| Skin Game | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Bogart Gordon Douglas (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by | Peter Stone (credited as "Pierre Marton") |
| Story by | Richard Alan Simmons |
| Produced by | Harry Keller |
| Starring | James Garner Lou Gossett Susan Clark Brenda Sykes Ed Asner Andrew Duggan |
| Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| Edited by | Walter Thompson |
| Music by | David Shire |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Skin Game is a 1971 American western comedy film directed by Paul Bogart and Gordon Douglas, and starring James Garner and Lou Gossett. The supporting cast features Susan Clark, Ed Asner, Andrew Duggan, Parley Baer and Royal Dano.
Partners Quincy Drew (Garner), a white man and Jason O'Rourke (Gossett), a Black man (who was born free and is well-educated), are travelling from town to town in Missouri and Kansas during the late slavery era. They first met when Quincy sold Jason a horse that Quincy stole 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 slaveowner who is selling his last slave. Quincy sells Jason (who quickly escapes from his new owner), and the two meet to split the profit. Complications ensue when Jason is sold to a slave trader intent on taking him farther south to make a profit.
In January 1966, Harry Keller, a producer at Universal Studios, announced he was developing the project based on a story by Richard Alan Simmons.[1]
In March 1968, Peter Stone signed on to write the script.[2] In October 1968, Universal announced the film for the following year.[3]
In April 1969, Universal put the film on its slate for the following year. Keller would produce with Peter Stone, who wrote the script.[4]
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., with Burt Kennedy to direct. By December, Kennedy had dropped out and was replaced by Paul Bogart.[5]
In January 1971, Lou Gossett signed to co-star.[6]
In March, Bogart fell ill with hepatitis, and Gordon Douglas took over directing for a period of filming.[7]
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.[8]
Garner called it "a funny movie if you don't mind jokes about slavery. Paul Bogart did a masterly job."[9]
A sequel was made three years later as a television film called Sidekicks, with Larry Hagman playing Garner's role and Gossett reprising his part.
