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The Cheat (1915)

 -  Drama  -  13 December 1915 (USA)
6.6
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Ratings: 6.6/10 from 1,306 users  
Reviews: 30 user | 10 critic

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.

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Title: The Cheat (1915)

The Cheat (1915) on IMDb 6.6/10

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Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fannie Ward ...
...
Hishuru Tori (original release) / Haka Arakau (in 1918 re-release)
Jack Dean ...
James Neill ...
Yutaka Abe ...
Dana Ong ...
Hazel Childers ...
Arthur H. Williams ...
Courtroom Judge (as Judge Arthur H. Williams)
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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. Written by Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

Not Rated
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

13 December 1915 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

A Marca de Fogo  »

Box Office

Budget:

$17,311 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (1994 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
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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. See more »

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. See more »

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. See more »

Connections

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

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User Reviews

 
Lurid silent melodrama with DeMille touches...
3 June 2008 | by (U.S.A.) – See all my reviews

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.


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