The Skin Game

The film opens by establishing a long-running clash between the aristocratic Hillcrists and the nouveau riche Hornblowers. The Hornblowers' pursuit of wealth relies on buying land under false pretenses to boot tenants and clear the way for factories. Tensions mount as both sides justify their actions through different moral lenses about land, status, and progress.

Hornblower buys land under false pretenses of allowing tenants to remain, then boots them out to clear the way for factories. The Hillcrists regret having sold some land to him, realizing the consequences for their legacy. The feud intensifies as Hornblower mocks their snobbery and dreams of expanding into the Hillcrists' countryside.

At the auction for the picturesque land, the Hillcrists are outbid. They discover the winner is Hornblower's agent, deepening their sense of betrayal. The event marks the escalation of the conflict as questions about motive and power begin to surface.

Dawker, a Hillcrist employee, uncovers a dark secret about Chloe, Hornblower's pregnant daughter-in-law. The revelation threatens the Hornblowers' reputation and becomes leverage for the Hillcrists. The discovery raises the stakes for any deal over the land.

The Hillcrists confront Chloe and elder Hornblower with witnesses to prove their case. Hornblower agrees to deed the land to them if they swear to silence on a Bible. The moment seems to settle the dispute, but the silence itself sows new tension.

The townspeople begin gossiping about the secret, and Charles Hornblower grows suspicious of his wife. The Hillcrists worry their leverage may be compromised if the truth leaks publicly. The atmosphere tightens with fear and mistrust.

Chloe travels to the Hillcrist home to beg for them to tell a different story to save her marriage. The request underscores how fragile the arrangement is under pressure. The household becomes a focal point for the marriage's precarious future.

Charles arrives and presses for answers; he has already beaten the secret out of Dawker and intends to end his marriage. Chloe is found behind a curtain, and has drowned herself off-screen after leaving through a door. The scene intensifies the sense that vengeance and tragedy have overtaken reconciliation.

Mrs. Hillcrist retrieves the deed from the desk and hands it to Dawker for safekeeping. He slips it into his outer pocket, making the document dangerously visible. The elder Hornblower bursts in, furious, and wrestles the deed away from Dawker.

Chloe's body is brought in and Hornblower rages that the Hillcrists have destroyed him and his family. He vows revenge, signaling that mercy is lost and retaliation will follow. The feud moves toward a ruthless, personal climax.

A final scene shows a prominent tree on the land behind the Hillcrist house being felled by a work crew using a two-man saw. The act serves as a stark symbol of the ruin wrought by greed and feud. The landscape itself mirrors the collapse of the families involved.

The feud leaves a heavy toll: a family broken by greed, a landscape altered by factories, and a community left to reckon with the consequences. The film closes with the sobering sense that avarice has destroyed more than property. The characters are left to face the costs of their choices.