The Ace of Hearts

I think it's a mistake to compare silent movies in general to modern films. The medium is just plain different- subtlety isn't a strong point- kind of like vaudeville. This movie is a great little snippet of history. The story- about anarchists preparing to assassinate a "bad man" is very current for its time- only 3 years after WWI- caused by the assassination of a world figure by an anarchist. So, the message of the movie, that love trumps anarchy was current, and timely. Lon Chaney was a master of silent emoting- and yes, perhaps the acting seems stylized and mannered, but taken in context, it's a great deal of fun. It's also an interesting portrayal of a woman within a political movement- first as an ideologue detached from love and romance and then as a woman consumed by her passion and ready for her husband to abandon his principles to remain at her side. She's in some ways the villain of this piece- and in some ways the hero. Very nice shades of ethical grays.

Although I've seen the standard Lon Chaney horror classics in the past--such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925)--I haven't seen them for a while. This is the first of Chaney's less currently popular films that I've seen. I was very impressed. Although it wasn't just Chaney, but everything about The Ace of Hearts that "clicked" for me on this viewing.

Despite the conventional wisdom, I think The Ace of Hearts works marvelously if you don't have the background information on the story. I think that was part of my attraction to it--it's presented as something of a mystery. As shown on screen, the film concerns some kind of very solemn secret society who have decided that a particular individual is a "Man Who Has Lived Too Long".

We learn that some members of the secret society have been interacting with him--one, Mr. Forrest (John Bowers), has regularly served as his waiter for breakfast for a number of years. "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long" has been going to the same restaurant at 9:00 a.m. every day. Another, Mr. Farallone (Chaney), has been painting "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long's" portrait. We learn the procedure for the secret society's carrying out of their death sentences, which involves the executioner being "randomly" chosen by receiving the Ace of Hearts. The executioner is chosen, and he's given the tools he needs for the job as a plan is settled on. All that's left is to carry out the sentence. However, there's a snag when the executioner has second thoughts, and The Ace of Hearts becomes something of a twisted parable about morality.

As presented in the film, we never learn very much about who the main characters are, who their villain is, and so on. The story stays extremely focused on the plot, which is deceptively simple. There are only two aspects--the machinations of the secret society planning and attempting to carry out the death sentence and a love triangle between Mr. Forrest, Mr. Farallone and Lilith (Leatrice Joy), the only female member of the secret society.

Without knowing the background information that fueled the film, The Ace of Hearts is a taut, metaphorical work about "the power of love". Early in the film, one member of the secret society expresses relief that he wasn't chosen as the executioner because he has a wife and kids at home--there is a chance that the executioner may come to harm while carrying out the sentence. The eventual kink in the plan arises because of love, through an ironic plot development that was initially to give the executioner strength, or added resolve, but that ended up undermining the operation. And the final resolution of the film arises through love and a realization that the final course of action is the right one ethically.

Chaney is amazing in his ability to convey complex emotions and thought without the aid of sound. Apparently, his abilities developed partially out of the fact that his parents were deaf, and he learned how to communicate with and even entertain his ailing mother through gestures.

Wallace Worsley's direction is inventive. Goldwyn films were relatively low budget at the time, so costs were cut by keeping sets to a minimum, for instance. Worsley gets maximum mileage out of the few sets in the film. He uses a well-planned mix of economic shots to easily convey the plot. The few shots set "outside" are extremely effective, with the torrential rain and hurricane-force winds (both caused by technical limitations of the effects at the time) lending an appropriately gloomy atmosphere in crucial scenes. It's just too bad that there aren't very clean prints of the film floating around, or that spending time and money to clean them up wouldn't be justified financially.

Another big factor that helped me love this film is the DVD version I watched--Turner Classic Movies' "Archives" Lon Chaney Collection release. This features a new score by Vivek Maddala that is simply fantastic. It's even more incredible when we consider that this was Maddala's first score--he obtained the gig by winning a contest that TCM hosted. The score is beautiful and modern, with inventive harmonies. It always meshes exquisitely with the action, and goes far in helping to tell the story.

But what about that background information? Well, even though I don't think it's necessary to enjoy the film, it's interesting in its own right. The story, by Gouverneur Morris, was a response to the first "Red Scare" in the U.S., from 1917 to 1920. Although the roots were complex and associated with World War I, all one needs to know is that the Red Scare involved anti-communist ideology, connected to communist paranoia among the public.

Thus, the "secret society" in the film is supposed to be a Russian communist group (although they're often said to be intended as anarchists, but that's complicated, as well, as "anarchist" can mean very different political ideologies). Lon Chaney's character was originally named Rattavich, but the script was eventually generalized to avoid the more overt politicizations. Under this interpretation of the film, the "Man Who Has Lived Too Long" is a capitalist whom the communist secret society feels the need to assassinate--sometimes this is seen as something of a parallel to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of Austria, which is said to be one of the causes of the first World War. This interpretation helps explain how a film that is mostly on the "wrong" side of the moral compass, or even nihilistic (until the ending), made it past the censors. Whatever the reasons, though, it's a refreshing, unusual and well-made film that gains bizarre, eerie universality through its ambiguity.

An anarchist group decides that one man has lived too long. His executioner will be determined by chance. One of the group deals out cards to the rest. The one who gets the ace of hearts becomes the assassin. Two young men (Lon Chaney and John Bowers) desperately want that card. They are both courting the sole female member (Leatrice Joy), who thinks of nothing but The Cause. When Fate deals her own hand, one of the suitors (Chaney) must determine if he really loves the girl—or merely wants to possess her.

The themes of love, honor, unrequited love and self-sacrifice pervade this fine suspense thriller. The script, written by Ruth Wightman from a story by Gouverneur Morris, and directed by Wallace Worsley, is extraordinarily deft at creating and maintaining suspense. All the details—what we see and don't see; what we are told about this anarchist group and what we're left to guess; and the moment when a certain character is at last introduced—are well chosen. The film only loses its footing briefly during the fatuous intertitles near the end ("Love is construction!").

Lon Chaney is a great actor, but that doesn't mean he's perfect. He has a great face and a way of compelling our attention and sympathies. I think his main defect is best demonstrated by the scene where Lilith shows up at the door, and he expresses shock. He was clearly expecting this "shock." Lon Chaney is not always what actors call "living in the moment"—feeling things as the character feels them without anticipating the next line in the script. His ability to concentrate on his performance is said to have been intense; but he doesn't always live with his character moment by moment. The trouble is not his era's acting style. Even though people have knocked silent movie acting since the days of silent movies, the exaggerated expressions and gestures are really very powerful. So they are with Chaney.

This excellent silent film was given an enormous boost in 2000 when Vivek Maddala won a competition and was hired to write the score, a job he performed beautifully. My high rating applies to the 2000 version of this 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.

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.