MOVIE OF THE DAY: "THE CHEAT" (1931)

 The Cheat is a pre-code melodrama remembered not so much for its story but one shocking scene that you couldn't get away with now. Now that I think of it, you likely couldn't get away with any of it now. Sounds good!

Up and coming businessman Jeffrey Carlyle is madly in love with his wife Elsa. Elsa, in turn, is madly in love with Jeffrey. And money. It's a little difficult to see which comes first. Elsa is also a bad gambler, having lost $10,000 in cards at her Long Island country club, thanks to a double-or-nothing bet that never works out in movies. 

Elsa's lose way with dough must be a well-kept secret in her circle, since she's put in charge of $14,000 meant to go to the Milk Fund. (And you thought milk was expensive now!) When Elsa gets wind of a stock market opportunity that promises a 100% return in 48 hours, she puts $10,000 of the milk money into it, believing everything will work out by Friday. This dame certainly places misguided faith in double-or-nothing bets.

Just to let you know, she's the one doing the talking
here.

When that wager goes south, she has nowhere to turn but the mysterious Hardy Livingstone, a Sinophile whose entire house, right down to the servants, is early Japanese. Livingstone, having the hots for Elsa since forever, gives her a check for $10,000. Which covers one debt but not the other, something nobody seems to think is a problem.

In return, all Livingstone wants is for Elsa to drop by his house whenever he commands. That debt appears to clear up the following day, when her husband's big business deal comes through, allowing her to repay Livingstone. Mr. Japanese-Wannabe millionaire refuses the check despite Elsa refusing to go through with her end of the bargain. Which one is the cheat here anyway?

What do you do when you're branded, and you know
you're a cheat?

Even when he accepts that Elsa will never put out for him, Livingstone proves that
she's still his property. Not by holding her captive or demanding the return of a cool Japanese dress he lent her for a costume party, but by branding her chest. Talk about a money shot!

It seems anti-climactic to describe the rest of the movie -- Elsa shoots Livingstone in the shoulder; Jeffrey (remember him?) takes the blame, but is let off the hook during the trial when Elsa shows the brand to the courtroom as the reason she pulled the trigger. Nothing tops that branding scene, even if it is done in shadow. Another cheat!

Elsa realizes going to a costume party
with her husband dressed like that was a
bad idea.

Tallulah Bankhead, still a year or so away from starting to look like Tallulah Bankhead, plays Elsa alternately languid and panicked, in love and bored out of her mind, enjoying the good life while trying to escape it. I mean, Tallulah Bankhead connected to the Milk Fund? Only when it's mixed with bourbon. She appears to be a decade older than the milquetoasty Harvey Stephens, playing Jeffrey, yet they're both only 29 years old. 

The only actor who can go toe-to-toe with Bankhead is Irving Pichel. Both an interesting character actor (unforgettable in Dracula's Daughter) and movie director (ranging from the tense The Most Dangerous Game to the ethereal Tomorrow is Forever), Pichel has a style and beautiful voice unlike anybody else's. 

Livingstone feels the fury of an outraged courtroom.
Not so suave now, are you, Mr. Sophisticate?

Very much an actor of his time, he can suddenly appear to be contemporary without breaking a sweat. Pichel's portrayal of Livingstone begins as friendly and generous, gradually becoming just a little creepy before going full-blown screwy and, finally, scared for his life when the courtroom spectators go for his blood.

If The Cheat sounds melodramatic, it ought to, since it's a remake of a Cecil B. DeMille silent of 1915. The major difference -- other than, you know, people not talking -- is that Hardy Livingston was named Hishuru Tori, and played by Sessue Hayakawa. Yes, the rich, exotic man in love with the white lady was Japanese. Now replay the story, particularly the branding, with that in mind. A story like that a decade or so into the 20th-century was positively scandalous. And, for a lot of white women bored with their husbands, exciting as hell.

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To read about the Tallulah Bankhead pre-code Devil and the Deep, go here.