15. The Skin Game (1931)

Hornblower (Edmund Gwenn) bids while the Hilcrists (Jill Esmond, C.V. France and Helen Haye from right to left) look on

The Skin Game is based off a play written in 1920 by John Galsworthy and also made into a motion picture the next year (Edmund Gwenn and Helen Haye reprise their roles in the Hitchcock version).

The movie tells the story of two families, the old money Hilcrists and the formerly working class, now rich Hornblowers. Both patriarchs of the families, (C.V. France playing Mr. Hilcrist and Edmund Gwenn as Hornblower) are trying to get possession of a piece of land. Hornblower is seeking to obtain it so he can expand his pottery factories and Hilcrist seems not to want any of Hornblower's expansion into their nearby area. Hornblower acquires it at an auction, and Mrs. Hilcrist (Helen Haye) seeks her retribution by having an investigator (Edward Chapman) find out that Hornblower's daughter-in-law Chole (Phyllis Konstam) was hired out as the "other woman" in divorce cases. Hornblower agrees to sell the property to the Hilcrists so that the secret doesn't get out, but what happens when it does?

Chloe Hornblower (Phyllis Konstam) as the woman with a past

As it seems up to this point in his career, when Hitchcock adapts a play, his directing lacks imagination. The movie, like Juno and the Paycock, is filled with numerous long takes and a slow pace. That's not to say its a bad movie, which it isn't. The acting is very good by the performers especially highlighting future Oscar winner Gwenn, Haye and Konstam in their roles.

The scenario feels like one that could be stretched across many genres including romance and westerns with two families fighting over a plot of land (which here could be another example of a Hitchcock MacGuffin). The ending seems to feel more like the end of an act rather than the end of a play with the movie not exactly having a resolution to what you watched for the past 80 minutes. The highlight of the film is the auction scene which we will see Hitchcock use as a suspenseful setting in Saboteur and North by Northwest.

Hitchcock did not have much to say about the movie in his interview with Francois Truffaut, primarily because the movie was assigned to him rather than a personal project for Hitchcock. I was unable to find any information on how the film did at the box office but if it goes by critic's reviews, I don't think it was a success. The Western Mail critic pointed out Hitchcock's direction only makes this a picture to see if you've never seen the play and otherwise, Hitchcock's approach was a disappointment. The Brunley Express did praise the cast in its review.

The Skin Game recently got a restoration by the British Film Institute and is available as the only talking picture in its recently released DVD and Blu-Ray Hitchcock: British International Pictures set which can be purchased here.