Or, arguing from a feminist perspective again, she fought off his attack in a legitimate act of self defense. After all, Edith freely consented to their bargain and then reneged. His character plays into the trope of the clever Asian who abuses Westerners' goodness (like Si and Am in Lady and the Tramp, to name one familiar example), yet he seems to be a more well-rounded characer than the bluntest stereotypes. He's courtly and generous on the service, but apparently a brute underneath. The depiction of Tori/Arakau is double-edged.
But is it his primary motivation, or just an excuse? Which spouse is really doing the driving?) ("It's for my wife, I'm doing it," he says. He has emotionally neglected Edith, and her frivolity - while perhaps a pre-existing trait - may be exacerbated by the emptiness of her marriage. But a more careful analysis shows that Richard Hardy is no better - our first view of him shows him carefully observing the stock ticker, and later on he refuses a game of golf in favour of staying at the office. In 1915, many observers would have argued that her near-rape and branding were punishments for her transgressions, as well as for even considering intimacy with an Asian man (Japanese in the original prints). She overspends, she neglects the wages of her personal maid, and finally shows that she can't be trusted with charity funds when they can be used for her personal gain. I wouldn't go as far as calling The Cheat a masterpiece (gambling with charity money only has one outcome in dramas that center on that topic), but the small touches with lighting and acting raise it above the typical level of society melodrama.Įdith Hardy is an extremely irresponsible person. "Histrionic" may be one way to describe her performance at the end of the trial, but displaying "intense agitation" is the way I'd prefer to put it-such an extreme of emotion as could drive a "respectable," high-society woman to the scandalous act of partially disrobing herself in public. That first glimpse of Fannie-coy & rather precious-is enough to fascinate me but, she's playing the part, after all, of a pampered, self-indulgent, society-woman, & it's her selfishness that brings about her downfall. The Cheat, to be sure, is a lesser accomplishment, but that invidious comparison needn't spoil one's enjoyment of it. Interesting? More like fabulous, I'd say (in the restored, tinted, version). I actually felt that DeMille's earlier adaptation of CARMEN with Geraldine Farrar was more interesting to look at. Additionally, I felt the camera work was competent but nothing really exceptional. CJBx7 wrote.Fannie Ward's performance struck me as very histrionic and I couldn't really bring myself to care about any of the characters.
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