ABSTRACT
Jack Graham Cutts (1886–1958) was commended in the trade press as ‘a realist with no illusions who kept the showman's angle instead of experimenting with strange angles’. This was said in 1922, when he made the critic's choice of the year, The Wonderful Lie. It was based on a novel by I. A. R. Wylie, about a farmer, crippled and embittered by an accident, who is jealous when his fiancée marries his brother. Later his peace of mind is restored and he forms a deep affection for their child. Sentimental stories of this kind were very popular with the post-war generation—and for some time after, as is indicated by the remake of the film as one of the early talkies.
