WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.000 Now, Roma Wines presents... 00:04.000 --> 00:10.000 Suspense! 00:10.000 --> 00:24.000 Tonight, the most dangerous game starring Joseph Cotton with J. Carroll Nash. 00:24.000 --> 00:31.000 Suspense is presented for your enjoyment by Roma Wines. That's R-O-M-A. Roma Wines. 00:31.000 --> 00:36.000 Those excellent California wines that can add so much pleasantness to the way you live. 00:36.000 --> 00:42.000 A most interesting woman who extracts all the simple pleasure and happiness possible from living is 00:42.000 --> 00:49.000 Elsa Maxwell, International Authority on Hospitality. She offers you some friendly counsel. 00:49.000 --> 00:56.000 I am always telling people to take it easy, as they say, to be moderate and natural and at ease. 00:56.000 --> 01:04.000 And so obviously I suggest the enjoyment of a glass of Roma California Port after dinner or during the evening. 01:04.000 --> 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. 01:11.000 --> 01:16.000 Richly fruity in flavor, with wonderful deep red color, utterly delicious. 01:16.000 --> 01:21.000 This is simple enjoyment, easy and restful enjoyment. 01:21.000 --> 01:26.000 Moderate pleasure that helps you feel calmly at ease and so happier. 01:26.000 --> 01:33.000 Don't bother about special glasses. Just use whatever glasses are convenient and enjoy your wine. 01:33.000 --> 01:36.000 You really should act on Miss Maxwell's suggestion. 01:36.000 --> 01:44.000 Roma Port, as all Roma wines, is the best that California's magnificent sun-rifened grapes can provide. 01:44.000 --> 01:51.000 In glorious flavor, color, and aroma is unvaryingly good, always enjoyable. 01:51.000 --> 01:58.000 Protected for you by the ancient skill of the noted Roma wineries located in the choicest vineyard areas of California. 01:58.000 --> 02:03.000 Yet all this delight costs you only pennies a glass. 02:03.000 --> 02:09.000 Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 02:09.000 --> 02:14.000 Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma wines. 02:14.000 --> 02:23.000 Yes, right now a glass full would be very pleasant as Roma wines bring you Mr. Joseph Cotton as Sang Aranford, 02:23.000 --> 02:28.000 with J. Carroll Nash as General Zoroff in the greatest manhunt story written in our time, 02:28.000 --> 02:34.000 the most dangerous game, a supreme adventure in suspense. 02:34.000 --> 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. 02:55.000 --> 02:58.000 It's him or me, and I'm going to do my best to make it him. 02:58.000 --> 03:00.000 Maybe it sounds crazy to you, I guess it does. 03:00.000 --> 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. 03:04.000 --> 03:06.000 I was on a pleasure trip. 03:06.000 --> 03:09.000 A pleasure trip. 03:09.000 --> 03:13.000 How could I or anyone realize then the horror and torment I was to go through? 03:13.000 --> 03:17.000 How was I to know of Ivan and the death swamp and the hounds? 03:17.000 --> 03:18.000 How was I to know of Zoroff? 03:18.000 --> 03:20.000 Think of it. 03:20.000 --> 03:23.000 It was only four nights ago that the ship went down. 03:23.000 --> 03:29.000 We'd been talking about the island, Ship Trap Island, Whitney said it was called on the charts. 03:29.000 --> 03:32.000 He was sleepy and started on down below to turn in. 03:32.000 --> 03:36.000 I was mixing myself a nightcap when I looked up and saw it. 03:36.000 --> 03:39.000 A tremendous reef racing at us out of the fog. 03:39.000 --> 03:41.000 It screamed out a warning, but it was too late. 03:41.000 --> 03:59.000 We were right up on it. 03:59.000 --> 04:02.000 The ship exploded right on top of Whitney and the members of the crew. 04:02.000 --> 04:06.000 The force of the explosion hurled me into the blood-warm waters. 04:06.000 --> 04:12.000 Terrified of the suddenness, surprised, my stomach weak and thick at the thought of the others. 04:12.000 --> 04:16.000 The sea was eddying furiously around, thinking rampant for the ship and a certain coolheadedness. 04:16.000 --> 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. 04:22.000 --> 04:26.000 I struck out to the right in the direction of the island Whitney had been telling me about. 