The Cheat

Tallulah Bankhead hams it up to the hilt in this laughable tale of gambling addiction and sadism. At 29 and already showing the ravages of a dissolute life style, Lu has a hard time convincing she's a sensitive innocent with a gambling problem as she continuously rasps "Oh, Jeffrey" to a clueless husband after each faux pas.

Compulsive gambler, wanna be socialite Elsa Carlyle (Bankhead) drops a bundle at a casino and then doubles down by ripping off a charity milk fund and losing it in a stock deal. With debtors on her door step she accepts the help of a wealthy, tasteful gentleman (Irving Pichel) with a sinister side. He bails her out but when he demands repayment and she rebuffs, he brutalizes her. She returns the favor by shooting him.

Bankhead's stridency is overwrought as she projects for the balcony audience as if in a play. Her halting utterances and feigned naiveté are more laughable than heartfelt as she frets with a wretched lack of conviction. The perverse Pichel character leers throughout while the rest of a forgettable cast looks on aghast and disapproving in this lurid potboiler that never reaches lukewarm.