SKIN GAME

US, 1971, 101 minutes, Colour.
James Garner, Lou Gosset, Susan Clark, Brenda Sykes, Edward Asner.
Directed by Paul Bogart.

Skin Game is a comedy/western with a bitter point. Two con-men (one black, one white) fleece the West with a routine called the Skin Game, white man auctions black slave, then both escape to the next town. Naturally things go wrong; complications include a charming lady pickpocket, justice catching up as well as the grim realities of real slavery and racial discrimination. There are many hilarious sequences, but surfacing at times is the real underlying message that cannot be laughed away: there is an irony in making the film's audience smile at their own probable prejudices. James Garner, Lou Gosset and Susan Clark make entertaining rogues.

1. How engaging was the opening of the film? How did it set a tone for the audience enjoyment of the film?

2. How did the film quickly establish its theme of black man and white man? And who is a slave? Was this effective? The nature of the game itself?

3. How strong was the theme of friendship in the film between Quincy and Jason? What was the basis of friendship? Merely the game and the gain?

4. How effective were they as conmen? Were they attractive conmen? What injustice did their tricks do to people? How quickly were they exposed?

5. What did the game imply about slavery in the West? The place of blacks and their suffering?

6. The comment on the West and the social situation in the elections?

7. The film made us laugh and yet was making us laugh at horror. What effect on an audience has this? How does it communicate a message?

8. How did the film change tone when there was a threat of real slavery? Again, how did this affect audience response?

9. It is said that there is no honour among thieves. Was this verified in the film?

10. The heroine as a character? As a conwoman? How did she add to the enjoyment of the film and the effectiveness of the exploits?

11. Comment on the impact of the African American love and marriage? The person of Naomi? Her love for Jason? What did this add to the meaning of the film?

12. The impact of the auction?

13. The impact of the capture and the escape?

14. The impact of the exposure?

15. How vividly did the film give a picture of real slavery? The African black? The picture of life in the South? The importance of the leprosy swindle? (How funny in itself was this and yet how important for the film?)

16. The picture of the treatment of Negroes on the plantation, the owner and his attitudes, the expectations of blacks on the plantations?

17. How humorous was the overall effect of the film when the ending was going to be happy? The relief of the escape and the possibility of more con tricks? Did this detract from the overall message of the film? What conventions of the western did this film presume? Which conventions did it use? What expectations of an audience did it presume? How did it use these expectations for it own message?