The title comes from a slang phrase for "an unscrupulous business operation". Although this movie is British, the term is considered American and dates back to just after the American Civil War (1861-1865). It is not to be confused with the similar-sounding aphorism "to have skin in the game", which refers to someone who has a stake, financial or emotional, in a business deal, wager, or other situation.
The £9,500 paid for the land at the auction would equate to about $43,100 U.S. at the time, or nearly $900,000 U.S. in 2025.
Edmund Gwenn and Helen Haye reprised their respective roles as "Mr. Hornblower" and "Mrs. Ivy Hillcrist" from the 1921 Anglo-Dutch silent film produced in Holland The Skin Game (1921).
Two long shots of a man herding cattle near the beginning are taken from Alfred Hitchcock's Laquelle des trois? (1928).
When asked about this film in an interview with François Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock said simply, "I didn't make it by choice, and there isn't much to be said about it."