The Skin Game (1931) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this months episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron hit financial woes as they discuss “The Skin Game.”

Picture Title: The Skin Game (1931)

Written by: 

A Talking Film by John Galsworthy

Adapted by Alfred Hitchcock

Scenario by Alma Reville

Starring: Edmond Gwenn, Jill Esmond, C.V. France, Helen Haye, John Longden, Phyllis Konstam, Frank Lawton, Herbert Ross, Dora Gregory, and Edward Chapman

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Trailer:

Our Favourite Trivia:

The title comes from a slang phrase for “an unscrupulous business operation.” Although this is a British movie, the term is considered American.

Edmund Gwenn and Helen Haye reprised their roles as Mr. Hornblower and Ivy Hillcrist from the silent film The Skin Game (1921), directed by B. E. Doxat-Pratt. Gwenn also appeared in Waltzes from Vienna (1934), and in two Hollywood films, Foreign Correspondent (1940) and The Trouble with Harry (1956), while Haye appeared in The 39 Steps (1935).

A long shot of a man herding cattle was taken from The Farmer’s Wife (1928).

The £9,500 paid for the land at the auction would equate to about $43,100 U.S. at the time

According to biographer Donald Spoto, Hitchcock was thoroughly bored by the project, but entertained himself with one particular shot. In the climactic scene, Chloe, played by Phyllis Konstam (who had previously starred in Murder! (1930)), attempts to drown herself in a garden pond. Hitchcock, with characteristic cruelty, made the actress shoot the scene – and be thrown into the water by his stage hands – a full ten times. In the end, the shot didn’t even make it into the completed film.

The Random Draw for Next Picture:

Next up, we’ll be discussing “Spellbound”

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