''The Cheerful Fraud'' is a 1927 American silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by William A. Seiter and starring Reginald Denny,

Gertrude Olmstead Gertrude Olmstead (November 13, 1897 – January 18, 1975) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 56 films between 1920 and 1929. Her last name was sometimes seen as Olmsted. Career Olmstead was born in Chicago, Illinoi ...

, and

Otis Harlan Otis Harlan (December 29, 1865 – January 21, 1940) was an American actor and comedian. He voiced Happy, one of the Seven Dwarfs in the Disney animated film ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. Early years Harlan was born in Zanesville, Ohio ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. It is based on a 1925 novel of the same title by British writer Kenneth Robert Gordon Browne.

Synopsis

After encountering her in a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

rainstorm, Sir Michael Fairlie pretends to be the new employee at the residence owned by the Bytheways in order to spend time with their social secretary. Meanwhile, a notorious crook turns up at the house pretending to be Sir Michael, with an eye on stealing family jewels. The confusion is compounded when a female

blackmailer Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

also arrives.

Cast

Preservation status

The film is preserved at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the a ...

. The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Cheerful Fraud''
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References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

* * * 1927 films American silent feature films Films directed by William A. Seiter Universal Pictures films American black-and-white films 1920s English-language films 1927 drama films 1927 comedy films Films set in London Films based on British novels 1920s American films Silent American comedy films {{1920s-silent-comedy-film-stub