This movie is really only for Sacha Guitry fanatics. It is basically one long monologue delivered by the narrator, Guitry. We see various characters, but they almost never speak. It is as if we were watching a silent movie to which someone had added a narrative voice track.Yes, some of that narration is mildly clever, and Guitry certainly knows how to deliver his own lines. But the plot is uninteresting, the script only passingly clever.This is very inferior to Guitry movies like Les Perles de la couronne.If you like Guitry's sardonic humor, you will get some pleasure out of this movie. Other than that, I don't see much of an audience for it. I myself will have forgotten it by tomorrow.----------------------------Two years after writing the above review, I've rewatched the movie, and I find that I still agree with what I wrote then. The whole movie is a monologue, with only occasionally funny lines. It all hangs on the sound of Guitry's voice and his delivery of his lines. Yes, he was very good at delivering his own texts. But an 80-minute monologue, and not a particularly clever one, is too much to ask of the power of his delivery or the patience of the audience. Again, really for die-hard Guitry aficionados only.

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.

This is a rather interesting and originally told movie. It focuses on the life of a charming scoundrel. It doesn't sound that interesting or original but its originality also really is more in the way the movie is being told. It's shot with actual little dialog on it and instead features a witty voice-over (by director/writer/main actor Sacha Guitry himself), who tells the story in an amusing way with a pleasant pace.The movie not just begins with an introduction of the main characters but also that of some of the crew members who were involved with this movie. This already sorts of sets the tone for the rest of the movie. It's a very original and unique little movie, that due to its style and atmosphere also definitely as an highly entertaining one to watch. I wouldn't exactly call the style surrealistic and absurdism is perhaps a better word to describe the movie its style and pleasant, often subtle, comedy.Its style always keeps the movie going and also makes this one of the faster paced movies from the '30's. It's also a reason why the movie is actually quite short, with its about 80 minutes of running time. Even though the movie basically covers the entire life span of a person, it's over before you know it.You'll surely have a good time watching this very pleasant and highly original little film.10/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

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.