Alfred Hitchcock's -The Skin Game-1931

This is one of Hitchcock’s early efforts, which is not very well known, but nevertheless showcases some of the best aspects of the master director’s film making efforts. No, sports fans, there is no “porno” involved (excerpt perhaps tangentially) so don’t get your hopes up.

From the reviews I had skimmed on this movie through other sources, I wasn’t expecting much when I started to watch this movie. Well I’m here to tell ya, a lot of people CAN be wrong, because this movie was engrossing , brilliantly filmed and features what Hitch always did best-show people as they are, with no mercy.

While it lacks the elements of murder and espionage, and the major characters show no real pathology to ponder, it is nevertheless a movie that develops considerable suspense as two families plot against each other. Perhaps the subtlety of the play written by Nobel prize winner John Galsworthy was lost on some viewers that expect a Psycho every time they see Hitchcock in the credits.

This was only the fifth movie that Hitchcock directed with sound, and he was churning them out at the rate of two or more a year. What has amazed me is how he managed to pull this type of quality out of the media, when few of his contemporaries made the transition so smoothly.

There is very little music in this movie, and honestly, the dialog is so dense, music would merely have been a distraction. There is some thematic introduction music, nothing more.

Some things I particularly enjoyed were the Hitchcock devices of drowning out prattle with other sounds. This occurs for the first time when the tenants petition Squire Hillcrest to keep their cottage on land sold to someone else, and as they go on and on, flattering the old aristocrat, the rude sounds of Industrialism drown them out. This is NOT A MISTAKE or the result of bad sound editing. Is it possible that viewers don’t understand that this would become a standard Hitchcock device?

A second time this happens is during the land auction, when the clerk is reading the dry “terms of the contract” and no one can understand him. To prove that it was intentional someone from the audience pipes up “speak up, can’t you?”. As we continue to watch the clerk read the terms, we see that his head is framed by a decoration on the wall giving him two shining objects that are sticking out of his head, a visual and audio joke for the discerning audience. It still makes me laugh, just thinking about it. It wasn’t written that way in the play.


Most of the scenes are shot with the intention of emphasizing the dialog, which is of course, what drives the plot forward. But the most interesting and innovative bit of cinematography occurs at the auction as Hillcrest and Hornblower are bidding against each other and the camera literally moves from one face to the other, blurring in its movement to focus on the growing desperation and frenzy.


Other imagery that works particularly well is the veil on the face of Chloe, the woman who’s secret will cause the ultimate downfall of all in this little drama. The veil itself suggests mystery, and the pattern of the veil makes her face looks smudged. Think this is a happy accident? Think again. Nothing is done by accident in a Hitchcock film!

The cast is excellent in this drama, and quite believable, although the “fallen woman” is a bit over the top in melodrama for today’s audiences. The one great performance was by Edmund Gwenn, who would later win an Oscar in a Frank Capra flick. But there are really no bad performances in this film.


If there is anything to complain about watching this movie it is truly the quality of the sound. It is full of static, and buzzing, and can even be distracting. For American audiences the rapidity of the British rhythm and intonation is also difficult to understand when the voices lower and there are no subtitles for the hearing impaired (which I always use to be certain that I haven’t mis-heard some critical bit of dialog)


The Themes and Issues of the Skin Game -The issue of NEW MONEY and OLD MONEY


The very title has several meanings. The first, and I am only guessing by how the characters interpret it, is the physical act of fighting, or wrestling or struggling skin to skin. The second is a reference to some game of strategy, where the characters p wager against each other. The third reference comes in a tirade by the outraged Hornblower, when he accuses the Hillcrests of making up lies to “save their skins”. Again, I would be glad of knowing some of the nuances that I may not be privy to by culture or intelligence.

MONEY

This is a common theme in many movies which depict a changing society. The old aristocracy is faced with the changing ways of New Money. Where nobility is snobbish and elegant, the new money is crude and vulgar. Yet when it comes down to it, both sides stoop to base means to attain their goals. There are several crossing of lines, several examples of things that are not as they should be, or that appearances deceive. It is an elegant tapestry of relationships that change and coalesce into the Hitchcock ending, which is built up with increasing tension, worthy of the master.

The only hope for the future is in the relationship of the youngest members of both families, which is as it should be. You may have to pay attention to see the final image of the couple holding hands out of the line of sight of all the others.

But while on the surface the issue seems to be money, it is not money itself that is the goal. Nor is it money that causes the tragedy of one of the character’s suicide. It has far more to do with pride.

The Plot


The Hillcrests are the old money. The family consists of the Squire, his wife, Mrs. Amy Hillcrest and their daughter Jill Hillcrest. They employ a man named Dawker. The new money is represented by a factory owner, Mr. Hornblower, his two sons Charles, and his wife Chloe, and the youngest, Rolf.

The first scene shows us Jill astride her thoroughbred when Rolf drives up in his vulgar flashy noisy car. They chat about the problems in their families. The Hornblowers are cutting down trees in the countryside, and the Hillcrests see this as “spoiling “ the land. But the change to something different is inevitable, something that will be reinforced by the very shocking LAST brilliant frame of the movie.


Two tenants come to see the Squire complaining that they are being turned out of their cottage.
Hillcrest calls Hornblower to the home to discuss his ‘agreement.’ Hillcrest said he sold Hornblower a parcel of land, with the understanding that the tenants would not be disturbed.

