The Cheaters

The Cheaters (1930)

An embezzler, Bill Marsh, swears vengeance on a businessman, John Travers, who has turned him in to the police. Twenty years pass, and Marsh emerges from jail and establishes himself as the head of a powerful crime empire, with his daughter, Paula, serving as bait to attract wealthy victims. Paula falls in love with Lee Travers, the adopted son of Marsh's old enemy, and begins to have doubts about her life of crime. Only after a series of tragic incidents is she set free to marry Lee and start life anew. This silent feature was highly regarded for its set design and 'unusual sensitivity to the expressive range of the camera and their awareness of careful scenario construction as a key to emotionally powerful cinema'. Cast includes Marie Lorraine, Arthur Greenaway, John Faulkner. A sound version was attempted soon after but was not successful and was never released.

Date of release
1930-06-01
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (7)
Runtime
1h 32m
Genres
Crime, Drama, Romance
Director
Paulette McDonagh

Casting

Interesting facts

The Cheaters is a 1930 Australian silent film directed by Paulette McDonagh and starring Isabel McDonagh. Phyllis McDonagh worked as art director. The McDonagh sisters made a number of self-funded films together in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Production

The film was shot as a silent movie in 1929 but had trouble securing a release. The McDonaghs decided to adapt it into a partial talkie and shot some additional scenes in Melbourne in 1930 using an improvised sound-on-disc system. These scenes included a fancy dress party sequence and a romantic scene where Paula sings a song to Lee. The film features a shot of the not yet completed Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The musician's union temporarily prevented its members from recording music for the film. The McDonaghs responded by hiring non-union labour.

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