The Queen of Spades

source: The Queen of Spades

This movie is not so well known judging the amount of reviews and votes it got here. That is a pity because it really is worth a view. I quite enjoyed but the build-up is slow and quite long, a bit too long as I found myself dozing of a few times. The party scenes with the dancing gypsies were stretched out and really not important to the story. The movie could have done better with some 15 to 20 minutes cut out. The story itself reminded me a bit of Faust where a man would sell his soul to the devil in order to gather fortune. This is what German wants to achieve. He wants to know the secret of the cards so he can become rich by one simple card game. He finds out that the old countess Ranevskaya knows this secret and draws up a plan to get to talk to woman. He does anything to achieve this even seducing and writing love letters to the countess adopted grandchild Lizaveta. So in the last 20 minutes this movie finally gets going with some exciting scenes between German and the countess and the card game between German and Andrei.

Poor, ambitious, bitter army captain Anton Walbrook plots to learn the secret to winning at faro so he can amass a fortune and take his revenge on those who look down on him. Will he achieve his goal, or will he lose his soul? What do you think? Stately British adaptation of Pushkin supernatural short story. Restrained by today's standards, but still manages to deliver the goods, with a riveting showdown over a deck of cards. Imagine THE EARINGS OF MADAM DE…with Satanic elements and you'll have some idea. Warning: There are some gypsy and Jewish characterizations that may be consistent with the story but may make modern audiences uncomfortable. I also noticed what appears to be a continuity goof: the fierce dog that is brought upstairs is not the same breed as the dog that later runs out the front door.

Along with Hammer studios,I've been trying to find and view more British Horror films.Thankfully,I recently discovered on the IMDb Film Noir board a huge amount of praise,for a dark,atmospheric UK movie,which seems to have almost been completely forgotten in British Horror history. The plot: Keeping up a tradition of standing in the corner and never partaking in a game of cards,Tsarist Captain Suvorin begins to contemplate on how he can grip all of the "falling" cash being spent by the gang of card players.Shortly after getting hold of some small change,Suvorin discovers a previously hidden book which details a number of deals that people have done with an alleged "devil",who along with helping the willing soul to achieve their desire's,also makes model figurines for the participant's souls to be stored in after their deaths. Finding out of a party being held by reclusive Countess Ranevskya,Suvorin quickly learns that Ranevskya is infamous for having turned her luck around and winning a huge amount of cash from a card game decades ago,before retiring to become extremely reclusive.Feeling that Ranevskya's life weirdly mirrors a chapter in the book,about a woman selling her soul to the devil so that she can win a card game,and secretly put all of the money that she had stolen from her husband "back in its place". Suvorin starts to try getting the attention of Ranevskya's family,in the hope of getting close to the Countess and finding out how she scored such a devilish winning hand View on the film: For their absolutely stunning adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's short story,screenwriters Rodney Ackland and Arthur Boys have Ranevskya's past dark dealings be something that slowly manifestation's into Suvorin,as he goes from just wanting to put his friends noses out of place,to being desperate to holding the key of the "dark arts". Placing the movie in a dark,almost Dickens Gothic setting, (with Countess Ranevskya sometimes looking like the sister of Miss Havisham!)director Thorold Dickinson brilliantly uses disjointed sound effects to show Suvorin's obsession breaking his reality apart,whilst also using complex,but perfectly executed camera moves to greatly increase the mysteriousness of the surrounding,and also turning the card games into truly tense,nail-biting scenes. Along with the strong directing,and Otto Heller's chillingly moody,low-lit cinematography,Anton Walbrook gives an excellent performance as Suvorin,who Walbrook shows to be a man that is never truly easy in his own skin,and always has an ulterior motive hidden under his sleeve.

