Forfaiture

A remake, in another time, another place, of Cecil B DeMille's 1915 The Cheat (written by Hector Turnbull) with Hayakawa repeating his role of the wealthy Oriental who literally puts his brand on the fair-skinned heroine - evidently a deliciously horrifying moment for WASP audiences of the day. It would be instructive, if a bit tedious, to list all the alterations the story has undergone. It's essentially a matter of tone, with the fastidious, sophisticated L'Herbier about the polar opposite of full-steam-ahead DeMille. The most significant embellishments involve a private secretary played by Jouvet on a darkly enigmatic note which does much to deflect Turnbull's compendium of unexamined prejudices.