Review of The Cheat (1915) by Zane U — 28 Aug 2009

95 years later, it's hard to watch without a significant amount of discomfort at the "yellow panic" that marks the villain as a villain primarily due to his Asian ethnicity. The titular "cheat" is very elusive, though, as it could be referring to any of a number of lies, secrets, and double-crossings that take place.

Taking a step back from its offensive portrayal of the Asian villain, as a DeMille film it still has technical merits and was a very popular film when it came out, launching Hayakawa to stardom that gave him the opportunity to atone for his caricatured Asian villainy.