The Skin Game

The Skin Game (1931) 

Notable cast/crew: Edmund Gwenn as Mr Hornblower makes his first of four Hitchcock films.  John Longden as Charles Hornblower makes his third of four appearances.  Phyllis Konstam as Chloe Hornblower makes her fourth and final Hitchcock film.  Edward Chapman as Dawker makes his third and final appearance.

Running time: 82 minutes

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Plot: Two families, the Hillcrists and the Hornblowers, vie for control of the countryside.  The Hillcrists are old money; the Hornblowers are nouveau riche.  The Hornblowers are buying up land, evicting tenant farmers, and building factories.  The Hillcrists, upset by this, try to outbid them for the remaining land.  The Hillcrists are swindled out of the land at auction, but they find out a secret about Chloe: she used to be a professional co-respondent for pre-arranged divorce cases.  Mr Hornblower finds out, and he tries to buy the Hillcrists' silence by selling them the land cheap.  Word leaks out any way, and Chloe goes to the Hillcrists to beg for their silence since her husband does not yet know.  Charles arrives while she is there and refuses to believe the story the Hillcrists tell him.  Charles declares he will end his marriage to Chloe even though she carries his child.  Distraught, she runs to the pond outside and drowns herself, the destruction of the Hornblower family complete.

He sees you when you're sleeping

MacGuffin: None

Hitchcock cameo: None

Hitchcock themes: None

Verdict: "I didn't make it by choice, and there isn't much to be said about it."  Thus declared Hitchcock in an interview with Francois Truffaut.  This is another adapted play, and like Juno and the Paycock, it comes across less as a Hitchcock film than a staging of someone else's play.  The film is about class warfare in England, and the theme doesn't play well now.  The major failing of the film is neither family in the feud is likable, both treating each other shabbily.  Chloe is the one relatable character, but she ends up being misused by both families.  Edmund Gwenn turns in an excellent performance as a self-made man who rails against the upper class while abusing the lower class.  There is something of the parable of the unforgiving servant in him.

The term skin game refers to a swindle, and the phrase works on numerous levels throughout the movie.  The phrase is introduced to describe Hornblower's making deals for land then reneging by kicking out the tenants.  He then pulls a skin game on the Hillcrists at the auction.  Chloe's past as a professional co-respondent could be classified a skin game, as well as her marriage to Charles with him being kept in the dark about her past.  The final skin game is the Hillcrists' extorting land out of Hornblower that ultimately leads to Chloe's death.  

Out of five bananas, I give it:

Next review: Rich and Strange