The Ace of Hearts

Wallace Worsley, Goldwyn, 1921, from Gouverneur Morris. A secret society draws cards to pick who will kill a man they have judged. Lon Chaney is Farallone; John Bowers is Forrest; Leatrice Joy is Lilith, who will marry the man who draws the ace. Chaney does it without a limp or a hump: a face across a table. The ritual rooms have the air of a club that has read too many pamphlets. Morris also wrote The Penalty; Worsley directed both. The question the film asks is whether the card still counts after someone falls in love.