Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Cheat

Play trailer Poster for The Cheat 1915 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
90% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 48% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
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.
Watch on Prime Video Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Cheat

Critics Reviews

View More
Fred Schader Variety 11/12/2019
There are some excellent lighting effects and the work of Sessue Hayakawa is so far above the acting of Miss Ward and Jack Dean that he really should be the star in the billing for the film. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 11/12/2019
[The Cheat] remains interesting today not only for its gripping vulgarity but also for the spectacular innovations in dramatic lighting De Mille created with his cameraman, Alvin Wyckoff. Go to Full Review
NYT Staff New York Times 03/25/2006
The picture is much above the average of its kind. But is there any more excuse for this sensational trash than for the old-fashioned melodrama in which half the characters were killed off at the end of the play? Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills 12/02/2022
Their less-than-fully-consensual yet very proto-50 Shades relationship made hearts flutter around the world—mostly due to Hayakawa, who refused to ham up his broadly written, villainous role... Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 11/12/2019
[Cecil B. DeMille] understands the cinematic zones where the dueling impulses of prudery and titillation meet. Go to Full Review
Scott Nash Three Movie Buffs 11/12/2019
3/4
Compared to many other films of the period, this one comes across as rather modern, at least in some respects. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Nick M 06/25/2024 Where to begin? When charting the legend of Cecil B. DeMille, this is the first picture in his filmography that feels unambiguously excellent. The cinematography is striking, and in one very memorable scene nothing short of ground breaking. I found the plot riveting, the direction vital and alive, and the first climax shocking even more than a century later. After that point I kept expecting the film to reach a quick conclusion, but then what I thought was the denouement began to extend into another act that ended in another climax that was just as exciting as the first one! I expected that this must have been an adaptation from a stage play or book, but it appears to be an original narrative by Hector Turnbull and Jeanie MacPherson! It also seems to be Turnbull's first screenplay, which is just astounding. MacPherson has much more experience, and co-wrote the wonderful film The Captive from earlier this year. Now, let's talk about the acting. Fannie Ward and Jack Dean (married in real life as well) are fine. They're stagey, which feels a bit tiresome at this point in the evolution of screen acting, but it wasn't enough to take me out of the picture because it's still common enough. Sessue Hayakawa, however... talk subtle to me, daddy. With a fractional arch of his eyebrow and the barest hint of a smile he communicates volumes more than the flailing hysterics and saucer-wide eyes of his costar. We are starting to see real screen acting here, and I am ready for it! He was so good (and devastatingly handsome) that even as a Japanese man in 1915 he became a Hollywood sex symbol. Give me more, DeMille, Hayakawa, and MacPherson! See more David K 05/15/2024 Hayakawa stands out in a film that is beautifully filmed. It's a story that would be hard to make 20 years later. See more 01/26/2019 The best, GREATEST thrilling movie ever made! See more 03/12/2017 One of the first major works of Cecile B. DeMille who went on to direct the Ten Commandments in 1956. An electrifying story of a young socialite (Fannie Ward) who gambles $10,000 from the Red Cross & loses it & strikes a deal with an Ivory Merchant. For 1915 this films pulls all the punches & would have been a controversial film in its day. Most famous is the scene where Fannie Ware unable to pay back the Ivory Merchant he brands her with a Hot Spoke. Made the career of Sessue Hayawaka largely known as the Japanese General from Bridge on the River Kwai. This film was a sensation in its Day & although 102 years old this year still is quite intriguing. See more 10/30/2016 Portrays the debasement of Japanese in America. See more 09/13/2016 Racist undertones aside, The Cheat is an excellent look at early cinema with its exquisite directing, believable characters, and revolutionary cinematrography (for the time). See more Read all reviews
The Cheat

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Regeneration 100% 63% The Regeneration Watchlist Intolerance 98% 76% Intolerance Watchlist TRAILER for Intolerance Within Our Gates 100% 51% Within Our Gates Watchlist Blind Husbands 100% 69% Blind Husbands Watchlist The Blot 100% 53% The Blot Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis 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.
Director
Cecil B. DeMille
Producer
Jesse L. Lasky
Screenwriter
Jeanie Macpherson, Hector Turnbull
Distributor
Kino Video, Timeless Multimedia, Image Entertainment Inc., Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Timeless Video Inc., Grapevine Video, Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co.
Genre
Drama
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 12, 1915, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 2, 2016
Runtime
55m
Aspect Ratio
Academy (1.33:1)
Most Popular at Home Now