Just perfect...

An Exercise In Nonsense

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It's comforting to think that Alexander Pushkin, had he been born a hundred years later than he was, could undoubtedly have found employment writing screenplays for Val Lewton. As it is, we'll just have to put up with all those plays, novels, poems, operas and short stories he wrote. The Queen of Spades, based on a story by Pushkin, is a marvelously atmospheric and menacing tale of obsession and greed. It takes places in 1806 St. Petersburg. Captain Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) is a poor German engineer serving in the Czarist army. Gambling has become the rage and faro is the card game of choice for all the rich, aristocratic and arrogant young officers who laugh at Suvorin. He hasn't the means to gamble and he hasn't the means to purchase advancement. Then he hears the story of Countess Ranevskaya (Edith Evans), who, a generation earlier, is supposed to have sold her soul for "the secret of the cards"...the three cards to choose which will win a fortune at faro. Amazingly, the Countess is still living, almost a recluse, with a beautiful ward. Suvorin determines to find a way to woo the young woman as a method to gain entry into the Countess' palace and to the Countess herself. He is determined to learn from her the three cards. He does, or thinks he does, and we witness madness and death. Says one character, "I believe all human beings are fundamentally good. I'm convinced of it. Yes, and I believe that evil is a force, a mighty force, that is abroad in the world to take possession of men's souls, if they will allow it to." Oh, Suvorin. Now if Val Lewton had produced this we might have a cult classic on our hands. As it is, we have a movie which has been nearly forgotten. Too bad. The film might have been made with little money but it doesn't look it. Snow and slush cover the frigid St. Petersburg streets. Candles flicker and gutter. Deep shadows hide cubbyholes and doorways. There are ragged peasants and beggars, an ornate opera house and a dazzling ballroom filled with dancing aristocrats. There is the Countess' palace with it's decorated rooms, angled staircases, bare kitchens and cold servants quarters. There is the Countess' bedroom with it's secret passage and the stone steps leading to a hidden entrance. The black-and-white cinematography is excellent; everything shadowed might hold madness or a threat. Making everything work are the two mesmerizing performances by Walbrook and Evans. With these two actors it's a pleasure just to observe Suvorin's growing obsession and to hear the tap of the Countess' cane and the slow, steady swish of her silk gown. Anton Walbrook was one of the great actors of his time. Sometimes he would almost teeter on the brink of mannerism, but he'd invariably deliver performances of startling quality. With his intensity, his Austrian accent and his ability to draw out a vowel for effect, it was difficult not to keep your eyes on him. At 53 he is playing 20 years younger and does so with ease. Edith Evans was 57 when she made this, her first film after years of stardom in the theater. She plays a selfish, irritable 90-year-old woman, querulous and suspicious. When Suvorin and the Countess finally meet in the Countess' bedroom, an acting student could learn much just by watching the two. Walbrook has all the lines; Evans watches and reacts. It's a toss-up as to which betters the other. I think both Pushkin and Lewton would have enjoyed this movie.

A Captain of the Russian army, with little money, becomes mad for the secret of three cards which could yield a fortune. That Captain, Suvorin(Anton Walbrook, who is mesmerizing)reads about Countess Ranevskaya(Edith Evans)who, facing public scrutiny after she commits adultery with a thief who desires money from a locked box, sells her soul instead of being found out of her sins. Given the powerful secret of three cards, she carves out quite a wealthy living at the gambling table. Suvorin wants the secret of the cards more than anything and will manipulate her servant, Lizaveta Ivanova(Yvonne Mitchell)so that he can get in to meet the Countess. Using a handbook regarding selling your soul for profit and success, he uses certain poetic words to work over a naive, impressionable Lizaveta, who is burdened by the demanding Countess. What happens to Countess when a crazed Suvorin puts a pistol to her one snowy night, makes up the haunting elements of this well-mounted, extravagantly produced, beautifully lighted tale.You could call this a macabre costume drama..even at 95 minutes, this is epic in scope accurately depicting the 19 Century well with large, massive sets. It's quite stunning to behold, actually. The film might start out rather slow, but it gets better and better as time passes and the greedy dementia of Suvorin, a man who wants to know what wealth and privilege taste like, takes shape when it appears the secret he so longs for seems completely out of reach. The final 30 or so minutes is really marvelous as the supernatural elements come into play creating quite a spooky mood. And, the tragedy of Suvorin is a very powerful ingredient to the story.

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

Adapted from a short story by Pushkin, this brilliant film is far too rarely seen or mentioned, which is tragic, because it is without question one of the best British films ever made.I was fortunate enough to see it on cable, where by coincidence it was shown right after 'The Third Man' and just before another Brtish b/w masterpiece, 'The Haunting' -- what a triple bill! In fact there are several connections between QOS and 'The Haunting', including Jack Clayton, who produced the former and directed the latter, and composer Georges Auric, who scored both. There are also close connections with The Archers (Powell & Pressberger) -- Anton Walbrook featured in three P&P films, and co-writer Rodney Ackland also scripted one of those films, P&P's '49th Parallel'.Watching 'Queen Of Spades' it's obvious that many of the team who made it learned their craft in the silent era -- lighting, costumes, set design and cinematography are all fantastic, and though on a slightly smaller and more restrained scale, QOS is almost on a par with Von Sternberg's baroque masterpiece 'The Scarlett Empress'.Brilliantly directed by Torold Dickinson (who also did 'Gaslight', in which Walbrook also features), the incredible, wildly expressionistic b/w cinematography is by legendary Czech-born DOP Otto Heller, who began his career in 1922(!) and who also shot Olivier's 'Richard III', 'The Ladykillers', Powell's 'Peeping Tom' and those three classic Michael Caine films of the 60s, The 'Ipcress File', 'Alfie' and 'Funeral In Berlin.'The casting is perfect, and it's easy to see why Anton Walbrook was one of Michael Powell's favourite actors. His portrayal of the odious Suvorin is a tour de force, and he is matched by the great Edith Evans as the Countess. The crucial scene in which Suvorin tries unsuccessfully to beg, cajole, and finally force the secret of the cards from the Countess is truly electrifying -- Walbrook is absolutely rivetting, and Evans -- who has no lines and plays the scene only with her eyes -- shows why she was considered one the greatest actors of her generation. The climax of that scene, the look of stark horror on Walbrook's face, is one of the most powerful film moments I've ever seen, perhaps only surpassed by incredible card-game scene at the end of the film.