# Skin Game

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Skin_Game
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Skin_Game.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_Game
> Source revision: 1352965960
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{short description|1971 film by Gordon Douglas, Paul Bogart}}
{{other uses}}
{{About|the comedy western|the Jim Butcher novel|Skin Game (The Dresden Files)|other uses|The Skin Game (disambiguation){{!}}The Skin Game}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Skin Game
| image          = Poster of the movie Skin Game.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [Paul Bogart](/source/Paul_Bogart)<br />[Gordon Douglas](/source/Gordon_Douglas_(director)) (uncredited)
| producer       = [Harry Keller](/source/Harry_Keller)
| screenplay     = [Peter Stone](/source/Peter_Stone_(writer)) (credited as "Pierre Marton")
| story          = [Richard Alan Simmons](/source/Richard_Alan_Simmons)
| starring       = [James Garner](/source/James_Garner)<br />[Lou Gossett](/source/Louis_Gossett_Jr.)<br />[Susan Clark](/source/Susan_Clark)<br />[Brenda Sykes](/source/Brenda_Sykes)<br />[Ed Asner](/source/Ed_Asner)<br />[Andrew Duggan](/source/Andrew_Duggan)
| music          = [David Shire](/source/David_Shire)
| cinematography = [Fred J. Koenekamp](/source/Fred_J._Koenekamp)
| editing        = [Walter Thompson](/source/Walter_A._Thompson)
| distributor    = [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros._Pictures)
| released       = {{Film date|1971|09|30}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
}}

'''''Skin Game''''' is a 1971 American [western](/source/western_(genre)) [comedy film](/source/comedy_film) directed by [Paul Bogart](/source/Paul_Bogart) and [Gordon Douglas](/source/Gordon_Douglas_(director)), and starring [James Garner](/source/James_Garner) and [Lou Gossett](/source/Louis_Gossett_Jr.). The supporting cast features [Susan Clark](/source/Susan_Clark), [Ed Asner](/source/Ed_Asner), [Andrew Duggan](/source/Andrew_Duggan), [Parley Baer](/source/Parley_Baer) and [Royal Dano](/source/Royal_Dano).

==Plot==
{{more plot|date=May 2026}}
Partners Quincy Drew, a white man and Jason O'Rourke, a Black man (who was born free and is well-educated), travel from town to town in Missouri and Kansas during the late slavery era. They had first met when Quincy had sold Jason a horse that had been stolen from the local sheriff. They meet again in jail after pulling various con jobs and develop a con together in which Quincy claims to be a down-on-his-luck enslaver who is selling his last slave. Quincy then gets the bidding rolling, sells Jason (who quickly escapes from his new owner), and the two meet to split the profit. The con is complicated when Jason is sold to a savvy slave trader who is intent on taking him farther south to make a profit.

== Cast ==
* [James Garner](/source/James_Garner) as Quincy Drew / Captain Nathaniel Mountjoy
* [Lou Gossett](/source/Louis_Gossett_Jr.) as Jason O'Rourke
* [Susan Clark](/source/Susan_Clark) as Ginger / Miss Abigail Blodgett
* [Brenda Sykes](/source/Brenda_Sykes) as Naomi, Slave
* [Edward Asner](/source/Edward_Asner) as Plunkett (runaway slave hunter)
* [Andrew Duggan](/source/Andrew_Duggan) as Howard Calloway, Plantation Owner
* [Henry Jones](/source/Henry_Jones_(actor)) as Sam Cutler, Slave Buyer In Fair Shake
* [Neva Patterson](/source/Neva_Patterson) as Mrs. Claggart
* [Parley Baer](/source/Parley_Baer) as Mr. Claggart
* [George Tyne](/source/George_Tyne) as Henry P. Bonner, Man Who Bought Jason In Dirty Shame
* [Royal Dano](/source/Royal_Dano) as [John Brown](/source/John_Brown_(abolitionist)), Abolitionist
* [Pat O'Malley](/source/J._Pat_O'Malley) as William, Slave Buyer In Fair Shake
* [Jason Wingreen](/source/Jason_Wingreen) as 2nd Speaker
* [Joel Fluellen](/source/Joel_Fluellen) as Uncle Abram, Head Slave At Calloway Manor
* [Napoleon Whiting](/source/Napoleon_Whiting) as Ned, Calloway Cook
* [Juanita Moore](/source/Juanita_Moore) as Viney, Calloway Slave
* [Robert Foulk](/source/Robert_Foulk) as Sheriff

