Elsa Carlyle (Tallulah Bankhead), in contrast to her charming personality and loving relationship with her indulgent husband, Jeffrey (Harvey Stephens), is a compulsive gambler and spendthrift who is overly concerned with social standing and appearances.

"[3] Harry M. Cochran also praised the performances of Bankhead and Pichel but said "the picture somehow fails to measure up, probably because the story is just a step beyond the realms of reasonable possibility.

"[5] Martin Dickstein, in his column "The Cinema Circuit" for The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that "Bankhead, sadly treated in her first two talking pictures ... is more than ever unfortunate in her assignment to such an undistinguished vehicle as The Cheat, saying the film gave her "no opportunities for the fine acting of which she is surely capable."

Dickstein went on to call it "one of the season's worst" films, noting the audience's reaction: "Laughs and applause in the wrong places were a bad sign.

"[6] The Pittsburgh Press echoed many reviewers when it called the film "preposterous" and "quite old fashioned," but said Pichel was "quite effective as the sinister lad who's been spending his time somewhere east of Suez," while "Bankhead does all she can" and "may some day do something suitable to the powers very likely within her.

"[7] 21st century reviewers have called The Cheat "a curiosity" and "high-toned trash," chiefly of value to viewers interested in seeing Bankhead's early work in talking pictures.