Just perfect...

A different way of telling a story

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

THE ACE OF HEARTS (1921) deals with a secret society that plots to eliminate a wealthy industrialist. Three of the members of the group are involved in a love triangle. When one of the men is chosen to perform the assassination, the woman (who originally would not consider a romance) marries him, but then they begin to have second thoughts about their task, with significant consequences for all involved. Directed by Wallace Worsley.SCRIPT: THE ACE OF HEARTS is quite interesting in that it takes us into the secret world of a vigilante group and makes its members into the main characters rather than the villains. The story is told in several chapters, and each part is concise and focused, without unnecessary details (although the part where Lon Chaney's character waits outside the couple's apartment is a bit too long). There are occasional touches of humor (a bit with a dog, a member's remark about his family) that help to lighten the mood as needed. The movie could have done with a few less title cards in the beginning. Later on, it tells the story visually in a more effective manner. SCORE: 8/10ACTING: Lon Chaney gives a strong performance as Farallone, an experienced member of the society who forms part of the love triangle. Chaney is usually known for his portrayals of grotesque characters like the Phantom of the Opera. However, he had more conventional roles as well, which showcased his extraordinary abilities. Chaney's performance is commanding, while at the same time allowing us to empathize for Farallone's plight. John Bowers portrays Forrest, a younger man, who is affable and friendly (he is somewhat reminiscent of Richard Barthelmess) and he is effective as well. Leatrice Joy, who was the star of many Cecil B DeMille movies at this time, portrays the central point in the triangle, Lilith, effectively as an attractive yet stern woman who at first denies herself romance for the cause, but then changes into a warmer person once love comes into her heart. Good work by all involved. SCORE: 8/10CINEMATOGRAPHY/PRODUCTION: Don Short served as the cinematographer on this film. The movie has some striking overhead shots and effective chiaroscuro lighting. The scenes with rain are very moody. One detail I liked was how the title screen, instead of merely saying "THE ACE OF HEARTS", showed the actual ace of hearts card from the deck. Iris shots are also used. The sets are appropriately dark and somber at times, to show the nature of the secret society. In contrast, the restaurant scenes are bright and airy, and quite well composed to show the massive size of the interior. Very well done. SCORE: 8/10SUMMARY: THE ACE OF HEARTS is something of a forgotten gem from the silent era. The story is different and quite involving, the acting is very good and the production of the film gives considerable visual interest. SCORE: 8/10

After all the years (well all my life, really) that I have spent being addicted to movies, the one category that I was not much interested in until recently is the most historic: silent films. I have always found them interesting in one way; because I am a "history geek," I found them fascinating as a sort of living record of say, how Los Angeles looked back then, watching actual people from 1917, and so forth, but as far as sitting through most of them, especially the feature length ones, I wasn't really interested. The combination of them being of another time, for another audience, very few have survived, and so on---I just didn't spend much time with them.But recently this changed--I read two books by Scott Eyman, "Lion Of Hollywood," about L.B. Mayer, and "Empire Of Dreams," about Cecil B. Demille. These books made me very interested in viewing some of these films, but my first problem is, of course, most of the silent films discussed in film histories have not survived, and, secondly, for those that are still available, what is the best source? For most people with a casual interest in the material, that would be Turner Classic Movies. TCM shows silent films fairly regularly, for part of the season they show them on Sunday nights, and when they feature a certain star, they might run all day, as in the case of Lon Chaney recently. This is invaluable for people like me, with a casual interest; I think most people have seen The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and Phantom of The Opera, (I have), but few of this generation have seen films such as The Unholy Three, Tell It To The Marines, Laugh Clown Laugh, and the one that I have spent all this time bloviating to get to: The Ace of Hearts.The Ace of Hearts is about a "secret society" or "dark brotherhood" (with one sister, though), i.e. a group of assassins, that have decided a "certain man" has "lived too long." They discuss how he has become more greedy arrogant, etc. The story is, evidently, deliberately generic, but I would suppose that you could interpret the group as being communists, the "man who has lived too long," capitalism, the group as an anarchist, the "man" as the U.S. President, and so on and so forth, but the story is laid out as, the group decides that this man, whoever or whatever he is, should die, and one of them will be the one to kill him.The way this is decided, by the society's rules is, a deck of cards is shuffled, and a card dealt to each person in turn, whomever gets the ace of hearts, will be the assassin; this person will be provided with the general plan and anything needed to carry out the execution. One complication is, Mr Forrest, who is chosen, and Mr. Farrallone, (Chaney), are both in love with Lilith, the only female in the society. That's one level where the film is interesting--if it weren't for that part of the story, there probably would not be a female involved. Secondly, this is one of only two films that I know of, where Chaney appears with his true face, i.e. no layers of makeup as usual. His hair is sort of long, that's all. The only other film that I am aware of where you see his "true face" is Tell It To The Marines.So now, the action is set in motion. The method of execution is chosen, and Mr. Forrest has his appointed task. But of course complications ensue, (I won't detail those), and a relief assassin has to step in for Mr Forrest (guess who)? The Society is not happy. I will leave the ending for you to discover since I am assuming you have not seen the film and I have told you plenty, already.Finally I am fascinated by how Lon Chaney was able to convey such emotion in films that had no spoken dialog. Many silent stars could, because they began as stage actors, but he could do it to an entirely different level. Many believe he would have been a huge star in sound films also, but unfortunately he passed away in 1930, just as sound films were beginning. I am very interested to see "The Unholy Three" sound version, as I have never heard him speak.If you have not seen many feature length silent films this is an excellent one to start with.8/10.

