The Man Who Cheated Himself

The Man Who Cheated Himself
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Felix E. Feist
Produced by	Jack M. Warner
Screenplay by	Seton I. Miller Philip MacDonald
Story by	Seton I. Miller
Starring	Lee J. Cobb Jane Wyatt John Dall
Music by	Louis Forbes
Cinematography	Russell Harlan
Edited by	David Weisbart
Production company	Jack M. Warner Productions
Distributed by	20th Century-Fox
Release date	December 26, 1950 (1950-12-26) (United States)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Man Who Cheated Himself is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Felix E. Feist, and starring Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt and John Dall.

Wealthy socialite Lois Frazer, divorcing her fortune-hunter husband, Howard, finds a gun he's bought. She kills him with it in front of the new man in her life, Lt. Ed Cullen, a homicide detective with the San Francisco police. The twice-married Lois manages to manipulate Cullen into disposing of the murder weapon and moving the body. Cullen ends up investigating the case, assisted by kid brother Andy, who is new to the homicide division and delays his honeymoon to keep working on his first big case.

The gun is found and used in another killing by a young punk, Nito Capa, so all Cullen can think to do is try to pin both crimes on him. Andy Cullen keeps connecting Ed to the first murder, however, catching him in a number of lies. Ed ties and gags Andy and tells Lois they need to flee. Roadblocks seal off the city, but Andy has a hunch where Ed took the woman to hide, at Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge, and soon they are under arrest. Outside the courtroom, Ed overhears the amoral Lois offering to do anything for her lawyer if he can keep her from being convicted.

Film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a positive review, writing, "In an engaging film noir efficiently directed by Felix E. Feist ... The Man Who Cheated Himself is the perfect film for the beginning of the bland Eisenhower years."