At Triangle's Culver City studios, one of four new films being put into production was Marked Cards, directed by "Count H. D'Elba," the 15 June 1918 Motion Picture News announced. One might have wondered if that was Harry D'Elba, who directed two comedy shorts for Universal's Rex brand, including The Townsend Divorce Case, in 1917, according to the 28 April 1917 Moving Picture World. A photograph of Count H. D'Elba and Countess Du Cello, of Universal, was published in the 28 October 1916 Motion Picture News.
       In any event, the 29 June 1918 Motography mentioned that Henri (not Harry) D'Elba was "the most recent addition to Triangle's directing force." He "came to Triangle with several years experience as a director of feature pictures abroad, and has been making a careful study of American methods for more than a year." William Crinley was assigned as D'Elba's assistant on Marked Cards, which was credited as D'Elba's first American film (although an item in the 15 December 1917 Motion Picture News suggested he may have worked at Universal and then joined Triangle to direct the earlier Framing Framers, 1917, see entry, for which he is both credited and uncredited). The 7 December 1917 Variety, calling him a "French count," noted that he had just finished the film). D'Elba's previous documented title at Triangle was director of the research department, providing historical details for The Sea Panther (1918, see entry); the 5 May 1918 Motion Picture News, described him as a "Danish count" and former artillery captain in the Danish army who, when not researching, was drilling young men at the studio during the noon hour, preparing them for possible army service in the war. Following Marked Cards, D'Elba, variously also called H. D'Elba and Count D'Elba, was assigned to direct Alias Mary Brown (see entry), but he was replaced during production and left Triangle, according to the 6 July 1918 Motography. He seems to have made no other pictures.
       The 20 July 1918 Exhibitors Herald and Motography mentioned that Marked Cards would be Nova Scotian Wallace MacDonald's last film for Triangle "before his enlistment in the Canadian Artillery." He returned to pictures the following year.
       According to the 3 August 1918 Exhibitors Herald and Motography, the Chicago Board of Censors demanded only one cut: "Reel 1, man pulling card from sleeve."
       Triangle released Marked Cards and Hell's End (see entry) on the same day, according to various sources, including a list in the 13 July 1918 Motion Picture News.
       Wid's Daily wrote of Marked Cards, "The day has gone when the real fans are willing to pay their good money and waste their time seeing ordinary players walk through a routine 'movie' of the old, old type. This is certainly nothing else." The 20 July 1918 Motion Picture News called it "just an average program offering." In the 14 September 1918 Moving Picture World, reviewer Marion Howard offered that the film was "difficult to enthuse over...a melodrama with no new features—same old rehash without a lesson in any of it.' Billboard's indictment was: "Decidedly mediocre is this commonplace story."
       The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021.