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Most of the film takes place in flashback, with a voiceover narration by Guitry (in his role as the Cheat) in which he also speaks the dialogue of the other actors. Only in the 'present' scenes is any dialogue spoken by other actors (notably
Marguerite Moreno). This technique of a voiceover narration
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Returning to the present, the
Countess finally recognizes her former lover and tries to recruit him to help her rob the house across the street. The Cheat declines, explaining first that it was his former home and second that he has since embarked on the only honest job that utilizes his skills, that
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After a stint in the army, the Cheat decides to take up a profession that rewards honesty: croupier in a casino in Monaco. However, he is taken back into the French Army at the start of World War I. He is wounded almost immediately, but is rescued by
Charbonnier, a fellow soldier who loses his right
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Once more a civilian, he is picked up by a beautiful woman in a restaurant. After spending the night together, she confesses that she is a professional thief. She enlists him in robbing a jeweler of a ring through trickery. Though they are successful, he slips away afterward and returns to work as a
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The 54-year-old Cheat writes his memoirs in a café, and at the age of 12, he is caught stealing money from the family grocery shop. As punishment, he is not allowed to enjoy a treat with the rest of the family: mushrooms which turn out to be poisonous. His parents, siblings, uncle and grandparents
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Later, he cheats
Charbonnier at baccarat before he recognizes his benefactor. Fortunately, they tie, but he is so filled with shame, he quits cheating. Charbonnier, having unwittingly cured the Cheat of one vice, infects him with another: the love of gambling. The Cheat loses all of the ill-gotten
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commented on its elaborate narrative structure: "As always when the difficulties and disadvantages of a constricting technique are overcome, there is an effect of unity and precision which freedom cannot often give". When the film opened at the
Academy Cinema in London in September 1937, it ran
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An attractive regular at his roulette wheel believes he can control where the ball falls. Indeed, over the next few days, she wins consistently. They become partners; to ensure he will get his share of the winnings, he gets her to agree to a marriage of convenience. However, she loses all of the
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He then becomes a professional card cheat. One day, while in disguise, he spots two women from his past, his former wife and the Jewel Thief together at a gambling table, evidently friends. He gallantly invites them to share half his bet, but only if he wins. He does, and they accept his dinner
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in Monaco, the Cheat catches the eye of the much older
Countess, and they have a brief fling. (By chance, they meet again in the present at the café, though the now elderly Countess does not recognize her former paramour, much to his relief.)
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which interprets the action has echoes of the 'film explainer' who was sometimes used to narrate silent films, and it has also been seen as a model for the type of narration used by Orson Welles in
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Upon its release in France, the film met with a mixed reception, but it maintained a positive reputation among critics and film-makers as one of Guitry's best films; in 2008, it was included in
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described it as "witty, impudent, morally subversive" and commented, "Only a man of Guitry's impudence could have succeeded in making 'The Story of a Cheat' the clever picture that it is".
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366:. Guitry also used the spoken word to present the actors and technicians as they are introduced on-camera at the start of the film, instead of the conventional printed credits.
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all die, and his mother's unscrupulous cousin takes charge of him, while using the inheritance for his own benefit. Thus, it appears to the youngster that dishonesty pays.
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invitation. Both indicate they are willing to go to bed with him, still unaware of his true identity; he chooses his ex-wife because he had not slept with her before.
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by fellow restaurant worker, Serge
Abramich. However, an anonymous letter (which the Cheat implies he wrote) leads to the arrest of Abramich and the other plotters.
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He runs away and works at various jobs, such as doorman and hotel bellhop. In Paris, he is unwillingly drawn into a plot to assassinate the visiting Czar
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money she had won before; all of the other gamblers win so much, he is fired, ironically for being unable to cheat. The couple quickly obtain a divorce.
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The film was released in the UK and USA, and enjoyed significant success. In London, a reviewer for
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arm as a result. The army loses track of the Cheat, allowing him to spend the war reading books.
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there for four months. Around the UK it was shown in 400 cinemas. In the USA, the reviewer for
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210:) is a 1936 film starring, written and directed by
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448:, chosen by 78 critics and film historians, for
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214:. It was adapted from Guitry's only novel,
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427:Dictionnaire du cinéma populaire français
381:s list of the 100 most important films.