Anton Walbrook gives a wonderful performance as the ambitious, frustrated Capt. Suvarin, who will do anything, even forfeit his soul, to advance his career. This stylish ghost story avoids the usual cliches, yet manages to create a spooky, brooding atmosphere. It climaxes with what must be the most gripping card-playing scene ever filmed

I've waited a long time to see this film, and now after finally tracking down a copy; I have to say, unfortunately, that I have only been setting myself up for disappointment. I'm also really surprised to read all the favourable reviews that the film has gotten. The Queen of Spades is very much of the 'slow burn' variety; and like the classics produced by Val Lewton, relies mostly on it's atmosphere and story to keep things interesting - and that is really where the film falls down. The basis for the story is actually really good, and is based on a Russian short story by Alexander Pushkin. The story focuses around a very simple card game that was very popular around the time in which the film is set. An army officer, fanatical about cards; but not wealthy enough to play himself, hears about an elderly countess who apparently sold her soul to the devil in return for the ability to always win at cards. The officer then endeavours to track down the old countess in order to learn her secret so he too can win at cards. The film is based on a short story; and therein lies the problem with it. Basically what we get is a very thin sliver of plot stretched over ninety five minutes; thus meaning two thirds of the film is boring. The film is very slow for the first two thirds (and peppered with 'filler' dancing scenes) and I started to lose interest at several points as it seems to take forever to get to the point. The film does finally pick up in the final third; and although by then I could have cared less, it has to be said that the film does become rather interesting. The story is rather original too; despite the obvious 'selling a soul to the devil' theme. The idea of selling your soul to the devil will always be intriguing no matter how many times it is done; but this film doesn't even capitalise on that as it's not often mentioned. Curiously, neither is the mechanics of the central card game (although that's not surprising considering how simple it is!). I think that if the director had opted to cut out all the filler and trim the running time down to around sixty minutes, then the film could have been a classic. Unfortunately, it's just an overlong horror film with a few redeeming values.

This macabre little fantasy has so far largely remained under the radar, which is a shame, because it's one of the better British productions of the '40s and '50s. It's the kind of highly stylized costume mystery/horror, that will undoubtedly appeal to lovers of old British cinema. The story is based on Alexander Puschkin's novella, "The Queen of Spades (1834), about a young captain in the Russian army (Anton Walbrook), an outsider (because he's German) who secretly covets the wealth and position of his fellow officers. When he discovers that an aged countess has sold her soul to the devil in exchange for eternal fortune at the card table, he attempts to gain entry to the household by seducing the countess' naive ward, but his envy envy leads to the dowager's death, a loveless marriage, and Herman's descent into madness. The production initially ran into some trouble with director Thorold Dickinson entering the project when a great deal of the pre-production was already done. With his limited resources and the inadequate sets and sound stage facilities of the Welwyn Studios, he incorporated as many camera, lighting and special effects as he could devise, and with good effect. The film looks great. Atmosphere in these kind of films is half the work, and they surely did a great job. The acting is somewhat stagy and highly stylized, but this was probably a common characteristic in British acting in those days, and I don't think of Anton Walbrook as a great actor, but the rest of the cast is fine, with Edith Evans in great form as the countess. All in all, not an undiscovered masterpiece, but a fine British chiller with a great period atmosphere. Camera Obscura --- 8/10

