Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

sabotai · 08-10-2006, 08:54 PM

The Cheat
Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Starring: Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Sessue Hayakawa
Length: 59 minutes

Honors
Nominated AFI's "100 Years...100 Movies"
Nominated AFI's "100 Years...100 Thrills"

There once was a man named Richard Hardy (played by Jack Dean) who had a wife, Edith Hardy (played by Fannie Ward) who would spend and spend and spend some more. Richard Hardy had all of his money in stock investments, and could not afford his wife's spending habits. He kept assuring her that his stock would pay off soon.

She was also the treasurer of a Red Cross charity. She recieved a stock tip from a friend, and took the money from the charity and put it in the stock. Oops, the stock fell through and the charity's $10,000 was gone. She asked Haka Arakau, another friend of her's, for a loan. He'd give it....for a price. Her body. She agreed.

Her husband's stock hit the next day and she tried to pay the money back, but Mr. Arakau wouldn't accept and wanted his prize. She fought back, and he branded her on the shoulder. She fights him off, grabs his gun and shoots him. After she runs away, her husband shows up just before the cops. He takes the blame for the shooting.

He is put on trial for the shooting. Even after finding out why she was there, he still wanted to take the blame and told her to not say anything. As the verdict of guilty is read, she loses it, stands in front of the court and shows the branding and says she shot him. The court erupts into a brawl, for some odd reason. Mr. Hardy's verdict is overturned and he and his wife leave the courtroom.

What the fuck. Maybe there was a different code of chivalry back then, but why did he take the blame if her telling the truth meant no trial, for either of them?

Ok, I did not like the plot, especially at the end, as I kind of found the characters way too unbelievably 2 dimensional. However, story telling in these silent films has gotten quite good. With only showing bits and pieces of the conversation (text of the screen), you can still easily follow along. The use of music, camera and lighting techniques and body language really goes a long way in keeping the audience informed as to what is happening. Earlier films (the shorts), I had no clue what was going on a lot of the time, but am having no trouble following now. Maybe I've gotten a bit used to them, but I think that movie making had become an art form by this time. I give this a bit of a high historical rating, since apparently some people in the AFI like it. But I didn't really enjoy the movie that much.

Historical Rating: 5/10
Entertainment Rating: 2/10

08-10-2006, 08:54 PM	#31
sabotai General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The Satellite of Love	The Cheat Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille Starring: Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Sessue Hayakawa Length: 59 minutes Honors Nominated AFI's "100 Years...100 Movies" Nominated AFI's "100 Years...100 Thrills" There once was a man named Richard Hardy (played by Jack Dean) who had a wife, Edith Hardy (played by Fannie Ward) who would spend and spend and spend some more. Richard Hardy had all of his money in stock investments, and could not afford his wife's spending habits. He kept assuring her that his stock would pay off soon. She was also the treasurer of a Red Cross charity. She recieved a stock tip from a friend, and took the money from the charity and put it in the stock. Oops, the stock fell through and the charity's $10,000 was gone. She asked Haka Arakau, another friend of her's, for a loan. He'd give it....for a price. Her body. She agreed. Her husband's stock hit the next day and she tried to pay the money back, but Mr. Arakau wouldn't accept and wanted his prize. She fought back, and he branded her on the shoulder. She fights him off, grabs his gun and shoots him. After she runs away, her husband shows up just before the cops. He takes the blame for the shooting. He is put on trial for the shooting. Even after finding out why she was there, he still wanted to take the blame and told her to not say anything. As the verdict of guilty is read, she loses it, stands in front of the court and shows the branding and says she shot him. The court erupts into a brawl, for some odd reason. Mr. Hardy's verdict is overturned and he and his wife leave the courtroom. What the fuck. Maybe there was a different code of chivalry back then, but why did he take the blame if her telling the truth meant no trial, for either of them? Ok, I did not like the plot, especially at the end, as I kind of found the characters way too unbelievably 2 dimensional. However, story telling in these silent films has gotten quite good. With only showing bits and pieces of the conversation (text of the screen), you can still easily follow along. The use of music, camera and lighting techniques and body language really goes a long way in keeping the audience informed as to what is happening. Earlier films (the shorts), I had no clue what was going on a lot of the time, but am having no trouble following now. Maybe I've gotten a bit used to them, but I think that movie making had become an art form by this time. I give this a bit of a high historical rating, since apparently some people in the AFI like it. But I didn't really enjoy the movie that much. Historical Rating: 5/10 Entertainment Rating: 2/10 Last edited by sabotai : 12-16-2007 at 10:49 PM.