THE SKIN GAME (UK, 1931, Alfred Hitchcock)

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ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S THE MANXMAN (1929). SOURCE: SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL.

 

Based on the 1920 play of the same name by John Galsworthy, Alfred Hitchcock’s THE SKIN GAME is a fraught drama about two feuding families and the disastrous consequences of their rivalry.

The Hillcrists and the Hornblowers are sworn enemies. The former are old money, the latter are nouveau riche. Both want a piece of land adjacent to the Hillcrists’ rural estate — a conflict that incites town gossip, the disintegration of a marriage, the revelation of a family secret, and ultimately, suicide.

One of Hitchcock’s first forays into sound, following his transition to “talkies” with 1929’s BLACKMAIL, THE SKIN GAME bears all the hallmarks of his later, better-known work, and notably features Edmund Gwenn in a leading role. Gwenn would work with Hitchcock three more times; most famously in his classic 1955 dark comedy THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY.

Gwenn and Helen Haye, who appear as Mr. Hornblower and Mrs. Hillcrist in this film, originated their roles in the original 1920 play by Galsworthy, and in the first film adaptation of THE SKIN GAME, which was released in 1921 and directed by B.E. Doxat-Pratt.

THE SKIN GAME
(UK, 1931)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

  • 82 minutes
  • 35mm
  • Black & white
  • Sound
Distribution Format/s: DVD, Blu-Ray, DSL/Downloadable 1080p .mp4 file on server

Published By: Kino Lorber

Institutional Price: $500

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