Deceit (1923 film)

Deceit
Directed by	Oscar Micheaux
Starring	Evelyn Preer William Fountaine Norman Johnstone A. B. DeComathiere Cleo Desmond
Distributed by	Micheaux Film Corporation
Release date	1923 (1923)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Deceit (sometimes referred to as The Deceit) is a 1923 American silent black-and-white film. It is a conventional melodrama directed by Oscar Micheaux. ^[1] Like many of Micheaux's films, Deceit casts clerics in a negative light. ^{[2] [3]}

The 1922 film The Hypocrite was shown within Deceit as a film within a film.

Cast

• Evelyn Preer – Doris Rutledge / Evelyn Bently
• William Fountaine – unknown role
• Norman Johnstone – Alfred DuBois / Gregory Wainwright
• A. B. DeComathiere – Reverend Bently
• Cleo Desmond – Charlotte Chesbro
• Louis De Bulger – Mr. Chesbro
• Mabel Young – Mrs. Levine
• Cornelius Watkins – Gregory Wainwright, as a child
• Mrs. Irvin C. Miller – Mrs. Wainwright
• Ira O. McGowan – Mr. Wainwright

Production

Filming began on June 6, 1921 at Estee Studio, New York City. ^[4] Although the film was shot in 1921, it was not released until 1923. ^[5]

Censorship

Before Deceit could be exhibited in Kansas, the state censorship board required the removal of several scenes and intertitles. Reel 1, three scenes of girl smoking. Reel 5, the fight scene and the closeup of pulling hair and biting fingers. Also removed were the reel 5 titles "You know dearie, when you want to mess something up, put a negro into it and especially a preacher." and "What profit it ye, if you gain riches and lose Jesus." ^[6]

Preservation

With no holdings located in archives, Deceit is considered a lost film. ^[7]

References

1. Donald Bogle (2001). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 115. ISBN   0-8264-1267-X.
2. Barbara Tepa Lupack (2002). Literary Adaptations in Black American Cinema: From Micheaux to Toni Morrison. University of Rochester Press. pp. 117–118. ISBN   1-58046-103-4.
3. Progressive Silent Film List: Deceit at silentera.com
4. The Billboard. Cincinnati: Billboard Publishing Company. June 18, 1921. p. 59.
5. Richard Koszarski (2008). Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff. Rutgers University Press. p. 97. ISBN   978-0-8135-4293-5.
6. "Kansas Board of Review Movie Index - Deceit". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
7. "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Deceit". memory.loc.gov. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2025.

External links

• Deceit at IMDb
• Deceit at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films