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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Skin Deep remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like seeing how old movies handled weird plots like plastic surgery revenge, then yes, give it a watch.
People who love early crime dramas will dig the atmosphere, but if you can't stand theatrical acting and slow scenes, you'll probably hate it. 🎬
Skin Deep starts with Joe Daley, a gangster who is actually kind of a nice guy at heart.
He wants to quit the racket because he loves his wife, Sadie, played by Betty Compson.
He even tries to give $100,000 back to the DA to clear his name.
That is insane money for 1929, and obviously, it goes wrong.
Sadie is a chorus girl, and she is just bad news from the second she appears on screen.
She’s actually in love with a rival gang leader named Blackie Culver.
The way Sadie smiles at Joe while planning to ruin him is actually pretty chilling.
It’s that classic betrayal that you see in a lot of these old flicks, but she plays it really cold.
Joe ends up in prison, thinking Sadie is waiting for him like a loyal wife.
She even tricks him into escaping by telling him some lie about the DA coming after her.
The escape scene is one of the better parts of the movie because it feels so desperate.
Joe falls and smashes his face during the breakout, which looks painful even with the old film quality.
Then we get to the farm where he hides out.
He meets Elsa Langdon, and her dad just happens to be a surgeon who can fix Joe’s face.
It’s funny how convenient it is, but hey, that’s 1920s storytelling for you.
The surgery happens fast, and suddenly Joe looks like a completely different person.
When Joe returns to the city with his new face, the movie gets a lot more interesting.
He walks right past his old friends and even Sadie, and they have no idea who he is.
It reminded me a little bit of the vibes in Ramona where identity is everything.
There is this one scene in a club where Joe is just watching Sadie and Blackie together.
You can see the anger in his eyes, but he has to keep his cool so he doesn't give himself away.
The acting is a bit loud, which is normal for movies from 1929 since they were still figuring out sound.
Sometimes a character will stand still for way too long before speaking their line.
It makes some of the emotional scenes feel a bit awkward and stiff.
But Monte Blue as Joe actually does a good job showing how much he's hurting inside.
I noticed a weird detail in the backgrounds of the city scenes.
The extras in the street shots look like they’re just wandering around waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
One guy in the back of a scene is just staring directly at the camera with a confused look.
It’s these little mistakes that make these old movies feel more human to me.
The pacing gets a little slow when Joe is at the farm with Elsa.
I found myself wanting the movie to hurry up and get back to the revenge part.
Elsa is sweet, but her scenes feel like they belong in a totally different, much softer movie.
It’s almost like the writers couldn't decide if they wanted a gritty crime movie or a romance.
If you've watched stuff like The Wheel, you'll recognize that heavy dramatic style.
It’s not subtle, and the music—when there is any—is very bombastic.
But honestly, the plot about a guy getting a new face to catch his cheating wife is just fun.
It’s like a silent movie plot that accidentally got sound added to it.
The ending feels like it happens in about two minutes.
Everything gets wrapped up so fast you might blink and miss the resolution.
I wish they had spent more time on the final confrontation between Joe and Sadie.
But for a movie that's almost a hundred years old, it still holds your attention. 🥂
Anyway, it’s a decent watch if you're bored on a Sunday afternoon.
Just don't expect it to be a masterpiece like some of the bigger classics from that era.
It's just a solid, weird little crime story with a face-lift twist.
IMDb —
1926
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