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The Cheat

The Cheat

1915
Drama
59m
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. (imdb)
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The Cheat

1915
Drama
59m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 42.49% from 120 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(120)
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Rated 30 Jul 2010
58
34th
For 1915, this wasn't too shabby, though it's certainly not subtle and borders on the melodramatic with a racially insensitive edge. A different title might have been 'Materialistic Harlots and the Dirty Foreigners That Desire Them'.
Rated 06 Mar 2010
80
61st
It's a very well made and entertaining film. A strongly paced story, good score, and, for its time, pretty good acting. The biggest problem with it is that absolutely no one here is sympathetic, which makes the ending anticlimactic and somewhat insulting.
Rated 22 Dec 2016
55
32nd
This early piece from Cecil B. DeMille is a straightforward and predictable drama about infidelity, competently made but often tedious and dry, with only a couple of scenes offering anything approaching excitement. While it's satisfying to see an Asian actor in a lead role so early in Hollywood, the character unsurprisingly turns out to be a devious, concupiscent reprobate.
Rated 31 Aug 2007
3
38th
I dug this for what it was. I found the use of different tinting (plain B&W, yellow tinting, and blue tinting) really interesting and effective, I thought the acting was pretty impressive, and overall thought the story was handled very well without losing too much to age. At the very least, it's a very interesting look at a unique silent film, that deserves a watch from anybody with an interest in film history and who isn't too wary of films as old as this one is.
Rated 02 Dec 2013
78
93rd
The plot's a pure melodrama whose main interest is just how surprisingly lurid it gets as things go on, but the pacing is refreshingly brisk for the period. Also, the extensive use of expressive lighting really does make the direction stand out. All in all, it's an amusingly frantic attempt at cheap sensationalism, building a constant crescendo of (rather poorly acted) hysteria.
Rated 24 Sep 2022
40
30th
So, she's the cheat, right? What's the moral of the story? That all is forgiven if you shoot a Burmese Ivory King? It's historically interesting for jumpstarting Sessue Hayakawa's fame. Fav scene: seeing his body slide down on the other side of the paper wall partition and leaving a blood trail.
Rated 06 Apr 2013
63
19th
There are few movies made prior to '20 that are worth watching, and this is not one of them.
Rated 12 Jun 2015
80
80th
DeMille's best film.
Rated 11 Sep 2008
0
4th
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Rated 30 Nov 2008
63
21st
Ah! The branding scene....
Rated 20 Oct 2009
50
4th
60
Rated 10 Feb 2015
2
11th
a very tedious movie.
Rated 07 Aug 2012
15
16th
It's pretty silly and racist, especially the morally questionable ending is both. The acting isn't very convincing either. Still, it's oddly interesting and atmospheric at times, containing a couple of pretty good moments.
Rated 29 Sep 2023
58
18th
Melodramatic Demille film with a good performance by Hayakawa as the villain, though the character itself is leaning into anti Asian racism quite a bit. Not a terrible film, but I was glad it wasn't longer.

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