The Ace of Hearts

Although the plot is definitely one of its weaker points, it is nevertheless an entertaining and well done movie. Turner Classic Movies has recently re-mastered, restored and re-scored the film and it is quite an impressive effort. The political basis of the plot is rather hard to believe, but the love triangle is quite touching. Lon Chaney's character is very convincing, if a bit over the top (which can be quite common in silent pictures.) Leatrice Joy and John Bowers are also quite good as the lovers who second guess their original political beliefs.

The members of a secret society vote on condemning a man to death. Two members of the society, Farralone and Forrest, are in love with the only female member, Lilith. Lilith deals cards to the members, and Forrest gets the ace of hearts, which means he has the "honor" to kill the victim the next day. Lilith agrees to marry Forrest that night, and then tries to convince him not to go through with the murder. But Forrest feels duty bound to carry out the deed. Lilith tries to get Farralone to intercede, but he offers her a bargain instead. Circumstances prevent Forrest from committing the murder, which causes the other members to condemn him to death. Farralone gets the ace of hearts. But he has another plan in mind. He begins to laugh ...

I've seen this twice, and upon further review, I can say it's an interesting story, but it's almost done in by some overacting by the three leads.

There are also plenty of holes in the film. I wanted to know how this society was formed, why it only has one female member, why Chaney has a George Washington haircut, why everyone except Bowers and Joy looks to be in their 50s or 60s, why they chose their victim (referring to him as "the man who lived too long"), etc. If you can ignore all this, you'll probably like the film.

In October 2000 Turner Classic Movies aired for the first time on television The Ace of Hearts. Although this may not be Lon's most famous movie it is still a good one. The movie is about a secret society who seek to rid the world of wealthy capitalist. The member who draws the ace of hearts gets to kill the capitalist. This is also a love story. Lon loves this girl who loves someone else. The girl loves the man who is going to kill the capitalist but love changes their attitude about the whole thing. The society kills it's members who betray them. Will Lon save the girl he loves? Will the capitalist be murdered? This movie now has a new music score! My hat off to TCM for airing the movie and for making the music score possible. The print is in very good shape. It's very scratchy in places but all in all very clear. What do we expect for a movie 80 years old. TCM probably used the best, if not the only, print in existance. TCM should be showing the movie soon and often from now on. The Ace of Hearts is a must for Chaney fans.

...the plot isn't particularly strong to begin with; one has to have a good knowledge of the post-WW1 "Red Scare" to get out of it what the filmmakers intended, and even then it's not much to speak of. However, that actually works in an odd way, since it allows for this picture to be an example of how Lon Chaney's acting talents contributed to his movies. They truly carry the show here, especially the subtleties of his facial expressions. There's also a rare opportunity to see John Bowers, one of the stars of silent cinema whose career came to a screeching halt with the advent of talkies; the character of Norman Maine in the first two Hollywood productions of A STAR IS BORN was in part based on Bowers. It's also interesting to see the original Goldwyn Pictures logo at the beginning of the picture, before the design was only slightly adapted for use by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer three years later...

... and yet he still commands your attention. Here, Chaney is part of some secret society that apparently summarily executes people whom they think have "lived too long". And I'm not talking about nonagenarians in poor health. They have made that decision against some industrialist who they say "failed to make the world better". They get a close-up view of him by posing as waiters even a portrait painter, and report on his perceived state of mind. So these people are essentially terrorists and anarchists without ever using those words. What a bold theme about which to make a movie in 1921, with the very recent Red Scares.

So the group always decides who carries out these executions by drawing cards until the Ace of Hearts is drawn. The group is very egalitarian in that even the one female member could be chosen. You see, all of the members of the society are men except Lilith (Leatrice Joy) and she does NOT look like Emma Goldman. Farallone (Chaney) and Forrest (John Bowers) are in love with her, and thus want to compete for her affection by drawing the card. Anybody who draws the card could be killed in the assassination attempt, since the device to be used is a disguised explosive device with a supposed time delay, but would it work or just instantaneously ignite?

You'll have to watch and find out if the morality of all of this deciding life and death extra-judicially is ever discussed. I will say that the film creeps along at a snail's pace and the acting technique is rather broad and antiquated for one from the 1920s, even the beginning of the twenties. It is worthwhile to see Chaney effectively use his acting chops in a film that isn't quite up to his talents. For Chaney fans, probably the best scene in the film is Chaney, spending the night on a park bench in a blinding storm, soaked to the bone, diligently keeping a vigil of sorts from a distance.