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.

Like most of Lon Chaney's films, this one is weird--a definite plus. However, the film overall isn't very good thanks to some spotty writing and it's a shame, as I adore his films...just not this one. And it's really a shame, as the basic premise is really, really cool.The film begins with a group calling itself The Brotherhood having a secret meeting. Apparently, this self-appointed group decided that it's their job to destroy evil by killing evil people--presumably rich folks who abuse their power. I like this concept but often have found such films always take the stance that such an organization is evil (such as in "The Star Chamber") and it wasn't surprising that eventually this becomes apparent. But in the meantime, they are discussing a particular man that two of the group have been following and observing. John Bowers and Lon Chaney are these two agents and both adamantly feel the man must die--and both feel completely justified to do this. Oddly, you never really hear about what this intended victim has done to merit this. It just so happens that both these men are in love with the lone female in this small group--Latrice Joy. However, she is so devoted to the cause that she rebuffs both their advances. But, out of the blue, when Bowers is chosen to kill the target, Joy agrees to marry him and spend one night together, as presumably Bowers will either die or be caught by police after he assassinates the man. In a very touching scene, you see the other suitor, Chaney, standing in the rain all night long as the couple spend their wedding night. You have to see it--it was very well done.Now up until this point, I really, really liked the film. Sadly, however, when the couple awoke the next day, the plot started to fall apart and made little sense at times. First, Bowers suddenly has second-thoughts about committing the assassination--something never even hinted at before in the film. Worse, however, is Joy's sudden announcement that she cannot let Bowers kill the man (!?!?!) and that they should run off together as she now adores him!! Was Bowers THAT remarkable in bed or was this just a case of bad writing?! I think it was the latter, as remember, she was SO devoted to this holy cause that only the day before she refused to even date Bowers or Chaney!! Why the sudden switch? It made no sense at all and frustrated me to no end. Fortunately, at least the last portion of the film (reminiscent, in a way, of the sacrifice made in "A Tale of Two Cities") was very good and the film ended with a bang (in more ways than one). The bottom line is that there were major portions of the film that were wonderful and smaller portions that completely undid the good in the rest of the film. In addition, while I am a huge Chaney fan, this is not one of his best performances, as occasionally he over-gestured and his character occasionally lacked sublety (though at other times, such as in the rain, he was wonderful). Worth seeing if you are a Chaney nut (like myself), otherwise try to see one of his better films such as "The Unknown" or "Phantom of the Opera".

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.

An anarchist group holds their clandestine meetings to discuss the elimination of people in high power who are deemed wasting their prestige and power. The group decides on a "Man Who Has Lived Too Long" who should be eliminated and deal the cards until the Ace of Hearts determines who is to be the assassin. Forrest receives the card and is proud of it, one reason is that it impresses Lilith, a fellow member of the group to the point of the two marrying to test their bravery. The marriage saddens Farallone who was hoping to draw the ace to impress Lillith. After the first night of marriage (and the eve of Forrest carrying out his assignment), Lilith fears that their love will give Forrest a change of heart, but he says he will fulfill his duty. The next day while Forrest is in preparation of his duty, Lilith runs to Farallone to plead to save Forrest if anything happens to him, even though he tries to force his love upon her in case of Forrest's death. An OK film that just can't seem to escape the melodrama stigma that prevails throughout which sometimes smothers the suspense that the film should be portraying. The acting is somewhat bland, even by Chaney who just does not seem to be wanting to give his all. Worsley's directing seems to be going in all different directions of melodrama, romance, and suspense (which does look good at times), but can't maintain stability. The restored version by TCM has a very good score by Madala. Rating, 4.