The Game That Kills

Alex Ferguson is a hard-hitting hockey player who gradually realizes that the sport he loves is riddled with corruption and game-fixing. After his brother is killed in what looks like a suspicious accident, Ferguson refuses to accept the official explanations and starts pressing for answers. He pairs with the team's trainer, Joe Holland, and the partnership draws them into the darker side of the rink, where gamblers and gangsters have sway. Along the way a romantic subplot with Betty Holland complicates loyalties and raises the stakes. Performances are direct and the film moves quickly through clues and confrontations.

Released in 1937, The Game That Kills was directed by D. Ross Lederman from a screenplay by Grace Neville, Fred Niblo Jr., and J. Benton Cheney, and features Charles Quigley, Rita Hayworth, John Gallaudet, J. Farrell MacDonald, and Arthur Loft.

Contemporary box office records for the film are scarce, and no reliable worldwide gross can be cited. As a 1930s programmer it ran as a modest studio release, with detailed tallies generally not preserved and limited box office documentation left.

Today the picture is mainly of interest for showcasing a young Rita Hayworth before she reached top billing, and for fitting into the 1930s strand of sports-crime films that blended romance and mystery. Classic film enthusiasts sometimes cite it when tracing Hayworth's early screen work and genre trends still today.

Modern responses are muted, with limited contemporary reviews and a modest 5.3/10 user average reflecting mixed reactions. The film pairs straightforward acting with brisk pacing, and it centers on corruption in sport, personal loyalty, and moral choice, while a romantic element softens the procedural edge, and some supporting turns shine.