The Cheat (1915)

A venal, spoiled stockbroker's wife impulsively embezzles $10,000 from the charity she chairs and desperately turns to a Burmese ivory trader to replace the stolen money.

Writers:

Hector Turnbull (scenario), Jeanie Macpherson (scenario)

Stars:

Fannie Ward, Sessue Hayakawa, Jack Dean

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fannie Ward	...	Edith Hardy
Sessue Hayakawa	...	Hishuru Tori (original release) / Haka Arakau (in 1918 re-release)
Jack Dean	...	Richard Hardy
James Neill	...	Jones
Yutaka Abe	...	Tori's Valet
Dana Ong	...	District Attorney
Hazel Childers	...	Mrs. Reynolds
Arthur H. Williams	...	Courtroom Judge (as Judge Arthur H. Williams)

Storyline

Edith Hardy uses charity funds for Wall Street investments in hopes of buying some new gowns. She loses all the money and borrows from wealthy oriental Tori. When her husband gives her the amount she borrowed, Tori won't take it back, branding her shoulder with a Japanese sign of his ownership. She shoots him. Her husband takes the blame. In court Edith reveals all to an angry mob.

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Plot Keywords:

charity | japanese | branding | ivory | stockbroker | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1915 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Marca de Fogo

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,311 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min 59 min (1994 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The surviving copy is from the 1918 re-release, and so the date on the check and the date in the newspaper have been altered from 1915 to 1918 in an attempt to make it seem like a contemporary film.

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Goofs

According to the date on the check, the shooting occurred on September 17th. However, the next day's newspaper which reports the crime is dated April 27th.

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Quotes

Edith Hardy: The same old story - my husband objects to my extravagance - and you.

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Crazy Credits

Fannie Ward's name appears above the title. The other two principle actors (as well as Ward) are credited in inter-titles with their character names as they appear in the movie.

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Connections

Featured in Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)

User Reviews

Lurid silent melodrama with DeMille touches...

THE CHEAT is interesting only from the standpoint that it's an early silent film from Cecil B. DeMille and the fact that the most realistic performance is given by Japanese actor SESSUE HAYAKAWA, famous now for his work in films like THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.

Even at a young age, he could give glowering glances like no other, saying more with his facial expressions than any dialog could convey. The rest of the cast indulges in broad, silent screen style of acting that sometimes borders on the ludicrous, but Hayakawa is restrained in technique and yet powerful.

The story is the old chestnut about a wife who is forced to cheat on her husband and then--to save herself from a fate worse than death-- she's forced to shoot the man who humiliates her by branding her as his property. She saves her virtue but her adoring husband takes the blame for her crime, which leads toward an explosive courtroom climax where Cecil B. DeMille lets his overabundance of energy show itself in a rowdy, overpopulated courtroom where the frenzied crowd reacts to her sobbing confession.

Fans of silent films will probably relish this one--but others have to beware. As for the fashions of 1915, they have to be the ugliest clothes women ever wore in an effort to look elegant. You have to see the film to know what I mean.