Hornblower explains that he needs to build cottages for his factory workers, because another land deal with “the duke” failed to materialize. But he makes fun of the problems of the gentility..like Gout, which he won’t have inherited, because he is only responsible “for his own drinking”. But the bottom line turns out to be Hornblower has been insulted by being shunned by upper crust society. The Hillcrests have not bothered to call upon Charles and his wife, and the insult goes deep.

The Duke throws the prize in the hat as he offers the final disputed land adjacent to the properties of both families for auction. This is a brilliantly played scene, where we get to see the formidable snob in action as she not only snubs but actually insults Charles wife, Chloe, cutting her deeply. Both sides appear to bid up to the limit, when suddenly a new bidder is heard. The Squire is happy, because he feels at least Hornblower didn’t win. He is soon disabused of that notion, as the gloating Hornblower informs him that it was his man who put in the final bid.

Chloe is already a tragic figure in this drama. She is quite beautiful and quite genteel by background?-or is she? She shows some vulgar speech patterns when talking to Dawker. Her family had suffered much in bankruptcy, and she had to work for a living. But although we are not given specifics, we find that if a gentleman wants a divorce in Great Britain, he stages a clandestine meeting with another “woman” to satisfy the infidelity clause. It was a job, the woman hired to be a bit player in another personal drama. But it is a source of great shame, and a secret, which the evil Squire’s wife discovers.

Now that is enough information on the story. You will simply have to watch it to see what happens.



THE CAST

Edmund Gwenn as Mr. Hornblower. Do you recognize Santa from the Miracle on 34th Street? I didn’t, he just seemed very familiar to me. This guy had an amazing career, with some amazing performances! He was 60 years old when he came to Hollywood in 1935, and would act for another 20 years. He reportedly got his career start with acting from George Bernard Shaw, on stage. This character is not at all cut and dried. He seems vulgar, but his devotion to his family is actually commendable. He always shows support for Chloe even when he discovers the awful secret. A very nice performance, with a lot of range for a single character.

Helen Haye-as Mrs. Amy Hillcrest-she does a magnificent job of being the ultimate aristocrat. She is the business person in the relationship, the Squire is blinded by his gentility. Hard headed and cruel, she is relentless in all but one scene toward the end. Even when she finds out Dawker has spilled the beans although he had sworn not to, she doesn’t fire him, and she shows something like repentance for the damage she caused as well. But not so much that you are tempted to like her.

C.V. France as Squire John Hillcrest-this guy had been a stage actor with a career outside of movies. He made an appearance as the Spirit of Christmas Future in the Classic Scrooge of 1935. This character is the one with the flaw of dignity, and pride, although he has a soft heart. He finally even compromises his honesty for the right reason with disastrous results. He makes up a lie to tell Chloe’s husband, so he will still love her. Well done, and the character is a very sympathetic one.

Jill Esmond-as Jill Hillcrest- this actress lays a bright and somewhat irreverent daughter of the Squire. She dotes on her father, but also criticizes her family, and the Hornblowers, although she, like her Hornblower peer, wants to make peace. She is the person who best represents the audience, since she has an empathic side in showing tenderness for poor Chloe, and support for her father, and intense dislike for the ultimate bounder, Dawker. This actress disappeared for 10 years when she married Sir Lawrence Olivier, but reappeared on stage after the divorce.

Phyllis Konstam as Chloe Hornblower, the tragic wife of Charles,. She is beautiful with haunting eyes, worthy of the silent films with their dramatic impact. She is distraught, she pleads, she tries to maintain her dignity, again showing a great range of emotion. Her best scene is when she approaches Dawker, and these emotions are all used, in a mercurial performance, as she tries several tactics to gain his alliance to her cause of maintaining her secret.


John Longden as Charles Hornblower-the least likable character in this whole piece. He is a pretty nice guy when things are going his way, and a jerk when they don’t. Hmm. That sounds familiar. Bottom line is he finds out the secret and his response to the secret is the key to his baser nature. He had a long career, but I don’t know a single one of his other movies.

Frank Lawton-as Rolf Hornblower-Frankly the sound of this guys voice made me squirm. It is high pitched and somewhat nasally whiny, so I was surprised that he STARTED in talking pictures, let alone kept up a career for a long time. His Character though, was not a bad one. He is supportive to Chloe when her husband is off acting important, and he gives the other almost unbiased view of the situation, as well as at least half the hope for the future.

Edward Chapman as Dawker-he is retained by the Squire, but works for Mrs. Hillcrests, and is the man who makes things happen for the Hillcrest family. He is as he says a businessman, nothing personal. You are allowed to thoroughly dislike him, especially when he tells a secret he has taken an oath to keep. He too went on to play a long string of minor military men in English film.

Robert Frankau-as The auctioneer-I only mention this minor part because he was very funny as the auctioneer, urging the bidders on.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION

Well there you have it. An interesting early work by Alfred Hitchcock, flawed only by poor preservation techniques , not yet subjected to studio fix-up by some bigger company. I still think its worth every minute of straining to understand the dialog, just to watch the storyteller Hitch create his magic picture show.



The Hitchcock cameo, I believe occurs right before the auction, but if anyone has better evidence, please inform me. It has become one of my obsessions to know the exact moment.