MovieChat Forums > The Skin Game (1931) Discussion > What was Chloe's shameful job?

What was Chloe's shameful job?

posted 17 years ago by Muldernscully
7 replies | jump to latest

She rented hotel rooms with men that were going to get a divorce? I'd like to get a few more specifics of what exactly she did and why it was so bad.

"The FBI has nothing to hide." -D.S.

[–] roches21_58 17 years ago

Chloe acted as corespondent for the husband in a divorce case as it was necessary to prove infidelity before a divorce would be granted.
gerri

[–] FuturePrimitive666 16 years ago

In other words, Chloe was a high profile Hooker. However, in this subtle way, Hitchcock portrays the lass as someone who just helped poor, imprisoned men have an excuse to escape their tortuous marriages. Today, we would just call her a whore whether she actually did the deed or not, and a tube of toothpaste can do the trick just as well. lol 'Sign Of The Times', indeed. FuturePrimitive666.

"*bleep* it all and *bleep*ing no regrets!"

[–] pillfeast 15 years ago

Part hooker, part actress. She'd play the part of the other woman, whether in letters or actually being seen with the man, in cases when the guy's real lover didn't want her reputation sullied.

Come on, clown, sing us a chorus from Pagliacci!

[–] Muldernscully 15 years ago

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I forgot about this post.

"PITTSBURGH STEELERS SUPERBOWL XLIII CHAMPIONS" -N.F.L.

[–] rayincumbria 13 years ago

Sorry, no, she was not a prostitute.
Yes, she was paid money, by men, to spend the night with them in a hotel room. It was a desperate way to get a divorce, and it worked both ways - women could pay men to spend a night with them. A private detective would wait outside the room or hotel, take pictures of arrival and departure, as evidence for the court. Sex was not usualy expected. It would be assumed by the court, true, but for the woman - or male - co-respondant, the task was to spend the night, to seem to give due cause, NOT to engage in sexual activity.
This was fairly common practice when divorce was next to impossible for anything other than 'provable' infidelity. You would have to be pretty desperate to go this way - either male or female.
Not the most respectable or enjoyable 'job' to do, but everyone - actually at the time, certainly in the film, and some posters here - are getting into an unwarented moral outrage. Prostitution it is not.
few visible scars

[–] Christian-Doig 13 years ago

Well, the characters were very morally outraged. Because the point in the film is that, whatever Chloe did exactly, she wasn't any better than a whore from society's perspective.

[–] dp-131 12 years ago

Quite right, rayincumbria. I was beginning to think nobody knew about professional co-respondents.