[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Le roman d'un tricheur

  • 1936
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Le roman d'un tricheur (1936)
Comedy

A charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.A charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.A charming scoundrel reflects on his exploits, from childhood through to manhood.

  • Director
    • Sacha Guitry
  • Writer
    • Sacha Guitry
  • Stars
    • Sacha Guitry
    • Adolphe Borchard
    • Marcel Lucien
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    2.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sacha Guitry
    • Writer
      • Sacha Guitry
    • Stars
      • Sacha Guitry
      • Adolphe Borchard
      • Marcel Lucien
    • 14User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos17

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 10
    View Poster

    Top cast25

    Edit
    Sacha Guitry
    Sacha Guitry
    • Self - Writer & Director…
    Adolphe Borchard
    • Self (in prologue)
    Marcel Lucien
    • Self (in prologue)
    Raymond Clunie
    • Self (in prologue)
    Paul Duvergé
    • Self (in prologue)
    Guerbe
    • Self (in prologue)
    Henri Ménessier
    • Self (in prologue)
    Mailleray
    • Self - Furniture Maker (in prologue)
    Marguerite Moreno
    Marguerite Moreno
    • La Contesse Beauchamp du Bourg de Catinax…
    Jacqueline Delubac
    Jacqueline Delubac
    • La femme…
    Roger Duchesne
    Roger Duchesne
    • Serge Abramovich
    Rosine Deréan
    Rosine Deréan
    • La maîtresse…
    Elmire Vautier
    Elmire Vautier
    • The Countess as a Young Woman
    Serge Grave
    Serge Grave
    • The Cheat at 12
    Fréhel
    Fréhel
    • Self - Singer…
    Pierre Labry
    Pierre Labry
    • Maître Morlot
    • (as Labry)
    • …
    Pauline Carton
    Pauline Carton
    • Mme. Morlot…
    Pierre Assy
    • The Cheat as a Young Man
    • Director
      • Sacha Guitry
    • Writer
      • Sacha Guitry
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews14

    7.52.6K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    writers_reign

    A Tricheur That's A Real Treat

    Although Sacha Guitry acted in London in 1920 he remains practically unknown and/or forgotten here as, I would venture to guess, he is in the United States. One of the better Art Houses in Paris ran a mini season of his movies a couple of years ago but even in France he is a spent force. This is a pity because he had a great deal to offer to both stage and screen. A prolific playwright who authors close to one hundred plays and has them performed clearly has something to offer and even allowing for changes in taste and fashion it remains an impressive track record. It's difficult to find an English comparison; Gerald du Maurier was roughly contemporaneous but he only acted and never wrote a line, Peter Ustinov WAS an actor-director but began his career when Guitry was entering his final phase. The Cheat dates from 1936 and is considered in many quarters to be Guitry's finest film. I haven't seen enough titles to say yea or nay but this is certainly a charming and stylish entry. For 1936 Guitry could be said to be ahead of his time by introducing us in the very first frames not only to his cast - and even here it is far from a standard 'still' and a name; he opts for playfulness, 'where is .... ' and calling until the actor/actress emerges to take a bow - but also to his technicians from camera operator to sound recordist, composer, and film editor. At the end of all this he begins his story - in a manner later 'borrowed' in 'Kind Hearts And Coronets' - by sitting at a cafe table, producing pen and paper to which he commits his 'memoirs'. Although we cut back to Guitry at his cafe table several times his story is told largely via his narration and follows his career from the time his entire family - all eleven members - expire after eating mushrooms picked earlier that day which turned out to be toxic and from which he, as a ten-year old is forbidden to partake as a punishment for his earlier 'stealing' a few sous from the till in the family shop. The boy draws a moral lesson from this incident namely, it doesn't pay to be honest, and then he is off and running to a career of conning and cunning. It is, of course, all done with style and charm, in fact we would have to wait for Cary Grant to replicate these qualities to the same degree in the vastly overrated piece of cheese 'To Catch A Thief'. It's unlikely that film buffs in the UK or US will have the opportunity to catch this unless it appears on video/dvd one day, as they say in France, quel dommage. 7/10
    8zetes

