The Queen of Spades (1949)

You won't be disappointed!

People are voting emotionally.

I'll tell you why so serious

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

In the early 1800s, Russian soldiers entertain themselves by playing cards and whoring with gypsies. However, for one under-achieving military man Anton Walbrook (Suvorin), this is a waste of time. "What?!!" - I hear you cry - "How can that possibly be a waste of time?" - well, I didn't write it, so don't shoot the messenger. Walbrook has a much darker take on life and he's also got a problem with being a bit of a nobody. So he buys a book from a spooky bookkeeper Ivor Barnard. This book holds the key to bargaining with the devil to win a fortune by playing a card game and it names a certain old Countess Edith Evans (Ranevskaya) as having gone through this particular process. Walbrook is desperate to meet Evans and get the secret to everlasting wealth from her, ie, the secret of the cards.The character names can be confusing in this film, particularly at the beginning, but this doesn't really affect the proceedings as it is fairly easy to understand the relationships between the characters and that's what matters. Edith Evans puts on a good show as a Miss Haversham type, while Yvonne Mitchell (Liza) is OK as her young companion but gets annoying in the scene when she realizes that she has been used by Anton Walbrook. Walbrook holds our interest in the lead role as he pursues his goal for wealth and plays love rival to cavalry officer Ronald Howard (Andrei) for the attentions of Mitchell.The story is filmed with shadows and mirror images which add to its dark and creepy atmosphere, with great settings and costumes. It's a treat to watch and has some genuinely spooky moments. Did all of that really just happen? Or is it in Walbrook's mind? Either way, the film will leave you with some scary images to mull over while you are lying in bed and trying to get to sleep, together with a feeling of other-worldliness. There is a particularly well done sequence when we hear the dead Mrs Evans coming for Walbrook.So, it's time to break out a deck of cards and get some wealth - after all, I now know the secret.

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. ShockwavesTop 3 overrated :1. Halloween 2. Dawn of the Dead 3. Last House on Left

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 is a wonderful, unusual suspense story - the black and white cinematography is masterful, adding to the creepy atmosphere. Anton Walbrook plays Capt. Suvarin with his characteristic silky menace. Everyone in this film is just perfect, even the charming prince who falls in love with the little paid companion - a thankless role frequently played with insipidity. And Edith Evans is utterly unique as the old Countess, haunted by her fear of death and unable to find peace. The card scene at the end of the film is unforgettable.I don't know why this film is so unknown. It reminds me a little of "The Haunting" based on a Shirley Jackson novel, in that one is never really sure if supernatural activity is really going on, or if the main character has finally lost his mind and is imagining everything. I long for the day when this film reappears on video.