Paramount groomed super-beautiful Lila Lee as a replacement for temperamental Gloria Swanson. Lila starred opposite Valentino in Blood and Sand (1922) and headed the cast of The Midnight Girl (1925) opposite second-billed Gareth Hughes (who was earning a colossal salary of $2,000 a week at this stage, so who knows how much Lila Lee was being paid). Yet here she is in a Chesterfield production. Fortunately, by the humble standards of Poverty Row, this is a well-produced agreeable little comedy-noir. The plot is nothing new, but the players give it a good degree of interest and even charm. In fact, late-entering Harry Allen almost steals the show as the hero's dad. And the good news is that Alpha offer a good print of the 5-reel Kodascope cutdown. A noir? Yes, although basically a romantic comedy, the film qualifies as a noir because of a secondary plot involving a black-mailer and our heroine's brother.
Review of The Adorable Cheat
