Most Dangerous Game (1932) - The Hunt for Human Prey Showing on 16mm film with Movie Mike
Date: Tuesday, September 1st
Time: 8pm
Admission: $10
Location: Morbid Anatomy Museum, 424 Third Avenue, 11215 Brooklyn
Tickets Here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2125802
When shipwrecked on the lonely island of the enigmatic Count Zaroff in his eerie castle lair he will regale you with tale of maintaining the virility of his hunter’s bloodlust: “What I needed was not a new weapon. . . but a new animal. Here on my island I hunt the most dangerous game.”
A movie of gothic atmosphere and brutal urges, filmed on the second-hand jungle island sets of “King Kong,” as well as a second-hand “King Kong” cast that includes the young and lithe Fay Wray, this adaptation of the classic Richard Connell short story will be presented at the Morbid Anatomy Museum on luscious, silvery 16mm film from the collection of 16mm archivist and arcane media maven Movie Mike in the dual role of presenter and projectionist.
But beware Count Zaroff’s secret trophy room! It is down at the bottom of the stair in the great hall of the castle, behind a sinister iron gate where no man has been known to reemerge. “It’s no use Rainsford. He won’t only let you see his trophy room until he takes you on the hunt for the great whatsit!”
While the hunting of human prey has been the feature of contemporary cinema by way of “The Hunger Games” franchise it is the film’s conflation of bloodsport and libidinous desire that fascinates. As the homicidal Zaroff lustily declares: “Only after the kill does man know the true ecstasy of love.”
Mike Olshan is a New York-based journalist, editor and photographer who has been archiving 16mm film for over 40 years. He was formerly editor of the film/TV production journal Millimeter and of Videoplay Magazine. He’s best known as the screening producer and film show host Movie Mike.
Over the years, Mike has produced various film screenings for colleges, museums, senior centers, schools and pub back rooms. His work includes screening and lecturing at the Anthology Film Archives, Millennium Film Workshop and the Robert Beck Memorial Cinema. He has also screened and lectured at the Singapore Art Museum and at Singapore’s independent arts institute, The Substation.
For the past several years, Mike has produced an annual outdoor Community Garden Series in Brooklyn and the Vintage Film Room at the Lunacon Science-Fiction Conventions. He was The Voice In The Night for an irregularly-scheduled series of Midnight Movie Madness shows at Collective Unconscious.
A film photographer who favors the use of high-end vintage equipment, Mike’s a Board member at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition.He’s a frequent contributor of photos, copy and research for the forgotten-ny.com website. If you have a long memory, you might recall his Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy Kit ad in the National Lampoon.
