Skin Game (1971)

In 1857, con man Quincy Drew and his black friend Jason O'Rourke swindle slave owners into buying Jason, who's a free man, and later share the profits when Jason escapes captivity.

Directors:

Paul Bogart, Gordon Douglas (co-director) (uncredited)

Writers:

Peter Stone (screenplay) (as Pierre Marton), Richard Alan Simmons (story)

Stars:

James Garner, Louis Gossett Jr., Susan Clark

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Garner	...	Quincy
Louis Gossett Jr.	...	Jason (as Lou Gossett)
Susan Clark	...	Ginger
Brenda Sykes	...	Naomi
Edward Asner	...	Plunkett
Andrew Duggan	...	Calloway
Henry Jones	...	Sam
Neva Patterson	...	Mrs. Claggart
Parley Baer	...	Mr. Claggart
George Tyne	...	Bonner
Royal Dano	...	John Brown
J. Pat O'Malley	...	William
Joel Fluellen	...	Abram
Napoleon Whiting	...	Ned
Juanita Moore	...	Viney

Storyline

Quincy Drew and his black friend Jason O'Rourke have pulled off every dodge known for conning a well-heeled sucker, but it wasn't until they hit on the old skin game that they started to clean up. The game is simple. Jason, though born a free man in New Jersey, poses as Quincy's slave as the pair ride through Missouri and Kansas in 1857. Quincy picks a likely mark in each town, sells Jason to him for top money and rides out of town. Then Quincy and Jason get back together on the road to another town, because if Jason can't just run off after dark, Quincy finds a way to spring him loose.

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Plot Keywords:

slave | missouri | kansas | escape | traitor | 

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Taglines:

They talked their way into a fortune, then had to shoot their way out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1972 (Japan)

Also Known As:

El rey de los picaros

Filming Locations:

Laramie Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cherokee Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A ninety-minute television movie titled Sidekicks (1974), directed by Burt Kennedy and based on this movie was broadcast in March of 1974. Unlike this movie, the television movie was set after the Civil War. Louis Gossett Jr. reprised his role from the original film, but the James Garner character was now played by Larry Hagman. The television movie was intended as a pilot for a proposed series that ultimately was not made.

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Goofs

Susan Clark's character explains to Quincy that there is to be a vote whether Kansas will join the Union as a slave state like Missouri or a free state like Nebraska. Nebraska wasn't admitted to the Union until 1867, 6 years after Kansas.

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Connections

Version of Sidekicks (1974)

User Reviews

Garner's most Marverick-y role

OK finally got to watch this previously unavailable James Garner Western. It was directed by Paul Bogart who was basically a TV director and it really shows since the film doesn't quite use all of the advantages available to a cinematic endeavor. The only other film that I've seen that I know of directed by Bogart is another Garner vehicle based on Raymond Chandler's private eye character called "Marlowe" which I've seen and liked, but not in quite a while.

This film is probably the closest Garner ever gets in a film, that I've seen, to him reprising his Maverick persona when he his still young enough to pull it off, (he does so somewhat also, in the two Support Your Local... films with his cool wisecracking deliveries) but here he is actually playing a character Quincy Drew, who is a con man in the best Maverick Brothers tradition. The story circa (1857) deals with two con men Drew and Jason O'Rourke (Lou Gossett) a native of New Jersey, who we later discover met in a jail in Pennsylvania when O'Rourke was thrown into a cell next to Drew who was doing time for telling fortunes, its hilarious seeing Garner in a turban and fortune telling garb. They hit it off, and devise various different cons that they try out as a team until they hit on what they call the "Skin Game". This con consists of Garner riding into various Western border state towns Kansas, Missouri, etc., feigning poverty and as a result has to sell his best slave at an impromptu auction in the saloon, hotel, etc., etc. Susan Clark, plays a shady lady/pickpocket/con woman who targets the guys taking their money who eventually becomes Garners love interest. Ed Asner here, is in his villain period and he does a pretty good job as a slave catcher operating in the border area who eventually catches on to the con game. Gossett does a great job along with Garner & Clark.

The film is entertaining and plays it safe and cutesy, but it could have been a whole lot better with a more creative and daring director, its reminiscent of Eastwood's self produced Malpaso Production films in that respect, Cherokee Productions is Garner's company.

The what if's: If it would have shown Gossett & Garner's other various cons and how they stumbled upon the "Skin Game" con and had a better ending than the contrived one it does have it would been better.

I'll give it a 7-8/10 mostly for its Maverick nostalgia value. Its a shame its not on TV in rotation with other Westerns on the various movie channels but I think the frequent use of the "n" word probably is the cause of its not being so. Its almost as if the mainstream media has decided that that period of American History has been dealt with enough and can be swept into the closet.