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,600 And I am here safe in the General's bedroom, waiting for him. 436 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,400 The three days are up and I have eluded him. 437 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,200 But now I know I must go further. 438 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,200 In a moment, we will meet, he and I. 439 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,200 Only one of us is going to live. 440 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,200 You understand that now. 441 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:51,400 General. 442 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,000 General. 443 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:00,800 General. 444 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:02,600 How on earth did you get here? 445 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:07,400 Swam. I found it easier and quicker than walking through your jungle. 446 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:08,800 Where? 447 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:10,800 Well, I congratulate you. 448 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,600 I am glad you are here. 449 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:14,400 I am glad you are here. 450 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,400 I am glad you are here. 451 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,400 I am glad you are here. 452 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,600 Well, I congratulate you. You have won the game. 453 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,400 No, no, General. I am still the beast at bay. 454 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:25,800 Here. 455 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,400 Get ready, General Zaraf. 456 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:29,400 Four? 457 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:30,600 Yes, two of them. 458 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,000 Oh, well, I see, splendid. 459 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,400 One of us then is to furnish a repast for the hounds. 460 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,800 The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. 461 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,400 En garde, Rainforest. 462 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:42,600 General. 463 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:46,600 En garde, Rainforest. 464 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,400 Ah, General. 465 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:45,240 It's just as my late host said it would be. 466 00:25:45,240 --> 00:26:02,720 A very excellent bed. 467 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:07,840 And so closes the most dangerous game by Richard Connell, starring Joseph Cotton as Rainsford 468 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,720 with J. Carroll Nash as General Zoroff. 469 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,800 Tonight's study in suspense. 470 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:20,160 Suspense is produced, edited, and directed by William Spear. 471 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:25,600 Probably no woman alive has been hostess to so many famous and distinguished people as 472 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,960 Miss Elsa Maxwell. 473 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,780 This is what she says about Roma wine. 474 00:26:30,780 --> 00:26:36,760 When you entertain friends, you do everything you can think of to add to their enjoyment. 475 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:43,780 And that is why I say when you serve your guests Roma wine, you not only delight them, 476 00:26:43,780 --> 00:26:48,200 you also smartly and genuinely flatter them. 477 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:56,080 These delicious wines add so much to hospitality and to enjoyment of everyday meals. 478 00:26:56,080 --> 00:27:02,520 Yet it's such a simple, easy addition to the joy of living, so wholesomely moderate and 479 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,640 so inexpensive. 480 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,360 Miss Maxwell gives you good advice. 481 00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:10,760 Enjoy Roma wine regularly. 482 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,480 It's California's finest. 483 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:18,440 It's good, unburyingly fine in flavor and quality. 484 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:25,360 Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 485 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:30,840 Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma wines. 486 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:35,740 Joseph Cotton appeared through the courtesy of David O. Selznick and is currently being 487 00:27:35,740 --> 00:27:40,280 seen in the Selznick production since you went away. 488 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:46,000 J. Carol Nash is soon to be seen in the Paramount picture, a medal for Benny. 489 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:52,480 Our thanks also to RKO, who began production today on the most dangerous game and through 490 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:58,800 whose cooperation this story was presented tonight on Suspense. 491 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,520 Ladies and gentlemen, next week you will hear Claire Trevor and Nancy Kelly as co-stars 492 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:09,040 of Suspense. 493 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:18,520 Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. 494 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:56,360 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.