Watch The Ace of Hearts For Free

Sorry, this movie sucks

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Blistering 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

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.

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 ****

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.