The Man Who Cheated Himself *** (1950, Lee J Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde) – Classic Movie Review 10,831

The 1950 black and white film noir crime thriller The Man Who Cheated Himself stars Lee J Cobb as a decent veteran San Francisco police detective who is corrupted by his homicidal rich socialite girlfriend (Jane Wyatt).

Director Felix E Feist’s 1950 black and white film noir crime thriller The Man Who Cheated Himself stars Lee J Cobb as a decent veteran San Francisco police detective, Lieutenant Ed Cullen, who is corrupted by his homicidal rich socialite girlfriend, Lois Frazer (Jane Wyatt).

She kills her husband Howard Frazer (Harlan Warde) and the cop forgets his principles by making it look like an accidental killing during a house burglary.

Ironically, he is then given the case to solve, along with his inexperienced cop brother Andy Cullen (John Dall).

Good acting and decent writing (by Seton I Miller and Philip MacDonald) help to make director Felix E Feist’s formula 1951 murder melodrama most intriguing and entertaining.

Lisa Howard, who plays Janet Cullen and was married to Felix E Feist, went on to fame as a star TV journalist who interviewed Nikita Khrushchev, the Shah of Iran and Fidel Castro. She committed suicide on 4 July 1965 with an overdose of sleeping pills at her East Hampton, Long Island home, aged 35.

Also in the cast are Terry Frost, Alan Wells, Harlan Warde, Tito Vuolo, Mimi Aguglia, Charles Arnt, Marjorie Bennett, Bud Wolfe, Morgan Farley, Howard Negley and William Gould.

The Man Who Cheated Himself is the first feature produced by Jack M Warner, son of Warner Bros boss Jack L Warner. He boldly cast it against type, with Lee J Cobb in a romantic leading man role and Jane Wyatt, one of Hollywood’s most wholesome actresses, as a homicidal socialite. Warner Jr thought this would lead to big box office but it led only to good acting and long-term respect for the film. Cobb had just starred on Broadway in a legendary turn as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Cobb, a Group Theater member in the Thirties, was soon being persecuted by the House Un-American Activities Committee and decided to appear as a friendly witness before the committee. The left-leaning Group Theater collective was based in New York City and formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg, ending in 1941.

Seton I Miller wrote the screenplay and story and Philip MacDonald wrote the screenplay.

It was shot at General Service Studios, 1040 N Las Palmas, Hollywood, and on various locations in San Francisco and LA.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,831

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