The Cheaters (1945): Have You Seen It?

The bread and butter at Republic Pictures was its low budget westerns which were churned out at a breakneck pace, but on rare occasions, the studio would produce a quality "A" picture with more lavish sets, costumes and music than the dusty prairie afforded. The Cheaters (1945) is one example of Republic's foray into "A" movie territory. The film centers on the Pidgeon family, a snobbish set of eccentrics whose self-centered lives are infiltrated by an out of work ham actor, who they take into their home at Christmas. Facing financial ruin, the Pidgeons hatch a scheme to garner an inheritance, given by their wealthy uncle to an unsuspecting innocent actress. Between the family of crazies, the actor and the actress cum heiress the mayhem is rampant. There is a hint of My Man Godfrey (1936) in The Cheaters except with lesser known actors in a less cohesive package. Had this film been made at MGM with an A-list cast it would most assuredly be a well remembered classic.

As the actor, a charity case who is initially taken into the Pidgeon household as merely a shallow stunt, is noted stage thespian Joseph Schildkraut. The Austrian native had several notable screen roles before The Cheaters, even becoming the first non American Oscar winner as Best Actor in a Supporting Role for The Life of Emile Zola in 1937. His part as Anthony Marchand or Mr. M, as he is hailed by the Pidgeons, is no star maker, but his confidence and presence shines through. Billie Burke, best known on screen as Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) and off screen as Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld, plays the kind of role she became famous for, the flibbertigibbet social matron, for whom social standing, status and celebrity reign supreme. As Mrs. Pidgeon, she is a snob but not a vicious one, instead, she is frivolous, financially foolish and flighty.

Best known as bad girl Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind (1939), Ona Munson is terrific as Florie Watson, a part originally slated for actress Binnie Barnes. Munson does a fine job as the down on her luck actress, who inherits a bundle. She is completely down to earth and world weary at the same time. Sadly, Munson would commit suicide ten years later in New York City. Also noteworthy are Eugene Pallette as the Pidgeon patriarch, Norma Varden, as his loyal if not cynical secretary and Anne Gillis as spoiled to the bone daughter Angela (think Veda from Mildred Pierce in a comedy, if you can!).

The film's director, Joseph Kane, was Republic's top western man, but occasionally took the helm of some of their other more ambitious projects, such as The Cheaters. Repackaging for television in the 1950's, the movie became known as The Castaway and was chopped down to an hour. Long lost to many classic movie fans, the film resurfaced on Turner Classic Movies in December 2008.