04:26.000 --> 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. 04:33.000 --> 04:37.000 With my remaining strength, I dragged myself from the swirling waters. 04:37.000 --> 04:41.000 Jagged crags appeared to jet up endlessly into the night. 04:41.000 --> 04:44.000 All in, gasping, my hands raw. 04:44.000 --> 04:47.000 I at last reached a flat place at the top. 04:47.000 --> 04:50.000 Plung myself down at the jungle edge. 04:50.000 --> 04:55.000 Tumbled headlong into the deepest sleep of my life. 04:55.000 --> 05:04.000 When I awoke, I was in a strange place, having no idea how I got there. 05:04.000 --> 05:07.000 Our friend seems to be awakening. 05:07.000 --> 05:09.000 Hmm? What? 05:09.000 --> 05:11.000 Who? Where is this? 05:11.000 --> 05:14.000 Where am I? Where's Whitney? 05:14.000 --> 05:17.000 Oh, do not be alarmed, my friend. 05:17.000 --> 05:20.000 My man, Ivan, found you on the cliff. 05:20.000 --> 05:22.000 He brought you here to be taken care of. 05:22.000 --> 05:26.000 Oh, that's life on this island. I hardly believed. 05:26.000 --> 05:28.000 Well, few people do. 05:28.000 --> 05:32.000 Yes, you are quite safe here in my castle. Mr. uh... 05:32.000 --> 05:35.000 Rainsford. I'm Sanger Rainsford of New York. My yard... 05:35.000 --> 05:37.000 Oh, ho! Sanger Rainsford. 05:37.000 --> 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. 05:46.000 --> 05:47.000 You know me? 05:47.000 --> 05:52.000 By reputation only. I've read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet. 05:52.000 --> 05:53.000 Oh. 05:53.000 --> 05:56.000 You see, my name is General Zaroff. 05:56.000 --> 06:00.000 Well, I can't tell you how happy I am to meet you, General. 06:00.000 --> 06:04.000 And I cannot tell you how happy I am to meet you, Mr. Rainsford. 06:04.000 --> 06:09.000 But come, we shouldn't be chatting here. We can talk later. You must be hungry. 06:09.000 --> 06:10.000 I am, Ruffer. 06:10.000 --> 06:11.000 Uh... 06:11.000 --> 06:12.000 What? 06:12.000 --> 06:16.000 Well, Ivan, he thought you would like a robe. He's drying your clothes for you. 06:16.000 --> 06:17.000 Oh, thank you. 06:17.000 --> 06:21.000 Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow, but you must not mind his look. 06:21.000 --> 06:26.000 His ears were cut off in battle and he has the misfortune to be deaf and dumb. 06:26.000 --> 06:29.000 He is sensitive about his appearance. 06:29.000 --> 06:34.000 A simple fellow, really, but I'm afraid a bit savage. 06:34.000 --> 06:35.000 Oh? 06:35.000 --> 06:36.000 He has been in our family for years. 06:36.000 --> 06:37.000 Uh... 06:37.000 --> 06:38.000 Uh... 06:38.000 --> 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. 06:45.000 --> 06:47.000 Uh... does the robe fit you all right? 06:47.000 --> 06:49.000 Oh, yes, yes. Perfectly. Thanks. 06:49.000 --> 06:51.000 Hmm. 06:51.000 --> 06:57.000 You have quite a collection of heads here. Lions, tigers, elephants, moose, bears. 06:57.000 --> 07:00.000 I don't believe I've ever seen more perfect specimens. 07:00.000 --> 07:02.000 They are nice. I take great pride in them. 07:02.000 --> 07:03.000 You have good cards. 07:03.000 --> 07:07.000 Well, coming from you, Mr. Rainsford, that is a great compliment. 07:07.000 --> 07:09.000 Well, here we are. If you will sit over there, please. 07:09.000 --> 07:10.000 Oh, thank you. 07:10.000 --> 07:12.000 All right, Ivan. 07:12.000 --> 07:14.000 Oh. 07:14.000 --> 07:15.000 Well. 07:15.000 --> 07:16.000 This soup looks delicious. 07:16.000 --> 07:18.000 Thank you. 07:18.000 --> 07:22.000 Perhaps you were surprised that I recognized your name, Mr. Rainsford. 07:22.000 --> 07:25.000 Well, you see, I read all books on hunting. 07:25.000 --> 07:29.000 I have but one passion in my life, and it is the hunt. 07:29.000 --> 07:34.000 Your head's a really remarkable, General. That Cape Buffalo is the largest I've ever seen. 07:34.000 --> 07:39.000 You know, I've always thought the Cape Buffalo the most dangerous of all games. 