*Possible semi-spoilers, but as the story has been around for over 150 years, these may not surprise many...* 1806 Sankt-Peterburg: Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) approaches middle-age as a bitterly disappointed man. Outranked by young bucks in more fashionable regiments – men from aristocratic families who can afford to waste money on gambling, drinking and wenching – he envies the meritocratic rise of Napoleon. When he learns that old Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans) – the grandmother of one of the officers he envies – allegedly sold her soul to the Devil in exchange for learning an infallible way of winning at Faro, he sees a chance of advancement. But how can he, a mere Captain of Engineers, and a commoner, get access to the old lady's household to learn her secret? The Countess has a pretty, downtrodden young companion Lizaveta (Yvonne Mitchell) – sure to be easily beguiled by his attentions... However, Andrei (Ronald Howard), an aristocratic officer and friend of the Countess's grandson, begins to see through Herman's schemes. Can Liza be saved from seduction? And can Herman himself escape the curse of the cards? 'The Queen of Spades' is a magnificent black-and-white chiller from the golden age of British film. Made on a post-war shoestring budget, it nevertheless conjures powerfully the atmosphere of early 19C Peterburg: the gaming houses, the palaces and street-life. Indeed, it brings out the story's powerful prefigurings of Gogol' and Dostoevskii, and its ambiguities. Are there really supernatural forces at work, or is it all in the anti-hero's obsessed mind? - Either interpretation is possible. Anton Walbrook is brilliant as Herman, although it takes a little while to get used to seeing him without his moustache, which would not have been appropriate to this period setting! While he excelled at playing wise, noble heroes for the Archers (Peter in '49th Parallel', Theo von Kretschmar-Schuldorff in 'The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp', and - most magnificently - Boris Lermontov in 'The Red Shoes'), for Thorold Dickinson both in 'Gaslight' and 'The Queen of Spades' he provided fine studies in scheming ambition, subtle menace and deception. Herman is in some respects a natural successor to his earlier performance (as Adolf Wohlbrück) as another tragic, tormented gambler - Balduin in 'Der Student von Prag' (1935). Herman's bitterness and frustration, his duplicities, his rising hysteria, and the pathos of his final scene are rendered with the conviction and skill which make him one of *the* all-time great film stars (sadly under-appreciated nowadays, while many less gifted actors have cult followings). However reprehensible Herman's behaviour, it is impossible not to feel some pity for him as his military bearing crumples, and the devastation of his breakdown is conveyed in his eyes. Yvonne Mitchell is poignant as Lizaveta, and Ronald Howard displays some of his father Leslie's sensitive charm as Andrei. Edith Evans, as the Countess, acquits herself well playing a woman some decades her senior: spoilt, vain (still dressing in the high wigs and panniers of thirty years before), bullying - and beneath the show, pathetic and terrified. As a Pushkin adaptation, I would rate this film as highly as Martha Fiennes' 'Onegin'. As a subtle thriller, it shows what can be done on a low budget with imagination, intelligence and a quality cast. It's a lesson in fine craftsmanship - as small (in budget and length) and intricately fashioned as a Fabergé ornament.

Tchaikovsky took Pushkin's ghost story and turned it into an opera. Producer Anatole de Grunwald turned it into one of the finest Gothic thrillers in film history. Why The Queen of Spades is so overlooked is a mystery to those who have seen it....it is a dazzling tour de force. Anton Walbrook pulls out all the stops as the army officer obsessed with learning how to win at faro. When he discovers that an aged countess, played by Dame Edith Evans in her talking picture debut, holds the secret he becomes even more obsessed with wresting this secret from her. The countess sold her soul to learn the magic of the cards, 3,7 and Ace and, in the end, that does not bode well for Walbrook. The baroque sets, assisted by wonderful lighting effects, builds an eerie, almost surreal atmosphere. It will hold you spellbound and haunt you long after it ends.

Well this movie did not do it for me. I watched it 3 times and I found much of the dialog to be hard to decipher and there were long passages of very boring scenes { like the dancing scenes while the card playing was going on } . Nothing scary happens and I was hoping the movie had more of a diabolical evil feel to it { since it involves cards, evil, the devil, selling ones soul, etc..} . I personally am a huge fan of slow burn, P.G. horror films, but this film is not nearly as good as other slow burn horror films like Curse of the Demon or Picture of Dorian Gray. In fact, after I purchased the 2 DVD disc set and watched it 3 times, I gave it to a friend of mine for his collection because I didn't even like the other movie included in the DVD set {Dead of Night} . Since I seem to disagree with many other reviewers on this forum, I think it may be necessary for me to make a small list of my top 3 favorite horror films and my top 3 horror films I think are most overrated : Top 3 : 1. Curse of Frankenstein 2. Night of Living Dead 3. Shockwaves Top 3 overrated : 1. Halloween 2. Dawn of the Dead 3. Last House on Left