Blu Ray Review: The Cheat (1931)

Another fascinating pre-code drama released to blu ray by Kino Lorber, The Cheat is a 1931 remake of Cecil DeMille’s 1915 film.

Tallulah Bankhead had a real life reputation for edgy behavior,, so it was somewhat fitting to place her in seamy dramas during the precode era. The Cheat features her as a woman who appears to be grounded in a happy marriage, but who is actually a compulsive gambler. Bankhead’s character wallows in wealth and privilege, but her addictions are too overcoming for her to handle. She is concerned about her social standing, so she attempts to keep her real life hidden.

Slow moving, but effectively so, The Cheat not only explores a lot of decadence that, in another three years, would not be allowed in a movie, it also shows how Paramount would spotlight its actresses. Bankhead had quite a reputation, and the fact that she is the star and focal point of the narrative has a historical and cultural significance. Mae West would join the same studio a year later.

Bankhead didn’t make too many movies, her most notable likely being Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944). But in this film her character is allowed to flourish within its own excesses. After ending up with a gambling debt of $10,000, she desperately steals money from a charity, and invests in a stock, which manages to tank. She then borrows the money, and when she’s unable to pay, she’s labeled a cheat and her reputation is challenged. In further desperation, she shoots the man to whom she is in dept, and her devoted husband takes the blame.

The direction of The Cheat is credited to Broadway icon George Abbott.

Kino Lorber’s blu ray includes a typically fascinating and informative commentary track by film historian and author Simon Abrams. He offers a lot of good information on the film, some of it very revealing.

The film is available at this link: THE CHEAT