07:39.000 --> 07:43.000 No, you are wrong, sir. The Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous game. 07:43.000 --> 07:45.000 He runs. He runs. 07:45.000 --> 07:47.000 How does he understand you? 07:47.000 --> 07:49.000 He reads my lips. 07:49.000 --> 07:55.000 I think you will like the champagne, Mr. Rainsford. Ivan chills it expertly. 07:55.000 --> 07:59.000 No, the Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous game. 07:59.000 --> 08:03.000 Here in my preserve on this island, I hunt more dangerous games. 08:03.000 --> 08:05.000 Is there a big game on this island? 08:05.000 --> 08:06.000 The biggest. 08:06.000 --> 08:07.000 Really? 08:07.000 --> 08:11.000 Oh, it isn't here naturally. Of course, I have to start the island. 08:11.000 --> 08:14.000 Oh, well, what have you imported, General? Jaguars? 08:14.000 --> 08:18.000 No, hunting jaguars ceased to interest me some years ago. 08:18.000 --> 08:20.000 I exhausted their possibilities, you see. 08:20.000 --> 08:23.000 Oh, may I pour you another glass of champagne, Mr. Rainsford? 08:23.000 --> 08:24.000 Thank you, General. 08:24.000 --> 08:26.000 Hmm. Well, that's good. 08:26.000 --> 08:32.000 You know, God makes some men poets, some he makes kings, some beggars. 08:32.000 --> 08:37.000 Me, he made a hunter. My hand was made for the trigger my father once said. 08:37.000 --> 08:41.000 My whole life has been one prolonged hunt. 08:41.000 --> 08:43.000 I have hunted every kind of game in every land. 08:43.000 --> 08:49.000 Grizzlies in the Iraqis, crocodiles in the Ganges, rhinoceros in East Africa. 08:49.000 --> 08:51.000 Ha! Jaguars. 08:51.000 --> 08:54.000 In the Amazon, I hunted jaguars. 08:54.000 --> 08:56.000 I heard they were unusually cunning. 08:56.000 --> 08:59.000 Ah, they weren't. 08:59.000 --> 09:03.000 They were no much at all for a hunter with his wits about him and a high-powered rifle. 09:03.000 --> 09:06.000 I was bitterly disappointed. 09:06.000 --> 09:10.000 I was lying in my tent with a splitting headache one night 09:10.000 --> 09:14.000 when a terrible thought pushed its way into my mind. 09:14.000 --> 09:19.000 Hunting was beginning to bore me, and hunting, remember, had been my life. 09:19.000 --> 09:21.000 Well, this was a tragic moment, was it not, Mr. Rainsford? 09:21.000 --> 09:23.000 It must have been indeed, General Zara. 09:23.000 --> 09:25.000 Fortunately, that never happened to me. 09:25.000 --> 09:29.000 Ah, but you are much younger than I am, Mr. Rainsford, and you have not hunted much. 09:29.000 --> 09:34.000 But you perhaps can guess why the hunt no longer fascinated me. 09:34.000 --> 09:35.000 You'll have to tell me, General. 09:35.000 --> 09:41.000 Well, hunting had ceased to be what you call a sporting proposition. 09:41.000 --> 09:44.000 It had become too easy. I always got my quarry, always. 09:44.000 --> 09:46.000 No animal had a chance with me anymore. 09:46.000 --> 09:49.000 The animal had nothing but his legs and his instinct. 09:49.000 --> 09:52.000 Instinct is no match for reason. 09:52.000 --> 09:53.000 I see. 09:53.000 --> 09:57.000 It came to me as an inspiration, what I must do. 09:57.000 --> 09:58.000 And that was? 09:58.000 --> 10:00.000 Well, I had to invent a new animal to hunt. 10:00.000 --> 10:02.000 A new animal? Are you kidding? 10:02.000 --> 10:03.000 Not at all. 10:03.000 --> 10:05.000 I never joke about hunting. 10:05.000 --> 10:10.000 I needed a new animal. I found one, so I bought this island and built this castle. 10:10.000 --> 10:12.000 And here I do my hunting. 10:12.000 --> 10:15.000 The island is perfect for my purposes. 10:15.000 --> 10:18.000 There are jungles with mazes of prails in them hills, swamps. 10:18.000 --> 10:20.000 But the animal, General Zara... 10:20.000 --> 10:23.000 Well, I wanted the ideal animal to hunt. 10:23.000 --> 10:27.000 So I said, what are the attributes of an ideal quarry? 10:27.000 --> 10:29.000 And the answer was, of course. 10:29.000 --> 10:34.000 It must have courage, cunning, and above all, it must be able to reason. 10:34.000 --> 10:36.000 But no animal can reason. 10:36.000 --> 10:40.000 My dear fellow, there is one that can. 10:40.000 --> 10:41.000 One? 10:41.000 --> 10:42.000 One. 10:42.000 --> 10:43.000 You can't mean... 10:43.000 --> 10:45.000 And why not? 10:45.000 --> 10:48.000 I can't believe you're serious, General Zara, if you're just joking. 