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262:gains of years in a matter of months.
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308:as The Countess (as a younger woman)
727:Le Destin fabuleux de Désirée Clary
320:as Madame Moriot, the cousin's wife
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501:
284:as The Countess (as an old woman)
941:Films scored by Adolphe Borchard
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490:: review by Frank S. Nugent, in
237:As an elevator operator in the
192:(sometimes known in English as
916:Films directed by Sacha Guitry
636:N'Ă©coutez pas, mesdames !
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464:(London), 15 March 1937, p.12.
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290:as Henriette, the Cheat's wife
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338:as The Cheat (as a young man)
901:French black-and-white films
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278:as The Cheat (as an old man)
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911:French films about gambling
896:1930s French-language films
807:Royal Affairs in Versailles
413:Translated into English as
143:19 September 1936
118:Films Sonores Tobis; Cinéas
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596:Le Scandale de Monte-Carlo
216:Les MĂ©moires d'un tricheur
906:French comedy-drama films
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417:(London: Gollancz, 1935).
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767:The Treasure of Cantenac
204:The Story of a Trickster
886:1936 comedy-drama films
703:The Pearls of the Crown
344:as Monsieur Charbonnier
314:as The Cheat (as a boy)
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799:The Virtuous Scoundrel
791:Je l'ai été trois fois
671:Confessions of a Cheat
531:Confessions of a Cheat
520:Confessions of a Cheat
509:Confessions of a Cheat
487:Le Roman d'un tricheur
474:The French Cinema Book
200:Confessions of a Cheat
189:Le Roman d'un tricheur
22:Confessions of a Cheat
266:of security officer.
232:Nicholas II of Russia
218:, published in 1935.
936:Films about roulette
921:Films set in casinos
494:, 27 September 1938.
195:The Story of a Cheat
926:Films set in Monaco
679:My Father Was Right
931:Films set in Paris
891:1930s French films
831:Lovers and Thieves
604:Let's Make a Dream
525:TCM Movie Database
492:The New York Times
444:2013-12-18 at the
415:Memoirs of a Cheat
394:The New York Times
302:as The Jewel Thief
288:Jacqueline Delubac
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839:Three Make a Pair
687:The New Testament
450:Cahiers du Cinéma
376:Cahiers du Cinéma
296:as Serge Abramich
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159:Running time
136:Release date
75:Sacha Guitry
67:Sacha Guitry
49:Sacha Guitry
40:Sacha Guitry
850:Screenplays
588:Stage works
336:Pierre Assy
312:Serge Grave
72:Narrated by
54:Produced by
36:Directed by
881:1936 films
875:Categories
401:References
355:Production
250:croupier.
163:81 minutes
147:1936-09-19
111:Production
46:Written by
783:La Poison
759:Two Doves
711:Quadrille
655:Good Luck
462:The Times
452:, 2008. .
439:100 films
387:The Times
370:Reception
350:as Waiter
208:The Cheat
113:companies
90:Edited by
815:Napoléon
536:AllMovie
442:Archived
176:Language
100:Music by
64:Starring
775:Deburau
663:Pasteur
612:Deburau
523:at the
168:Country
145: (
128:Gaumont
861:(1958)
842:(1957)
834:(1956)
826:(1956)
818:(1955)
810:(1954)
802:(1953)
794:(1952)
786:(1951)
778:(1951)
770:(1950)
762:(1949)
754:(1949)
746:(1948)
738:(1943)
730:(1942)
722:(1939)
714:(1938)
706:(1937)
698:(1937)
695:Désiré
690:(1936)
682:(1936)
674:(1936)
666:(1935)
658:(1935)
639:(1942)
631:(1925)
628:Mozart
623:(1923)
615:(1918)
607:(1916)
599:(1908)
324:Fréhel
180:French
171:France
130:(2007)
379:'
206:, or
514:IMDb
270:Cast
222:Plot
751:Toâ
534:at
512:at
877::
202:,
564:e
557:t
550:v
149:)
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