The Cheat (1915)
A society wife embezzles Red Cross charity funds for a bad investment, then borrows the money back from a wealthy merchant on his terms, and pays a brutal price when she cannot deliver what he demands.
The Cheat made Sessue Hayakawa a major American star, and its stark, shadow-heavy lighting led French critics to coin the term photogénie to describe cinema’s distinct visual power. It was added to the National Film Registry in 1993.
Background
Cecil B. DeMille’s The Cheat was a 1915 melodrama that made Sessue Hayakawa a leading star and gave Fannie Ward one of her best-known roles. Ward plays a society wife who takes Red Cross charity money to cover a bad investment, then borrows it back from a wealthy merchant, played by Hayakawa, on terms she cannot meet. The film was a commercial success and remains one of the most discussed silent dramas of its period. Its portrayal of the merchant draws on racist stereotypes common in the era, and modern viewers should be aware of that.
What to watch for
Pay attention to the way the film builds its tension around the loan and its hidden terms, with the money gradually taking over the story. The most discussed scene is a branding in which the merchant marks the wife, a sequence central to both the film’s reputation and the criticism it has drawn. Hayakawa’s performance is controlled and restrained, which contrasts with the heightened emotion of the melodrama around it. DeMille’s staging of the society scenes is measured, and the contrast between the wife’s world and the merchant’s is clear in the set design. The film’s racial stereotyping is part of its record and deserves critical attention.