10:48.000 --> 10:51.000 Joking? I'm quite serious. 10:51.000 --> 10:53.000 I'm speaking about hunting. 10:53.000 --> 10:55.000 Hunting? You're speaking of murder. 10:55.000 --> 11:01.000 You may not know the words, but I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill-founded. 11:01.000 --> 11:02.000 I doubt that. 11:02.000 --> 11:04.000 I hunt the scum of the earth. 11:04.000 --> 11:07.000 Sailors from tramp ships, laskas, mongrels. 11:07.000 --> 11:08.000 But they are men. 11:08.000 --> 11:09.000 Precisely. 11:09.000 --> 11:11.000 That is why I use them. 11:11.000 --> 11:14.000 They can reason after refraction. 11:14.000 --> 11:16.000 Oh, they are dangerous. 11:16.000 --> 11:18.000 But where do you get them? 11:18.000 --> 11:21.000 Well, we will visit my training school. It is in the cellar. 11:21.000 --> 11:23.000 I have about a hundred of them. 11:23.000 --> 11:25.000 I have about a dozen of them. 11:25.000 --> 11:28.000 They are from the Spanish bar, Sanlacal. 11:28.000 --> 11:31.000 They are very lucky to go on the rocks out there. 11:31.000 --> 11:34.000 A very inferior lot, I regret to say. 11:34.000 --> 11:35.000 Another glass? No. 11:35.000 --> 11:37.000 You see, it is a game. 11:37.000 --> 11:40.000 I suggest to one of them that we go hunting. 11:40.000 --> 11:43.000 I give him a supply of food and an excellent hunting knife. 11:43.000 --> 11:45.000 I give him two hours to start. 11:45.000 --> 11:49.000 If my quarry loses me for three whole days, he wins the game. 11:49.000 --> 11:51.000 If I find him... 11:51.000 --> 11:53.000 If I find him... 11:53.000 --> 11:55.000 Who will he lose to? 11:55.000 --> 11:57.000 Suppose he refused to be hunted. 11:57.000 --> 12:00.000 Well, I give him his choice, of course. 12:00.000 --> 12:03.000 He need not play that game if he does not wish to. 12:03.000 --> 12:06.000 If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan. 12:06.000 --> 12:11.000 Ivan used to be official knouter to my old king. 12:11.000 --> 12:13.000 And he has his own ideas of sport. 12:13.000 --> 12:19.000 Invariably, Mr. Rensford, invariably they choose to hunt. 12:19.000 --> 12:21.000 And if they win? 12:21.000 --> 12:23.000 Well, to date, I have not lost. 12:23.000 --> 12:27.000 Oh, I do not wish to think me a brag of Mr. Rensford. 12:27.000 --> 12:31.000 Many of them for only the most elementary sort of problem. 12:31.000 --> 12:34.000 Occasionally, I strike a tartar. 12:34.000 --> 12:36.000 One almost did win. 12:36.000 --> 12:39.000 I eventually had to use the hound. 12:39.000 --> 12:40.000 The hound? 12:40.000 --> 12:43.000 This way, please. Come, I will show you. 12:43.000 --> 12:45.000 See, wait a minute. I will open the window. 12:45.000 --> 12:50.000 Ah, nice boy. 12:50.000 --> 12:53.000 Hello, boy. 12:53.000 --> 12:57.000 They are a rather good lot, I think. 12:57.000 --> 12:59.000 They are let out at seven every night. 12:59.000 --> 13:03.000 If anyone should try to get into my castle or out of it... 13:03.000 --> 13:06.000 Something extremely regrettable would occur to him. 13:06.000 --> 13:08.000 But enough of this. Come. 13:08.000 --> 13:13.000 I want to show you a collection of heads I am quite sure you have never seen before. 13:13.000 --> 13:15.000 Will you join me in the laboratory for a moment? 13:15.000 --> 13:17.000 Look here, General Zoroff. 13:17.000 --> 13:22.000 I appreciate your hospitality and your rescuing me more than I can say, but I... 13:22.000 --> 13:25.000 Well, I am not bored with hunting. 13:25.000 --> 13:27.000 Oh, good, good, excellent. 13:27.000 --> 13:30.000 Tonight we will hunt, then, eh, Rensford? 13:30.000 --> 13:32.000 General, I wish to leave this island at once. 13:32.000 --> 13:35.000 Tonight, I wish to leave this island at once. 13:35.000 --> 13:38.000 Tonight, we will hunt, you and I. 13:38.000 --> 13:41.000 You are wrong, General. I won't hunt. I won't murder. 13:41.000 --> 13:43.000 Oh, that is too bad. 13:43.000 --> 13:45.000 Well, as you wish, my friend. 13:45.000 --> 13:47.000 The choice rests entirely with you. 13:47.000 --> 13:53.000 But may I not venture to suggest to you that you will find my idea of sport more 13:53.000 --> 13:55.000 more fun than you want? 13:55.000 --> 13:56.000 Now, wait a minute. 