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.
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.