The Queen of Spades (1949)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Simply Perfect

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I admit,the movie drags a bit in spots for my tastes (I tend to go for slapstick, Monty Python whimsy, and high powered action), but "Queen Of Spades" was a very well done tale of destiny and doom. The nature of the story lends itself to a much shorter "Tales From The Crypt/"Dead of Night" anthology feature if needed (in fact, I can see that it has been done this way), but the heft and quality of the direction, acting and set designs have filled out the potentially "sketchy" parts into something compelling.The protagonist, especially as played by the actor, is an unsympathetic and unappealing mix of coldness, ambition, ruthlessness and envy...and yet you can't entirely blame him, as Life seems to have dealt him a pretty harsh hand. And whatever his faults and schemes, it turns out that his seeming scheme to seduce the ingénue is really a cover for the chance to beg or force a magical secret out of the girl's aunt. (So he's a scoundrel, but not a cad".) When things go wrong, it's not really his fault (although he is directly responsible for at least one death, it's more manslaughter than murder).So watching him get his comeuppance is not a particularly comfortable process - most of us can see a little of ourselves in the character as he is depicted here, and we can easily imagine ourselves in the same predicament if Fate were to single us out to doom us with our own character flaws. We agreed that for a film made in 1949, the movie felt much "older", and I, for one, completely forgot that I was watching a bunch of Brits portraying 19th century era Russians until the credits rolled. And that the movie managed to be really creepy when it wanted to be.Not for every taste, but worth your time if you like Pushkin, Russians, British cinema or slow-burn tales of the supernatural.

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.

I've seen this now probably 10 times or more over the decades – it's an out and out genuine British film classic, and still only Thorold Dickinson and Anton Walbrook's second best to Gaslight made 10 years before. The stories themselves had similarities, Walbrook in both playing an avaricious amoral character using a weak-willed woman to meet his own despicable ends. The production values in both were high lending a richly dark and brooding b&w atmosphere on nitrate film stock to compliment the inventive camera-work.Relatively poor Captain in the Royal Engineers jealous of the wealthy Cavalry officers around him dreams of making his fortune at faro, and eventually gets his way at the price of his precious soul. How he does it is a spooky tale involving an ancient irritating Countess played by the perfect Edith Evans and his attempt to get her to acquiesce to his demands. Who can forget the funeral scene when Walbrook is wondering how the dead can give up their secrets! Everyone acted their hearts out, Ronald Howard nicely restrained to Walbrook's occasional lapses into melodrama. Auric's music is spot on and as graceful as ever, we even get a preview of Orpheus in here to which he composed the music for the following year. The game of faro as depicted here always struck me as particularly boring, but I suppose it was as good a way as any for someone to lose money fast. The secret of winning money at cards is not to play for money at all and to keep your money. I simply can't understand why anyone would watch this for the full 90 minutes hating almost every minute and then waste more of their time telling us!An utterly marvellous film, a UK post-War Wonder which will survive all comments positive and negative.

Why is it that this classic film is not available on any format anywhere? I have to make do with a now very old and worn videotape copy from when this great film was last shown on TV about 8 years ago. A gripping and atmospheric film with excellent performances from Anton Walbrook and Edith Evans, this film is up there with The Third Man as one of the best British films ever made. The real mystery is why has the industry neglected this gem? Score: 10/10