    Charming

    I've long wanted to see this French classic, and now Criterion has finally given me the chance via their Eclipse label (the box set also includes three later Guitry films, too). I have to say, I was a little disappointed after hearing it mentioned so much as one of the defining films of the era. But it's good. It's the film's central, original technique that gives the film it's fame, I think, but also what ultimately undermines it. The whole story is told from the point of view of a writer (played by Guitry himself) who is writing his autobiography at a café. Most of the film is told in flashbacks, with the gimmick that the author narrates every second of those flashbacks. Any dialogue that happens comes from the lips of Guitry, whether it be his character speaking or another. It's cute - at first. But narration is very difficult to pull off in films. It just so rarely feels necessary, since, unlike in a book, the audience can always see what is happening. A lot of film viewers just plain dislike it, and, with almost any film you see that uses it, you can find someone complaining about it. In The Story of a Cheat, I found the narration initially amusing. But after nearly ninety minutes of it, I have to admit I got bored with the gimmick. The story itself is very frivolous. It's charming, but, in the end, it doesn't equal all that much. It has a similar "champagne on corn flakes" feel that René Clair's films often do, but it isn't anywhere near as memorable as Clair's best French work.
    8bob998

    Sacha shows us how

    Sacha Guitry was the greatest orator in movie history. Even greater than Orson Welles, in my estimation. But that does not make him the greatest filmmaker. He had real trouble in SHOWING the audience what was going on, rather than telling them. I think Story of a Cheat is the most successful of his films because he found a way of creating action--an example being the jewel thief who comes up with a novel way of stealing gems from unwitting marks. The two scenes with Marguerite Moreno in the cafe are wonderfully done, with great dialog. Otherwise the story is told through narrated flashbacks.
    9JumpingCineFile

    Absolutely delightful and drôle film

    This was such an enjoyable experience and a surprise considering its vintage of 1936. Mainly told via narration it never loses its charm and humour as the elderly cheat from the film's title writes his memoirs, and the audience is shown the eventful moments in flashback. The Director also was writing and staring in the film, as the main character in his later years, The young actor playing the tricheur as a young boy of 12 years was the most adorable version of the character, for me, followed by the older man. This is a film you have to see if you can, either via BluRay or DVD or via the Criterion Channel streaming service.
    dbdumonteil

    Casino Loyale

    I can only approve of my old pal Writer's Reign 's opinion ,who for a change wrote the very first comment."Le Roman d'un Tricheur" is an unique work ,which tends to make a reductio ab absurdum : what 's the point of being honest if honest people are chastised.

    So much for the prelims: a young boy was born a very big family :12 persons in all;as he had stolen some money,he was punished and deprived of mushrooms! But they were poisonous mushrooms and the whole family but the naughty brat went to their grave .So what's the point of being honest? The whole story is told by a voice over;the form was totally new since the actors did not act ,they just mimed ,like some kind of tableaux vivants.The only scenes (two) where you find a real dialog are the ones between the hero (Guitry ,of course) and Marguerite Moreno's countess.

    This is a short film (barely 80 min) but Guitry 's story is dense and includes an attempt against the life of Russian tsar Nicolas the Second , a lesson of geography about Monaco , a trip to the casinos (royale or not)where the hero tries his luck with mixed results , WW1,a sneak thief -whose methods would make Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie admire the lady-,and more ...

    Guitry was often criticized in France ;they said he had an unbearable ego .Completely true:that's what made his movies so exciting.

    More like this

    La femme du boulanger
    7.5
    La femme du boulanger
    Peter Ibbetson
    6.9
    Peter Ibbetson
    Les perles de la couronne
    6.9
    Les perles de la couronne
    Le million
    7.3
    Le million
    Désiré
    6.9
    Désiré
    Boudu sauvé des eaux
    7.2
    Boudu sauvé des eaux
    Judge Priest
    6.2
    Judge Priest
    Me and My Gal
    6.6
    Me and My Gal
    La poison
    7.4
    La poison
    Le jour se lève
    7.7
    Le jour se lève
    Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège
    7.2
    Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège
    À nous la liberté
    7.4
    À nous la liberté

    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Présentateur vedette: La légende de Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The first movie to use a voice-over narration.
    • Quotes

      Self - Writer & Director: You know what I'm writing right now? Very nice things about the rich. But mind you: the people I call rich are those who spend their money, not save it. Money has value only when it leaves our pockets, not when it goes into them.

    • Crazy credits
      Most of the credits are not printed but spoken in the director's opening narration.
    • Connections
      Featured in D'où vient cet air lointain? Chronique d'une vie en cinéma (2018)
    • Soundtracks
      Et v'là Pourquoi
      Music by Adolphe Borchard

      Lyrics by Sacha Guitry

      Performed by Fréhel

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ14

    • How long is The Story of a Cheat?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 18, 1936 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • France
    • Official site
      • Gaumont (France)
    • Language
      • French
    • Also known as
      • The Story of a Cheat
    • Filming locations
      • Hotel de Paris, Place du Casino, Monte Carlo, Monaco(Facade of the Hotel de Paris and scenes at the interior.)
    • Production company
      • Cinéas
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 21m(81 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.