Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Rainey Dawn The Skin Game is mediocre at best when it comes to stories - a story of two rich families with a petty argument between them which turns into an all out war of families feuding with a very tragic ending. All this drama over a petty argument.The best parts of the film is the auction, just as others have mentioned. It really is an intense scene and very well filmed at that. I loved the camera motion here when we saw the auctioneer's view point with edits to view the auctioneer as well. The other best part of the film is the ending, it's sad, tragic and nicely filmed as well. The rest of the movie is very, very dry or bland.The film is worth watching if you are really into young Alfred Hitchcock's directing career or just want to see a melodrama that you have yet to see. I would not say this is a film that most people would enjoy - I honestly believe that most would be bored to tears unless they are viewing the auction scene.5/10

TheLittleSongbird The Skin Game is one of Hitchcock's lowest rated films here, and has been met with indifference or dislike among the other Hitchcock fans I know. While it is understandable why people wouldn't be crazy about The Skin Game and it has a lot that is not so great about it, personally it is better than it's given credit for. It's not Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, Rebecca, Strangers on a Train or The Lady Vanishes but it is far better than Juno and the Paycock(his worst), Champagne, Number Seventeen, Jamaica Inn, Under Capricorn and Topaz. The camera work is very scrappy and unfocused, the script is often too talky and exposition-heavy, the story has moments but can feel a little too leisurely and stage-bound complete with a melodramatic and abrupt ending and CV France is over-theatrical at times. However, while The Skin Game is not Hitchcock all over there is much more of his style than there was in Juno and the Paycock(also based on a play) with some irony and suspense and the auction scene is masterful(the film's best photography is in this scene, its cleverness adds to the intrigue). The script has have some nice ironic humour and heartfelt pathos. While the story doesn't quite come off as well as it could have done it does have some good ideas that are identifiable and has its heart in the right place. As an adaptation of the play it's good, as a Hitchcock film while a big improvement on Juno and the Paycock it does fall short. The acting is much more subtle and the chemistry between the actors is more apparent. Edmund Gwenn has a ball as a very arrogant character, Helen Haye is aristocratic and dominant and in a commanding way without falling into over-theatricality-land and Phyllis Konstam is appropriately sympathetic. All in all, nowhere near Hitchcock's best but also nowhere near his worst, ranking it it would be around low-middle, a similar position to Rich and Strange. 6/10 Bethany Cox

LeonLouisRicci Not your typical Hitchcock Movie but it cannot be denied His flourishes that make this Filmed Stage Play more than its Source Material. It is a strong Story Socially commenting on Industrial intrusion into Virgin Territory and the displacement of the Lower Classes. The Writing makes its point Dramatically and it is a Timeless Tale from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.Then there's Movie Man Hitch who will not be denied some Fun and Artmanship and it is quite evident on a number of occasions in the Film that this is being Crafted and not just Played Out. The Camera Special Effects come alive at times and elevates this from the Stage and onto the Screen.There is Irony and much Pathos here along with some thought provoking Societal Traditions and implied, but not always a Living Moral Code. These types of things would emerge now and then in Hitch's Movies, but were hardly ever Central to, or the Motivation of the Plot. But in this early Work He was bound by Contract so He took this and made it His own.Worth a view for more than just Hitchcock completest. This has admittedly dated Technology and Acting Style but is nonetheless Good, early Sound, British Movie Making and the Story is anything but Time Stamped. Not a Classic, but Classical in many ways. Underrated.

federovsky For Hitchcock scholars only. Image quality is murky and the extremely poor sound makes it quite hard to hear what is being said. The acting is rather turgid. Characters don't quite seem able to attain anything recognisably human - perhaps because of the theatrical origins of the piece, but mainly because Hitchcock hadn't yet unpicked the psychological key to making films.The stand-out thing is the auction scene where whip-pans flash around the room and there is a nice twist at the end of the bidding - ah, so it is Hitchcock. The rest of the film - a battle of wills between some landed gentry and an encroaching industrialist - is static and dreary and the only point of interest is the array of fascinating English accents now all but extinct.