''The Dancing Cheat'' is a 1924 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Irving Cummings Irving Caminsky (October 9, 1888 – April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor and director. Career Born in New York City, Cummings started his acting career at age 16 in ''Diplomacy''. His Broadway, performances included ''In the Long R ...

and starring

Herbert Rawlinson Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound f ...

Alice Lake Alice Lake (September 12, 1895 – November 15, 1967) was an American film actress. She began her career during the silent film era and often appeared in comedy shorts opposite Roscoe Arbuckle. Career Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lake began her ...

, and Robert Walker.Munden pp. 162-63

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, Brownlow Clay, member of an old Southern family, runs a square

gambling house A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. In a cafe he meets Poppy, a dancer and the wife of a crooked gambler named Kane, who is willing to go the limit in order to achieve her aim. When Clay refuses to respond to her advances, Poppy, enraged, enters into a scheme with her husband to blackmail him. Kane finds her in Clay's apartments and demands hush money. Poppy, ashamed of the part she is playing in this

badger game The badger game is an extortion scheme or confidence trick in which the victims are tricked into compromising positions in order to make them vulnerable to blackmail. Its name is derived from the practice of badger baiting. The trick was part ...

and genuinely in love with Clay, relents, suffers remorse, and double-crosses her husband instead of Clay. With Kane out of the way, Clay and Poppy face a happy future together.

Cast

References

Bibliography

* Connelly, Robert B. ''The Silents: Silent Feature Films, 1910-36, Volume 40, Issue 2''. December Press, 1998. * Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

* 1924 films 1924 drama films American silent feature films Silent American drama films Films directed by Irving Cummings American black-and-white films Universal Pictures films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films {{1920s-US-film-stub