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Cheating

  • 19521952
  • 12m
IMDb RATING
2.7/10
294
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
  • Drama
  • Short
A student suffers the consequences of cheating.A student suffers the consequences of cheating.A student suffers the consequences of cheating.
IMDb RATING
2.7/10
294
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Herk Harvey
  • Writer
    • Margaret Travis
  • Star
    • Arden Booth
Top credits
  • Director
    • Herk Harvey
  • Writer
    • Margaret Travis
  • Star
    • Arden Booth
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 11User reviews
    • 2Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos

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    Top cast

    Edit
    Arden Booth
    • Narratoras Narrator
    • Director
      • Herk Harvey
    • Writer
      • Margaret Travis
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    This public-school educational film warns of the dangers of cheating. John Taylor is struggling with his algebra course, and convinces his friend Mary to show him her answers during the tests. But when he is caught, his reputation among his fellow students, along with his student-council seat, is put in jeopardy. —yortsnave
    • cheating student
    • student
    • cheating
    • educational
    • social guidance
    • 4 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Short
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In her first scene, Mary is reading her lines off her notebook.
    • Goofs
      The phone continues ringing after Johnny picks up the receiver at the beginning.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Granby: Did you really earn that 92, John? I wonder.

    • Connections
      Featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Wild World of Batwoman (1993)

    User reviews11

    Review
    Top review
    7/10
    An unusual offering from Centron
    (Note: Although I really enjoyed the MST3K treatment of "Cheating", I'm commenting here on the original version, sans wisecracking robots.)

    For this parable on the downside of cheating on school tests, director Herk Harvey gets a bit more experimental than is typical for these outings. The opening scene is dominated by an eerily lit pendulum clock that casts an ominous shadow on protagonist John Taylor as he awaits a phone call. This clock's slow ticking, measuring the passing time, is a recurring theme of the short. This certainly must be the aspect of "Cheating" that has made at least a couple reviewers compare it to the German expressionist style of film making.

    From something out of "M", there's an abrupt transition to a scene reminiscent of 'The Telephone Hour' in "Bye-Bye Birdie". At this point, the story continues in flashback, with a narrator. Oddly, he addresses his remarks not to the viewer but to John (except for a brief aside to Mary and the "What would you do?" questions to the audience at the end). Most of the rest of the film is in the standard no-one-moves-much-during-a-take style of these Centron productions, with acting about as wooden as it's possible to be. However, there's at least one more stylistic oddity. The night after his first, successful cheating, John is haunted in bed by an apparition - the disembodied head of his teacher. This reminds me of a convention used in old romance comics, of all things!

    While films like this certainly aren't great art, they are utterly fascinating as expressions of the concerns of their era. With its unusual approach, "Cheating" (along with "The Other Fellow's Feelings", in my opinion) is a stand-out of the genre.
    helpful•2
    0
    • arthurblock
    • May 5, 2009

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 1952 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Discussion Problems in Group Living: Cheating
    • Filming locations
      • Lawrence, Kansas, USA
    • Production company
      • Centron Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      12 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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