Pretty Good

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

A group of extremists plan to eliminate a man they deem dangerous via bomb. In order to decide who will carry out the assassination, every member draws from a deck of cards until the Ace of Hearts is pulled-- the one who draws this card is chosen. Among the group's members are Farralone (Lon Chaney) and Forrest (John Bowers), who both compete for the affections of the sole female member, Lilith (Leatrice Joy), but she rejects them, as she lives for nothing but "the Cause". Things get complicated, however, when Forrest draws the ace of hearts. Impressed by this, Lilith agrees to marry him as he and the Cause have become "one and inseparable", breaking Farralone's heart. It gets even worse when the newlyweds realize they cannot go through with the murderous deed now that they have love. When Lilith comes to him for help, Farralone has to decide whether or not he's willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the happiness of the woman he loves.The Ace of Hearts is a decent drama: the atmosphere is great and there are several suspenseful moments which keep the viewer interested. Lon Chaney is excellent as usual; his performance feels the most alive, as he characterizes the role through little gestures. His part is the most realized, making the other 2/3 of the love triangle seem pale in comparison. Bowers and Joy don't lend much personality to their roles, but they do a competent job with the material they're given. The acting is broad at times; even Chaney gets hammy once in a while, beating his breast in anguish after his rival and Joy run off to get married.The "power of love" theme in the film falls a bit flat, in my opinion, due to the underdeveloped characters of Forrest and Lilith. Before their wedding night, they are enthusiastic about the Cause and Lilith exclaims how much of a hero Forrest will be after he carries out the murder. Then, the next morning, the two find that they are in love and because of this they can no longer commit such cruelty. I'll cut the story some slack due to its allegorical nature, but the way this is executed feels contrived, which takes away quite a bit from the movie.Other than that, The Ace of Hearts is an okay film. While this major flaw is distracting, Chaney's performance and the atmosphere make it worth at least one viewing.

There's a lot of mystery involved with this movie - certainly enough to keep you watching, even if silent movies aren't exactly your favourite. The story revolves around "The Brotherhood" - some sort of secret society whose apparently self-appointed mission is to rid the world of men they consider evil - by murdering them. It's never clearly explained what criteria The Brotherhood uses to establish how evil a person is - or how they select their victims, since the world must surely be full of "evil" people. There's also great mystery - which is really left totally unexplained - about the victim - identified in the movie as "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long." He only appears in one scene - in the restaurant where he's supposed to be killed.Along with those mysteries is the intertwining love story that really holds the plot together. Lilith is apparently (another mystery here) the only woman who is involved with The Brotherhood, and she's is the object of two men's affections - Forrest's and Farallone's. Farallone is played by Lon Chaney. When Forrest draws the assignment of killing the victim by being dealt the ace of hearts (which is how The Brotherhood decides who will carry out their assignments) Lilith agrees to marry him - increasing the rivalry with Farallone, and giving Forrest reason not to do the killing. In the end, love conquers, as Farallone sacrifices himself and the brotherhood to allow Lilith and Forrest to enjoy their lives together.I would have liked some of the mysteries to be tied up, but they weren't. The story of love conquering was a bit too sweet, perhaps, but the performances were great - some of the best performances I've seen in the silent movies I've watched - not overly exaggerated but definitely making clear what was happening in the story. Overall, I enjoyed this.

The Lon Chaney silent suspense thriller "Ace of Hearts" ranks as one of the great thespian's less compelling films. First, he doesn't conceal himself beneath layers of make-up. He is basically Lon Chaney with long hair. Second, the action is appallingly dreary without a hint of humor. A secret society has decided at one of their clandestine meetings that an individual who had opportunities to change the world but did not must now die. They plan to blow him up with a powerful but small explosive device that looks rather benign. The Lon Chaney character Mr. Farallone is a member of this august body of men that has as one of its members a beautiful young lady. Lilith has dedicated herself to the society or what the members refer to as 'the Cause.' After the group agrees that the man should die, they hold another meeting when Lilith (Leatrice Joy) deals from a deck of playing cards to determine who will kill the man. The individual who receives the ace of hearts will serve as the executioner. Lilith deals the ace of hearts to the man who has been trying to romance her, Mr. Forrest (John Bowers), and he values the opportunity to carry out the execution. Of course, Farallone is disappointed that he did not receive the card. Lilith and Forrest get married and spend a night together before he goes off to carry out his orders. Forrest works as a waiter at the restaurant that the man who has lived too long usually enjoys his breakfast. A problem arises for Forrest because a young married couple end up sitting at a nearby table, and Forrest doesn't want to destroy their lives when he blows his target to smithereens. Forrest returns to the group of older men and Lilith and explains that he refused to blow up the target because of the young couple. The group dismisses Forrest and his wife. They are determined to punish Forrest for his failure to obey orders. They have a similar drawing to the earlier one and Farallone receives the infamous ace of hearts. Instead of blowing up Forrest and his wife, Farallone detonates the bomb in the room with the conspirators and they are all blasted to bits. Lilith and Forrest are getting off a train when they hear the newsboy hawking his papers and buy one to read about the explosion. "The Ace of Hearts" was another in a long line of Chaney pictures where he sacrificed himself for the love of a woman. Here, he sacrifices himself so that Lilith and Forrest can live."The Ace of Hearts" occurs in drab rooms with groups of older men discussing what will happen in the story. Although this movie made a little money, the critics bestowed more praise on it than audiences. Clocking in at 75 minutes, "The Ace of Hearts" appropriates the paranoia communism had bred with the Red Scare in America in 1919 to 1921. The Ruth Wightman screenplay never identifies the murderous brotherhood nor the man that the brotherhood means to kill. The narrative is painfully generic and neither the Cause nor the capitalist (Raymond Hatton) that they intend to eliminate are fleshed out in any detail.

"Ace of Hearts" (1921, Wallace Worsely) "Ace of Hearts" is a love triumphs over evil morality tale that happens to involve a vengeful secret society. One of the best faces for silent film ever, Lon Chaney, stars as Mr. Farallone, the dark, hulky, brooding assassin-like figure turned somewhat softie by love's charms, even if he's not going to be the ultimate victor in that battle. The film is overly dramatic throughout and yet beyond the already overwrought face of Lon Chaney, he possesses the most reserved acting and for a character who feels the event's story more so than any other character. In fact, "Ace of Hearts" may only be worth taking in for the chance to see Chaney. However, actors may definitely be mis- and/or underused in films and this film's prolific and veteran silent director Wallace Worsely should be given his dues. After all, one could expect a certain sense of added dramatization with the absence of diagetic sound.There are a couple of great external shots that are fantastic involving Chaney in a downpour and people walking on a really windy sidewalk at night. I get the poignant connection of the story of the secret society to the Red Scare of WWI, but the story still seems weak. Chaney carries the film.