Believe Me, Xantippe

George MacFarland, a wealthy young man who loves adventure, bets his friends Thornton Brown and Arthur Sole $20,000 that he can commit a crime and elude the police for a year. After he forges a check, George heads West and does escape arrest for nearly a year, despite the proliferation of police circulars bearing his name and his favorite expression, "Believe me, Xantippe." In a Colorado hunting lodge, he meets Sheriff Kamman's pretty daughter Dolly, who recognizes and tries to arrest him. According to the terms of the bet, however, he must be captured by a genuine officer of the law, which Dolly is not.

Directed by Donald Crisp, Believe Me, Xantippe leans on a strong ensemble — Wallace Reid, Ann Little, Ernest Joy — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1918.