Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Yvonne Mitchell, Ronald Howard, Mary Jerrold, Anthony Dawson, Miles Malleson
Written by Rodney Ackland & Arthur Boys,
from the short story by Alexander Pushkin
Certification UK PG
Runtime 94 minutes
Directed by Thorold Dickinson
Reissues are a funny thing. Sometimes, it's because they've given a much needed spit and polish to a bona fide classic, like last week's wonderful re-release of The Red Shoes (and if you've never seen it on the big screen, go and revel in all its barking, obsessive glory). Other times though, it's because someone's rediscovered a lost gem. Given the sheer number of films released in the 30s and 40s, a few greats will, undoubtedly, have slipped into the cracks. Whether The Queen of Spades deserves that sort of recognition is, frankly, debatable, even if Martin Scorsese rates it.
The film gets a release on DVD early next year (January 18, to be precise) but also, slightly remarkably, gets a cinema run from Boxing Day. On the one hand, it's a little seen movie by Thorold Dickinson, who also made the indisputably classic Gaslight. On the other, it's so fantastically clipped and melodramatic, you half expect to discover it's actually a Harry Enfield pastiche.
It's a Russian based tale, although you'd never guess it from the received pronunciation. Some of the cast do attempt a bit of an accent but, even at its best, it's a bit Noel Coward does Communism. But I digress. It's 1806, and a gambling craze is sweeping St Petersburg, with apparently every soldier addicted to the Snap-like game of Faro. One soldier who doesn't play though is Captain Herman Suvorin (Walbrook), a lowly, impoverished engineer surrounded by wealthy Princes. Cards are a fool's errand, he surmises, although his curiosity is piqued by tales of a beautiful Countess who sold her soul for the secret of winning at Faro.
When he discovers a book on people who've sold their souls for success, which includes (but of course!) the tale of the Countess, it's like fate has taken Herman's hand. But it gets better: The Countess (the brilliant Evans) is still alive and lives nearby. If Herman could only discover the secret that allegedly cost the Countess her mortal soul, he could relieve his wealthier colleagues of their fortunes and live the glamorous life he's clearly destined to attain. In order to do this, Herman attempts to woo the Countess' ward Lizaveta (Mitchell), but it's all faked. He just wants to reach the Countess and offer her a new, sinister pact: he will take her sin if she will reveal the secret.
Cue much shadowy loitering, declarations of false love, rages of bitterness and secret passages. And a lot of flashing eyes and hysterical weeping, as you'd expect from a 60-year old melodrama. The supernatural angle is neatly handled, and the final twist, featuring the titular card and harbinger of doom, is certainly powerful but whether it's worth the preceeding 90 minutes of scenery-chewing is debatable.