13:56.000 --> 13:57.000 My dear fellow. 13:57.000 --> 14:01.000 You don't... you... you don't mean you plan to hunt me. 14:01.000 --> 14:04.000 My dear fellow, I will not let you go. 14:04.000 --> 14:09.000 My dear fellow, have I not told you I always mean what I say about hunting? 14:09.000 --> 14:11.000 This is really an inspiration. 14:11.000 --> 14:15.000 I drink to a form and worthy of my steel at last. 14:15.000 --> 14:19.000 I simply can't believe this must be some sort of a dream. 14:19.000 --> 14:26.000 Your brain against mine, your woodcraft against mine, your strength, your stamina against mine, 14:26.000 --> 14:30.000 outdoor chess, and the steak is not without value, eh? 14:30.000 --> 14:31.000 And if I win? 14:31.000 --> 14:35.000 Oh, then I will cheerfully acknowledge myself defeated, and if I do not find you by midnight 14:35.000 --> 14:39.000 of the third day, my sloop will place you on the mainland near the town. 14:39.000 --> 14:41.000 Oh, you can trust me. 14:41.000 --> 14:45.000 I will give you my word as a gentleman and a sportsman. 14:45.000 --> 14:49.000 Of course, you in turn must agree to say nothing of your visit here. 14:49.000 --> 14:51.000 I'll agree to nothing of the kind. 14:51.000 --> 14:52.000 Oh. 14:52.000 --> 14:54.000 Well, in that case... 14:54.000 --> 14:57.000 Well, but why discuss that now? 14:57.000 --> 15:01.000 Three days hence, we can discuss it, unless... 15:01.000 --> 15:04.000 Well, what is your choice, Mr. Raines Walsh? 15:04.000 --> 15:06.000 I'm a hunter. You know my choice. 15:06.000 --> 15:07.000 Good. 15:07.000 --> 15:11.000 Ivan Hero will supply you with hunting clothes, food, and knives. 15:14.000 --> 15:17.000 I suggest you wear markers since they leave a poor trail. 15:17.000 --> 15:23.000 I suggest too that you avoid the big swamp in the northeast corner of the island. 15:23.000 --> 15:25.000 We call it Death Swamp. 15:25.000 --> 15:27.000 There's quicksand there. 15:27.000 --> 15:29.000 Well, I must beg you to excuse me now. 15:29.000 --> 15:32.000 I always take siesta after lunch. 15:32.000 --> 15:34.000 You will want to start, no doubt. 15:34.000 --> 15:36.000 Well, au revoir, Mr. Raines Walsh. 15:36.000 --> 15:39.000 Look here. Isn't there any way I can... 15:50.000 --> 15:52.000 I had fought my way through the bush for two hours, 15:52.000 --> 15:55.000 repeating to myself over and over again, 15:55.000 --> 15:58.000 I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve. 15:58.000 --> 16:01.000 My whole idea at first was to put distance between myself and General Zorov, 16:01.000 --> 16:04.000 and to this end I had plunged along through the thicket, 16:04.000 --> 16:08.000 spurred on by the sharp growls of something very much like panic. 16:08.000 --> 16:11.000 Now, I had got a grip on myself, it stopped, 16:11.000 --> 16:13.000 and was taking stock of the situation. 16:13.000 --> 16:15.000 I saw that straight flight was futile. 16:15.000 --> 16:18.000 Inevitably, it would bring me face to face with the sea. 16:18.000 --> 16:20.000 I'll give him a trail to follow, I muttered, 16:20.000 --> 16:23.000 and I struck off from the rude path I had been following 16:23.000 --> 16:25.000 and into the trackless wilderness. 16:25.000 --> 16:27.000 I made a series of intricate loops. 16:27.000 --> 16:29.000 I doubled on my trail again and again, 16:29.000 --> 16:33.000 recalling all the lore of the fox hunt and all the dodges of the fox. 16:33.000 --> 16:36.000 Night found me exhausted, my hands and face lashed by the branches 16:36.000 --> 16:38.000 on a thickly wooded ridge. 16:38.000 --> 16:41.000 My need for rest was imperative, and I thought, 16:41.000 --> 16:44.000 I played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable. 16:44.000 --> 16:48.000 The big tree with a thick trunk that outspread branches was nearby, 16:48.000 --> 16:50.000 and taking care to leave not the slightest mark, 16:50.000 --> 16:54.000 I climbed up and stretched out on one of the broad limbs. 16:54.000 --> 16:57.000 Rest brought me new confidence and almost a feeling of security, 16:57.000 --> 17:01.000 even so expert a hunter as General Sotov could not trace me here, 17:01.000 --> 17:03.000 I assured myself. 