Carmen stars famed Metropolitan Opera soprano Geraldine Farrar in her most famous role on stage and screen. Her high-spirited and erotic performance dominates this film adaptation of Prosper Merimee's story and Georges Bizet's opera.

Also included is The Cheat (1915), which established the familiar DeMille narrative formula wherein a wayward wife's impulsive indiscretions propel her into public scandal, private shame and marital turmoil. Gambling away the Red Cross funds she has been entrusted with, the social-climbing Edith Hardy (Fannie Ward) must turn to Arakau, an Asian ivory trader (Sessue Hayakawa) to cover the loss and save her reputation. But by accepting the loan, Edith has become Arakau's property, signified by a brand he burns into her naked back. In a state of hysteria, Edith shoots her captor, a crime that is pinned on her husband, Richard (Jack Dean).

Bonus Feature: Only a month after DeMille's Carmen, Charlie Chaplin produced a brilliant parody of the film, Burlesque on Carmen. Essanay, Chaplin's studio at the time, held the film back until they could expand it without the comedian's consent into a feature, adding new scenes with other actors and including shots excised from the original editing. Using documents from Chaplin's unsuccessful lawsuit to thwart Essanay, the original film has been reconstructed as nearly to the original as possible.