I had no idea at all what this movie was about when I sat down to watch it, and that can often benefit some films. This was certainly the case here, as it was suspenseful and mysterious from start to finish, and once again I am thinking I have often been too dismissive of silent movies and the power they have by conveying their emotion through visual gestures over sounds. More often than not it turns out that I am satisfied by most silent pictures and award them at least three of four stars, or else maybe I'm just getting lucky and am spinning only the more notable ones. Either way, I was dying to know what would happen next in ACE OF HEARTS and how the story would play out.Lon Chaney is one of several members of a secretive organization who meet privately to decide which person among them will be the one to murder "the man who has lived too long". We don't know who that marked individual may be or why he has been targeted; all we see is that the method in deciding which man gets to kill is by having each draw a playing card, and whoever turns up the Ace of Hearts is assigned the task. The lone female participant (Leatrice Joy) seems to live strongly for The Cause, and Chaney and fellow member John Bowers both love her and eagerly hope they are chosen. As was the common ingredient in many a Chaney feature, Lon is a victim of unrequited love, and there are some touching moments here of his heartache. Chaney is very strong in the movie, though it doesn't seem to be exclusively his picture alone this time, and there are reasons to enjoy it other than just to watch his performance.The outcome of the story cannot be told, but as I said it gripped me from the beginning. As an added example of how intriguing the film was, my wife had been out and arrived home for the last scene. She asked me the name of the movie and then when I decided to re-watch the entire thing again with the audio commentary by Chaney Historian Michael F. Blake, I was astonished that my wife sat through the entire film with me the second time. This is something she seldom does these days for one of my personal DVDs ... let alone a 1921 silent! ***1/2 out of ****

This tense, interesting drama features a story full of suspense and a typically fine performance by Lon Chaney. The combination of an assassination plot with a romantic rivalry is hardly unique, but it works particularly well in this setting, and it is used to bring out a number of ideas with significance that go beyond the events themselves. Although set in its own era and to some degree connected with political concerns of the early 1920s, it probably works even better when it is removed from the historical context, since this allows the plot to work on a higher level.It starts with a secret society planning the death of a powerful man who in some undefined way poses a menace to society. It's both interesting and effective that the particular offenses of 'the man who has lived too long' are never detailed. Thus, instead of focusing a debate on whether or not the specific things he has done ought to be punished, the questions become broader: whether it is right to use violence to punish a dangerous or evil person outside of the law, and whether it would ever be right to harm innocent persons in the process. These kinds of questions are at least as important now as they were at the time, and the movie provides a worthwhile perspective.Chaney's character here has little of the make-up and disguises for which Chaney was well- known, so that his considerable acting talents do the work instead. His character is at the same time a broken-hearted suitor and a vengeful member of the radical group, often with conflicting motives, which gives Chaney lots of material to work with.The first part sets up the story in a careful and intriguing way. The middle part moves more slowly, and focuses most of the attention on the radical couple played by Leatrice Joy and John Bowers. Both are adequate, but their scenes together sometimes lack intensity, and even in limited screen time Chaney still has the stronger presence during this stretch. The couple's agonized soul-searching then sets up some very tense moments in the last part of the movie.