17:03.000 --> 17:06.000 An apprehensive night crawled slowly by, 17:06.000 --> 17:10.000 my mind keenly alert for any sound, any warning, 17:10.000 --> 17:14.000 and towards the dawn, an instinct I never knew existed, 17:14.000 --> 17:15.000 like an animal must possess, 17:15.000 --> 17:19.000 impel me to look far in the distance and a-west of the direction. 17:19.000 --> 17:23.000 Sure enough, following the trail with the sureness of a bloodhound, 17:23.000 --> 17:25.000 came General Sotov. 17:25.000 --> 17:27.000 Nothing escaped those searching black eyes, 17:27.000 --> 17:30.000 no crushed blade of grass, no bent twig, no mark, 17:30.000 --> 17:32.000 no matter how faint, in the moss. 17:32.000 --> 17:34.000 My heart pounding curiously, I slid down quickly from the tree 17:34.000 --> 17:36.000 and struck off again in the woods. 17:36.000 --> 17:37.000 I knew I had to do something desperate, 17:37.000 --> 17:39.000 I knew I had little time in which to do it. 17:39.000 --> 17:40.000 Three hundred yards from my hiding place, 17:40.000 --> 17:43.000 I stopped where a huge dead tree leaned precariously 17:43.000 --> 17:45.000 on a smaller living one. 17:45.000 --> 17:47.000 Throwing off my sack of food, I took my knife from the sheep 17:47.000 --> 17:50.000 and began to walk with all my energy. 17:50.000 --> 17:52.000 The job was finished at last, 17:52.000 --> 17:57.000 and I threw myself down behind a fallen log a hundred feet away. 17:57.000 --> 17:59.000 I did not have to wait long. 17:59.000 --> 18:16.000 Terrible Dyar! 18:16.000 --> 18:17.000 What? 18:21.800 --> 18:23.200 Get him, get him. 18:24.800 --> 18:25.800 What? 18:26.600 --> 18:30.600 Hey, Rainesborn, if you are with the sound of my voice, 18:30.800 --> 18:34.600 as I suppose you are, let me congratulate you. 18:34.800 --> 18:38.400 Not many men know how to make a Malay mancatcher. 18:38.600 --> 18:43.000 Luckily for me, I too have hunted in Malacca. 18:43.000 --> 18:46.400 You are proving interesting, Mr. Rainesborn. 18:46.600 --> 18:49.200 You are proving interesting. 18:49.400 --> 18:52.800 The tree brushed my shoulder as I jumped back. 18:53.000 --> 18:56.800 I am going to have the wound rest, it is only slight. 18:57.000 --> 19:00.200 But I shall be back, Mr. Rainesborn. 19:00.400 --> 19:02.400 I shall be back. 19:02.400 --> 19:04.400 It was flight now. 19:04.600 --> 19:07.400 A desperate, hopeless flight that carried me on for hours. 19:07.600 --> 19:09.200 I don't know where I got the strength. 19:09.400 --> 19:12.400 I kept telling myself over and over again that I must keep my nerve. 19:12.600 --> 19:15.200 That I was competing with a monster, a super huntsman. 19:15.400 --> 19:17.200 Dust came, then darkness. 19:17.400 --> 19:19.000 And still I managed to press on. 19:19.200 --> 19:21.200 The ground grew softer under my moxibustions. 19:21.400 --> 19:22.800 The vegetation grew rancor, denser. 19:23.000 --> 19:24.800 Insects bit at me savagely. 19:25.000 --> 19:26.800 I was a man of my word. 19:27.000 --> 19:28.800 I was a man of my word. 19:29.000 --> 19:30.800 I was a man of my word. 19:30.800 --> 19:32.600 The insects bit at me savagely. 19:32.800 --> 19:35.000 Suddenly as I stepped forward, my foot back into the ooze. 19:35.200 --> 19:36.400 I'd wrench it back. 19:36.600 --> 19:40.000 The mud sucked viciously at my foot like a giant leech. 19:40.200 --> 19:43.000 With a vile of effort, I tore my foot loose. 19:43.200 --> 19:44.600 I knew where I was then. 19:44.800 --> 19:46.800 Death swarmed in its quicksand. 19:47.000 --> 19:49.400 But the softness of the earth had given me an idea. 19:49.600 --> 19:51.000 I stepped back from the quicksand a dozen feet, 19:51.200 --> 19:52.400 so I began to dig. 19:52.600 --> 19:54.800 When the pit was above my shoulders, I climbed out. 19:55.000 --> 19:56.600 And from some hard saplings, 19:56.800 --> 19:59.000 cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. 19:59.000 --> 20:00.800 These stakes I planted in the bottom of the pit, 20:01.000 --> 20:02.800 with a point sticking up as fast as I could. 