''Skin Game'' is a 1971 American independent

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

directed by

Paul Bogart Paul Bogart (né Bogoff; November 13, 1919 – April 15, 2012) was an Americans, American television director and producer. Bogart directed episodes of the television series 'Way Out (TV series), Way Out'' in 1961, ''Coronet Blue'' in 1967, '' ...

and Gordon Douglas, and starring

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

and Lou Gossett. The supporting cast features

Susan Clark Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943) is a Canadians, Canadian actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1967 drama film ''Banning (film), Banning'' and the following year played the female lead in the crime thriller ''Coogan's Bluf ...

, Ed Asner,

Andrew Duggan Andrew Duggan (December 28, 1923 – May 15, 1988) was an American character actor. His work includes 185 screen credits between 1949 and 1987 for roles in both film and television, as well a number more on stage. Background Duggan was born i ...

, Parley Baer and

Royal Dano Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 – May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic ...

Plot

Partners Quincy Drew (Garner), a white man and Jason O'Rourke (Gossett), 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 turns out to have 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 the only person he still enslaves. 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

as Quincy Drew / Captain Nathaniel Mountjoy * Lou Gossett as Jason O'Rourke *

as Ginger / Miss Abigail Blodgett * Brenda Sykes as Naomi, Slave * Edward Asner as Plunkett (runaway slave hunter) *

as Howard Calloway, Plantation Owner * Henry Jones as Sam Cutler, Slave Buyer In Fair Shake * Neva Patterson as Mrs. Claggart * Parley Baer as Mr. Claggart * George Tyne as Henry P. Bonner, Man Who Bought Jason In Dirty Shame *

as John Brown, Abolitionist * Pat O'Malley as William, Slave Buyer In Fair Shake * Jason Wingreen as 2nd Speaker * Joel Fluellen as Uncle Abram, Head Slave At Calloway Manor * Napoleon Whiting as Ned, Calloway Cook * Juanita Moore as Viney, Calloway Slave * Robert Foulk as Sheriff

Production

In January 1966, Harry Keller, a producer at Universal, announced he was developing the project based on a story by Richard Alan Simmons. In March 1968, Peter Stone signed on to write the script. In October 1968, Universal announced the film for the following year. In April 1969, Universal put the film on its slate for the following year. Keller would produce with Peter Stone, who wrote the script. 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 Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and film director, director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever." Biography Kennedy was b ...

to direct. By December, Kennedy had dropped out and was replaced by Paul Bogart. In January 1971, Lou Gosset signed to co-star. In March, Bogart fell ill with hepatitis, and Gordon Douglas took over directing for a period of filming. 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. Garner called it "a funny movie if you don't mind jokes about slavery. Paul Bogart did a masterly job."

Sequel

A sequel was made three years later as a television film called ''

Sidekicks A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany. Origins The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...

'', with

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American actor, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera ''Dallas'', and the handsome astronaut Major Anthon ...

playing Garner's role and Gossett reprising his part.

References

External links

*
James Garner Interview on the ''Charlie Rose Show''

James Garner interview
at

Archive of American Television The Interviews: An Oral History of Television (formerly titled the Archive of American Television) is a project of the nonprofit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, that records interviews with notabl ...