"The Cheat" was quite daring for its time. The Cecil B. DeMille production dealt as it does with the infidelity of the wife of a Wall Street stockbroker with an Asian ivory merchant. In the initial release in 1915, the character played by Sessue Hayakawa was a Japanese American called Hishuru Tori. The Japanese American community apparently were not amused at seeing one of their own being portrayed as a nasty villain. When De Mille re-released the film in 1918, the character was changed to a Burmese and was called Haka Arakou. It is this version that appears on the DVD compilation, "Cecil B. De Mille: The Classics Collection".
Richard Hardy (Jack Dean) is a stockbroker who has invested all of his money into a sure thing stock. His wife Edith (Fanny Ward) is a social climbing spendthrift who spends Dean's money faster than he can make it. Until his investment pays off, he cautions her to ease up on her extravagances. A rich Burmese ivory king, Haka Arakau (Hayakawa) shows more than a passing interest in her.
Edith is the Treasurer of a Red Cross charity which has raised $10,000. The money is entrusted to Edith who puts it into her safe at home. Because her husband has curtailed her spending, Edith seeks a way to raise some cash. A family friend Jones (James Neill) tells her that he knows of an investment that will literally double her money overnight. She gives him the $10,000. The next night Jones informs Edith that the investment failed and that her money is lost.
With the charity ready to turn over the money the next day, Edith is forced to seek a source of funds in a hurry. Arakou offers his help but it turns out that he is not the gentle cultured friend that Edith thought him to be. He gives her the $10,000 in return for her "favors".
As luck would have it, Richard's investment pays off. Edith asks for and receives $10,000 from him without disclosing the real reason for it. She goes to pay off Arakou but he refuses to accept the money and holds her to her "bargain". The two struggle as he tries to force his intentions upon her. He "brands" her with a seal which he uses to mark his possessions. In a further struggle she shoots him wounding him seriously. After Edith flees, Richard arrives on the scene, surmises what has happened and takes the blame.
Richard is brought before the court and Arakau is content to see him go on trial but....................................................
This was Fannie Ward's first film. She had worked on the stage and looked younger than her years (She was in her 40s at the time) and would play mostly younger roles during her career. This film made Sessue Hayakawa the first Asian movie star and spawned a career that lasted on and off for the next 50 years. He is probably best remembered for his role as the camp commandant in "The Bridge On the River Kwai" (1957).
De Mille took a big chance with this film. First for the thinly disguised extra marital affair between a Caucasian woman and an Asian man as well as, for the "branding" scene and the attempted rape scene. Since there was no effective censorship at the time, film makers could push the envelope with little consequence. The only censorship would come from interest groups such as the Japanese Americans, which I described above.
An excellent film.
Richard Hardy (Jack Dean) is a stockbroker who has invested all of his money into a sure thing stock. His wife Edith (Fanny Ward) is a social climbing spendthrift who spends Dean's money faster than he can make it. Until his investment pays off, he cautions her to ease up on her extravagances. A rich Burmese ivory king, Haka Arakau (Hayakawa) shows more than a passing interest in her.
Edith is the Treasurer of a Red Cross charity which has raised $10,000. The money is entrusted to Edith who puts it into her safe at home. Because her husband has curtailed her spending, Edith seeks a way to raise some cash. A family friend Jones (James Neill) tells her that he knows of an investment that will literally double her money overnight. She gives him the $10,000. The next night Jones informs Edith that the investment failed and that her money is lost.
With the charity ready to turn over the money the next day, Edith is forced to seek a source of funds in a hurry. Arakou offers his help but it turns out that he is not the gentle cultured friend that Edith thought him to be. He gives her the $10,000 in return for her "favors".
As luck would have it, Richard's investment pays off. Edith asks for and receives $10,000 from him without disclosing the real reason for it. She goes to pay off Arakou but he refuses to accept the money and holds her to her "bargain". The two struggle as he tries to force his intentions upon her. He "brands" her with a seal which he uses to mark his possessions. In a further struggle she shoots him wounding him seriously. After Edith flees, Richard arrives on the scene, surmises what has happened and takes the blame.
Richard is brought before the court and Arakau is content to see him go on trial but....................................................
This was Fannie Ward's first film. She had worked on the stage and looked younger than her years (She was in her 40s at the time) and would play mostly younger roles during her career. This film made Sessue Hayakawa the first Asian movie star and spawned a career that lasted on and off for the next 50 years. He is probably best remembered for his role as the camp commandant in "The Bridge On the River Kwai" (1957).
De Mille took a big chance with this film. First for the thinly disguised extra marital affair between a Caucasian woman and an Asian man as well as, for the "branding" scene and the attempted rape scene. Since there was no effective censorship at the time, film makers could push the envelope with little consequence. The only censorship would come from interest groups such as the Japanese Americans, which I described above.
An excellent film.