20:03.000 --> 20:05.000 I wore the rough carpet of weeds and branches, 20:05.200 --> 20:06.800 and with it covered the mouth of the pit. 20:07.000 --> 20:10.000 Then, wet with sweat and aching with tiredness, 20:10.200 --> 20:13.600 I crouched behind this stump of a lightning-charred tree. 20:13.800 --> 20:15.000 A new zaraf was coming. 20:15.200 --> 20:18.400 I could hear the paddling sound of feet on the soft earth. 20:18.600 --> 20:20.800 He was not feeling his way along foot by foot. 20:21.000 --> 20:23.000 He was coming and coming fast. 20:23.200 --> 20:26.200 Crouching there, I couldn't see him nor the pit. 20:26.400 --> 20:28.200 I lived a year and a minute. 20:28.200 --> 20:31.000 Frozen, every muscle tensed. 20:45.600 --> 20:47.600 Excellent, Rainford. 20:47.800 --> 20:49.200 Yes, excellent. 20:49.400 --> 20:50.800 You have done well. 20:51.000 --> 20:55.400 Your burmese tiger pit has climbed one of my finest hounds. 20:55.600 --> 20:57.200 Again you scored. 20:57.200 --> 20:59.200 I think, Mr. Rainford, 20:59.400 --> 21:03.400 I will see what you can do against my whole pack. 21:03.600 --> 21:06.200 I am going back to get them now. 21:06.400 --> 21:09.600 Thank you for a most amusing evening. 21:18.800 --> 21:21.200 At daybreak, lying near the swamp, 21:21.400 --> 21:23.400 I was awakened by a sound that made me know 21:23.600 --> 21:26.000 that I had new things to learn about fear. 21:26.000 --> 21:29.200 It was a distant sound, faint and wavering, but I knew it. 21:29.400 --> 21:31.400 It was the baying of a pack of hounds. 21:31.600 --> 21:33.000 I could do one of two things. 21:33.200 --> 21:35.600 I could stay where I was and wait, if that was suicide. 21:35.800 --> 21:38.800 I could flee, if that was postponing the inevitable. 21:39.000 --> 21:42.000 I put my every last hope into that tiger pit. 21:42.200 --> 21:44.200 For the moment I stood there thinking, 21:44.400 --> 21:47.600 all at once an idea that held a wild chance came to me 21:47.800 --> 21:50.200 and, tightening my pulse, I headed away from the swamp. 21:50.400 --> 21:52.000 The baying of the hounds grew nearer. 21:52.200 --> 21:53.600 It would be on me any minute now. 21:53.800 --> 21:54.800 My mind worked frantically. 21:54.800 --> 21:57.200 I thought of a native trick I had learned in Gandhi. 21:57.400 --> 21:59.400 I caught hold of a springy young sapling 21:59.600 --> 22:01.200 and to it fastened my hunting knife, 22:01.400 --> 22:03.200 with a blade pointing down the trail. 22:03.400 --> 22:06.400 With a bit of wild grapevine, I tied back the sapling. 22:06.600 --> 22:09.600 When I ran for my life, the hounds raised their terrifying voices 22:09.800 --> 22:11.200 as if they hit the fresh set. 22:11.400 --> 22:13.400 I knew then how an animal at bay feels. 22:13.600 --> 22:15.800 Last, I had to stop to keep my breath, 22:16.000 --> 22:19.200 but baying of the hounds stopped just as subtly. 22:19.400 --> 22:21.600 And with it, my heart stopped too. 22:21.800 --> 22:23.400 They must have reached the knife. 22:23.400 --> 22:25.800 Excitedly, I shined it up a tree and looked back. 22:26.000 --> 22:28.000 My pursuers had stopped all right. 22:28.200 --> 22:31.800 But the hope that had been in my brain when I climbed, died. 22:32.000 --> 22:33.200 For in the shallow valley, 22:33.400 --> 22:35.600 I saw that General Zoroff was still on his feet. 22:35.800 --> 22:37.000 But Ivan was not. 22:37.200 --> 22:39.000 Apparently, he had come along to hold the hounds. 22:39.200 --> 22:41.600 The knife, driven by the recoil of the springing tree, 22:41.800 --> 22:43.600 had splintered through his chest. 22:43.800 --> 22:47.000 I hardly tumbled to the ground when the pack took up the cry again. 22:47.200 --> 22:50.200 Nerve, nerve, nerve, I patted as I dashed along. 22:50.200 --> 22:53.400 A blue gap showed between the trees, dead ahead. 22:53.600 --> 22:55.200 The hounds were almost on top of me. 22:55.400 --> 22:57.800 I forced myself toward the gap. I reached it. 22:58.000 --> 22:59.600 It was the shore of the sea. 22:59.800 --> 23:03.200 Across the cove, I could see the gloomy gray stone of Zoroff's castle. 23:03.400 --> 23:05.600 Twenty feet below me, the sea rumbled and hissed. 