==Production==
In January 1966, [Harry Keller](/source/Harry_Keller), a producer at [Universal Studios](/source/Universal_Pictures), announced he was developing the project based on a story by [Richard Alan Simmons](/source/Richard_Alan_Simmons).<ref>Duo Slated for 5 Pictures
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 21 Jan 1966: c6.</ref>

In March 1968, [Peter Stone](/source/Peter_Stone_(writer)) signed on to write the script.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Plummer Gets Musical Lead
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 2 Mar 1968: 19.</ref> In October 1968, Universal announced the film for the following year.<ref>Universal Lists Films for 1969
Los Angeles Times 9 Oct 1968: c24.</ref>

In April 1969, Universal put the film on its slate for the following year. Keller would produce with Peter Stone, who wrote the script.<ref>Universal Schedule Announced for 1970
Los Angeles Times 2 Apr 1969: h14</ref>

The film did not go ahead. By September 1970, Keller announced the film would be made by James Garner's Cherokee Productions, released through [Warner Bros.](/source/Warner_Bros._Pictures), with [Burt Kennedy](/source/Burt_Kennedy) to direct. By December, Kennedy had dropped out and was replaced by Paul Bogart.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Culp, Raquel 'Caulder' Stars Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 21 Dec 1970: i19.</ref> Kennedy said he walked off the film when the producer started telling him where to put the camera. He said when he quit he was doing tests for the black lead with Lou Gossett and Cleavon Little.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Burt |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Hollywood_Trail_Boss.html?id=lp4LAAAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description |title=Hollywood Trail Boss: Behind the Scenes of the Wild, Wild Western |date=1997 |publisher=Boulevard Books |isbn=978-1-57297-295-7 |pages=140–141 |language=en}}</ref>

In January 1971, Lou Gossett signed to co-star.<ref>MOVIE CALL SHEET: Geller Given Cinema Post
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 23 Jan 1971: b6.</ref>

In March, Bogart fell ill with hepatitis, and Gordon Douglas took over directing for a period of filming.<ref>Heflin Set for 'Revengers'
Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 19 Mar 1971: e15.</ref>

Stone later claimed Garner radically changed the film's last third to give him more screen time. These changes annoyed Stone, who used a pseudonym on the film.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buckley |first=Tom |date=February 24, 1978 |title=At the Movies: After 'Carrie' Amy Irving gets the E.S.P. in 'The Fury.' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/24/archives/at-the-movies-after-carrie-amy-irving-gets-the-esp-in-the-fury.html |work=The New York Times |pages=8}}</ref>

Garner called it "a funny movie if you don't mind jokes about slavery. Paul Bogart did a masterly job."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garner |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Garner_Files.html?id=W6jiYnyLRgoC&source=kp_book_description |title=The Garner Files: A Memoir |last2=Winokur |first2=Jon |date=2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4516-4261-2 |pages=258 |language=en}}</ref>

== Sequel ==
A sequel was made three years later as a television film called ''[Sidekicks](/source/Sidekicks_(1974_film))'', with [Larry Hagman](/source/Larry_Hagman) playing Garner's role and Gossett reprising his part.

==See also==
* [List of films featuring slavery](/source/List_of_films_featuring_slavery)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0067763|title=Skin Game}}
* {{AFI film|54120}}
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8844857220560459276&q=%22James+Garner%22+%22Charlie+Rose%22&total=4&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0 James Garner Interview on the ''Charlie Rose Show'']
* [http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22archive+of+american+television+interview+with+james+garner%22 James Garner interview] at [Archive of American Television](/source/Archive_of_American_Television) - (c/o Google Video) - March 17, 1999

{{Paul Bogart}}
{{Gordon Douglas}}

Category:1971 films
Category:Films directed by Gordon Douglas
Category:1971 comedy films
Category:American independent films
Category:Films set in the 1850s
Category:Films directed by Paul Bogart
Category:Films scored by David Shire
Category:Films with screenplays by Peter Stone (writer)
Category:1971 English-language films
Category:1971 American films
Category:African-American Western (genre) films
Category:Warner Bros. films

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Skin Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_Game) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_Game?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.