UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

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

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

JohnHowardReid Another disappointment I'd like to discuss is The Ace of Hearts (1921). When Uncle Carl asked Lon Chaney to recommend a director for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he asked for Frank Borzage. Instead, Laemmle hired Wallace Worsley, who had guided Chaney through four previous pictures, including this little effort about a group of anarchists plotting to blow up an enemy of society when he lunches at a New York restaurant. Although third-billed to the fakey Leatrice Joy and the extremely competent John Bowers, Lon Chaney was allowed to run riot and to absolutely dominate just about all of the slow-moving and thoroughly predictable - indeed heavy-handed - scenes. Occasionally, the movie does present a bit of visual appeal and admittedly it doesn't run too long. And at least the TCM DVD has been produced from a well-worn but first generation 35mm print. That is always welcome!

zardoz-13 The Lon Chaney silent suspense thriller "Ace of Hearts" ranks as one of the great thespian's less compelling films. First, he doesn't conceal himself beneath layers of make-up. He is basically Lon Chaney with long hair. Second, the action is appallingly dreary without a hint of humor. A secret society has decided at one of their clandestine meetings that an individual who had opportunities to change the world but did not must now die. They plan to blow him up with a powerful but small explosive device that looks rather benign. The Lon Chaney character Mr. Farallone is a member of this august body of men that has as one of its members a beautiful young lady. Lilith has dedicated herself to the society or what the members refer to as 'the Cause.' After the group agrees that the man should die, they hold another meeting when Lilith (Leatrice Joy) deals from a deck of playing cards to determine who will kill the man. The individual who receives the ace of hearts will serve as the executioner. Lilith deals the ace of hearts to the man who has been trying to romance her, Mr. Forrest (John Bowers), and he values the opportunity to carry out the execution. Of course, Farallone is disappointed that he did not receive the card. Lilith and Forrest get married and spend a night together before he goes off to carry out his orders. Forrest works as a waiter at the restaurant that the man who has lived too long usually enjoys his breakfast. A problem arises for Forrest because a young married couple end up sitting at a nearby table, and Forrest doesn't want to destroy their lives when he blows his target to smithereens. Forrest returns to the group of older men and Lilith and explains that he refused to blow up the target because of the young couple. The group dismisses Forrest and his wife. They are determined to punish Forrest for his failure to obey orders. They have a similar drawing to the earlier one and Farallone receives the infamous ace of hearts. Instead of blowing up Forrest and his wife, Farallone detonates the bomb in the room with the conspirators and they are all blasted to bits. Lilith and Forrest are getting off a train when they hear the newsboy hawking his papers and buy one to read about the explosion. "The Ace of Hearts" was another in a long line of Chaney pictures where he sacrificed himself for the love of a woman. Here, he sacrifices himself so that Lilith and Forrest can live."The Ace of Hearts" occurs in drab rooms with groups of older men discussing what will happen in the story. Although this movie made a little money, the critics bestowed more praise on it than audiences. Clocking in at 75 minutes, "The Ace of Hearts" appropriates the paranoia communism had bred with the Red Scare in America in 1919 to 1921. The Ruth Wightman screenplay never identifies the murderous brotherhood nor the man that the brotherhood means to kill. The narrative is painfully generic and neither the Cause nor the capitalist (Raymond Hatton) that they intend to eliminate are fleshed out in any detail.

Polaris_DiB This movie packs quite a punch. To an audience used to a lot of exposition, it might not be that pleasurable, but this movie is pretty good at getting right down and dirty into its story and leaving us asking for more.Lon Chaney heads this brilliant fable about a man caught on the losing end of a love-triangle that exists within a secret society. In typical Lon Chaney fashion, this unrequited love threatens to tear his heart and soul apart, and tension mounts over who he may take with him. As the opposing suitor wins the favor of the girl AND the call to do the secret society's dire bidding, the antiheroic protagonist has to figure out how to win the affections of the worried young woman who is anxious over her lover's dangerous mission.This movie never really quite tells what the secret society is, or why they want to kill "The Man Who Has Lived Too Long," but it's strong visualizations of the love-triangle are very foreboding and lovely, and overhead shots of the table as they pass out the cards searching for "The Ace of Hearts" is both thrillingly suspenseful and a good symbol of objective justice. Even a scene that would seem unnecessary involving a dog shows a lot about the characters and their deeper motivations.Lon Chaney is one of my favorite actors of all time, and while his pantomime may seem overdone today, he always does it with a lot of understanding and pity for his tragic characters. This acting job is no different, as we share with him his loneliness, his depression, and his climactic hysteria. Modern-day actors could stand to learn a lot from him, and modern-day directors could stand to sheer down the expository dialog and tell their stories to such an effect as this movie.--PolarisDiB

sol- An intriguing silent Lon Chaney thriller, it is a weak film plot-wise, with heavy-handed messages and a lame moral, but Chaney is excellent in it, with his very expressive face, and there are many intense moments even when what is happening is not well explained. In fact, the lacking character and plot detail makes it more fascinating to view. The basic story is conventional but it has mystery elements worked well into it. The restoration soundtrack is very good too, and for its time, it is quite well made overall. Well melded flashbacks through dissolves and bird's eye view photography are among the techniques cleverly used in the film.