23:05.800 --> 23:06.800 I hesitated. 23:07.000 --> 23:08.600 I heard the hounds. 23:08.600 --> 23:31.200 I heard the hounds. And I leaped far out into the sea. 23:31.400 --> 23:34.000 Oh, the sea was good to me. 23:34.200 --> 23:37.600 And I am here safe in the General's bedroom, waiting for him. 23:37.600 --> 23:40.400 The three days are up and I have eluded him. 23:40.600 --> 23:43.200 But now I know I must go further. 23:43.400 --> 23:46.200 In a moment, we will meet, he and I. 23:46.400 --> 23:48.200 Only one of us is going to live. 23:48.400 --> 23:50.200 You understand that now. 23:50.200 --> 23:51.400 General. 23:56.800 --> 23:58.000 General. 23:59.400 --> 24:00.800 General. 24:01.000 --> 24:02.600 How on earth did you get here? 24:02.800 --> 24:07.400 Swam. I found it easier and quicker than walking through your jungle. 24:07.600 --> 24:08.800 Where? 24:09.000 --> 24:10.800 Well, I congratulate you. 24:11.000 --> 24:12.600 I am glad you are here. 24:12.800 --> 24:14.400 I am glad you are here. 24:14.600 --> 24:16.400 I am glad you are here. 24:16.600 --> 24:18.400 I am glad you are here. 24:18.400 --> 24:21.600 Well, I congratulate you. You have won the game. 24:21.800 --> 24:24.400 No, no, General. I am still the beast at bay. 24:24.600 --> 24:25.800 Here. 24:26.600 --> 24:28.400 Get ready, General Zaraf. 24:28.600 --> 24:29.400 Four? 24:29.600 --> 24:30.600 Yes, two of them. 24:30.800 --> 24:33.000 Oh, well, I see, splendid. 24:33.200 --> 24:36.400 One of us then is to furnish a repast for the hounds. 24:36.600 --> 24:39.800 The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. 24:40.000 --> 24:41.400 En garde, Rainforest. 24:41.600 --> 24:42.600 General. 24:45.400 --> 24:46.600 En garde, Rainforest. 24:46.600 --> 24:48.400 Ah, General. 25:16.600 --> 25:45.240 It's just as my late host said it would be. 25:45.240 --> 26:02.720 A very excellent bed. 26:02.720 --> 26:07.840 And so closes the most dangerous game by Richard Connell, starring Joseph Cotton as Rainsford 26:07.840 --> 26:10.720 with J. Carroll Nash as General Zoroff. 26:10.720 --> 26:13.800 Tonight's study in suspense. 26:13.800 --> 26:20.160 Suspense is produced, edited, and directed by William Spear. 26:20.160 --> 26:25.600 Probably no woman alive has been hostess to so many famous and distinguished people as 26:25.600 --> 26:27.960 Miss Elsa Maxwell. 26:27.960 --> 26:30.780 This is what she says about Roma wine. 26:30.780 --> 26:36.760 When you entertain friends, you do everything you can think of to add to their enjoyment. 26:36.760 --> 26:43.780 And that is why I say when you serve your guests Roma wine, you not only delight them, 26:43.780 --> 26:48.200 you also smartly and genuinely flatter them. 26:48.200 --> 26:56.080 These delicious wines add so much to hospitality and to enjoyment of everyday meals. 26:56.080 --> 27:02.520 Yet it's such a simple, easy addition to the joy of living, so wholesomely moderate and 27:02.520 --> 27:04.640 so inexpensive. 27:04.640 --> 27:08.360 Miss Maxwell gives you good advice. 27:08.360 --> 27:10.760 Enjoy Roma wine regularly. 27:10.760 --> 27:13.480 It's California's finest. 27:13.480 --> 27:18.440 It's good, unburyingly fine in flavor and quality. 27:18.440 --> 27:25.360 Remember, more Americans enjoy Roma than any other wine. 27:25.360 --> 27:30.840 Roma, R-O-M-A, Roma wines. 27:30.840 --> 27:35.740 Joseph Cotton appeared through the courtesy of David O. Selznick and is currently being 27:35.740 --> 27:40.280 seen in the Selznick production since you went away. 27:40.280 --> 27:46.000 J. Carol Nash is soon to be seen in the Paramount picture, a medal for Benny. 27:46.000 --> 27:52.480 Our thanks also to RKO, who began production today on the most dangerous game and through 27:52.480 --> 27:58.800 whose cooperation this story was presented tonight on Suspense. 27:58.800 --> 28:04.520 Ladies and gentlemen, next week you will hear Claire Trevor and Nancy Kelly as co-stars 28:04.520 --> 28:09.040 of Suspense. 28:09.040 --> 28:18.520 Presented by Roma Wines, R-O-M-A, made in California for enjoyment throughout the world. 28:39.040 --> 28:56.360 This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.