The Most Dangerous Game (Radio Edit S3 | E137)

“They call it Shiptrap Island” Rainsford in Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” 1924. Colliers Magazine. A Fictional Short Story is Published. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a classic short story written by Richard Connell. It tells the story of Sanger Rainsford, a big game hunter who finds himself stranded in the Caribbean on the desolate Ship Trap Island. There he squares off against the ruthless General Zaroff, a madman who hunts human beings on his private island. This tale of survival and hunting is an early forerunner for many novels and movies that came later: The Running Man by Stephen King, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Rollerball starring James Caan, and The Grounding of Group 6 by Julian F Thompson. The story was adapted into the 1932 movie of the same name directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Leslie Banks, and again in 2022 by director Justin Lee. In 1943, Orson Welles adapted it for the radio show Suspense. “The Most Dangerous Game” has been called the most popular short story ever written in English. While this may be a stretch, it is certainly one of the most widely read and often anthologized tales in literary history. Richard Connell Richard Edward Connell Jr. (October 17, 1893 – November 22, 1949) was an American author and journalist. He is best remembered for his short story “The Most Dangerous Game” (1924). Connell was one of the most popular American short story writers of his time. His stories were published in The Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s magazines. He had equal success as a journalist and screenwriter, and was nominated for an Academy Award in 1942 (Best Original Story) for the movie Meet John Doe (1941), directed by Frank Capra and based on his 1922 short story “A Reputation”. Connell was born on October 17, 1893, in Poughkeepsie, New York, the son of Richard E. Connell and Mary Miller Connell. He began his writing career for The Poughkeepsie Journal and attended Georgetown College for a year before going to Harvard University. While at Harvard, Connell edited The Lampoon and The Crimson. He subsequently worked on the city staff of The New York American and as a copywriter for J. Walter Thompson. Connell served in France with the US Army during World War I. While in the army, he was the editor of his camp’s newspaper. After the war, he turned to writing short stories, and eventually wrote over 300.