Director: Thorold Dickinson
Screenplay: Rodney Ackland, Arthur Boys
Based on a Story by: Alexander Pushkin
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Ronald Howard, Mary Jerrold, Yvonne Mitchell
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 95 min
Year: 1949
BBFC Certificate: PG
Poet, playwright and novelist Alexander Pushkin is considered to be a true great of Russian poetry and modern Russian literature. Amongst his works which are considered masterpieces are verse novel Eugene Onegin, narrative poem The Bronze Horseman, play Boris Gudonov, prose novel The Captain’s Daughter and 1830s short story The Queen of Spades.
Bristol-born director Thorold Dickinson hadn’t read the short story before he was brought in to direct a film adaptation of it. In fact, he read it for the first time less than a week before shooting on the picture began. Dickinson was brought in at the last minute as a replacement director and had to bring himself up to speed quickly before filming began.
With that anecdote in mind, it’s remarkable that the film version of The Queen of Spades is so good. Dickinson directed less than 20 movies in his career but some of these are top tier, including the marvellous 1940 version of Gaslight, and The Queen of Spades, so perhaps it isn’t so remarkable; he simply knew very well what he was doing.
The film, described by the great director Martin Scorsese as one of the few true classics of supernatural cinema, opens in 1806 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Opening titles tell us that a card game similar to Snap, called Faro, is all the rage, with fortunes lost on the turn of a card. This has led to superstitions surrounding the cards, including “the evil influence of The Queen of Spades”.
The plot essentially follows a Russian army officer called Herman Suvorin (Anton Walbrook) who is quite tight fisted so never plays Faro. His interest in the game is piqued though when he overhears a story about a Countess (Edith Evans), who apparently knows how to win at cards.
In one of several creepy sequences Herman obtains a book of secrets which contains a chapter about the secret of the cards which further fuels his fascination with the Countess, as he’s convinced the chapter is about her. Herman sets out to find the now elderly Countess to try to get the secret from her. He writes love letters to Lizaveta Ivanovna (Yvonne Mitchell), the Countess’s young ward, to try to woo her and gain access to the Countess.
Much of the first half essentially lays the foundations for Herman’s eventual meeting with the Countess. He writes and reads his love letters to Lizaveta and tries to get closer to the Countess, his obsession building with each passing moment, whilst Lizaveta is courted is a sort of love triangle by Andrei (Ronald Howard).
The film is incredibly atmospheric, building a palpable sense of dread at times, particularly in that aforementioned sequence when Herman obtains the book of secrets, but also in the supernatural finale. That book of secrets also leads to an excellent flashback sequence as Herman reads the story aloud and we witness the backstory of the Countess.
The atmosphere is also fuelled by the outstanding production and costume design. The Russian streets, which are a set and become more and more snow covered as the film continues, and each interior feel lived in and have an air of authenticity about them.
Cinematography is also first class; one scene takes place with the Countess’s dialogue framed in a mirror whilst we watch Lizaveta pace around the room. It’s one of several scenes in which mirrors play a role, Lizaveta catching her reflection in the mirror in another sequence and the Countess seeing Herman in a mirror when he finally gains access to her to ask for the secret of the cards.
Symbolism is also rife, one moment in particular struck a chord with me – a spider is seen walking over its web in the foreground, transposed onto a shot of Lizaveta’s face and Herman writes and reads one of his love letters, attempting to ensnare her in his web for his own gains.
The atmosphere comes to a fore in the final act in quite striking ways. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but it all gets very spooky, ghostly and supernatural, sound in particular used to excellent effect. It’s a very effective finale.
Finally a mention of the actors. Anton Walbrook, who had worked with Dickinson memorably in Gaslight, plays his part as if it’s a silent film at times, all eyes and physical acting, but his performance is perfect for the film. Edith Evans is brilliant as the Countess in her sound film debut, having only appeared in three silent features previously before a career treading the boards on the theatre stage. Yvonne Mitchell gives another excellent debut as Lizaveta, torn between two men.
The Queen of Spades is a fantastic piece of haunting cinema, oozing atmosphere and building to a truly remarkable final act, all brought to life through first class production and costume design and some wonderful performances under the expert leadership of director Thorold Dickinson.
Film: 
The Queen of Spades is available now on limited edition region free Blu-ray in Australia from ViaVision who have released it on their Imprint label. It is limited to 1,500 copies and comes with a stunning slipcase. The restoration is phenomenal, with the sumptuous black and white photography looking simply astonishing. There’s no issues with the mono audio either. An excellent presentation overall.
The film was released on Blu-ray in the UK in 2023 by StudioCanal. This new edition from ViaVision ports over all of the extras from the terrific UK disc but adds a new commentary by Pamela Hutchinson, and a previously unreleased interview with actor Michael Medwin.
Special Features & Technical Specs:
1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration of the original nitrate negative
Audio Commentary by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson (2024)
Audio Commentary by film historian Nick Pinkerton
Introduction by Martin Scorsese
Luck of the Cards – previously unreleased interview with actor Michael Medwin
Anna Bogutskaya plays The Queen of Spades
“The Nightmare People” – Thorold Dickinson on Saturday Night at the Movies
Analysis of The Queen of Spades by Philip Horne
Archival Audio Interview with Thorold Dickinson (1951)
Archival Audio Interview with Thorold Dickinson (1968)
Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery
Original Trailer
Pamela Hutchinson provides a typically information packed and enthusiastic commentary which opens with some great contextual background to Alexander Pushkin, who wrote the short story the film is based on. Hutchinson talks about other film and non-film adaptations of the story before moving onto the 1949 version and background to the cast and crew. There’s loads to take away from the commentary, which is the joint standout extra on a brilliant disc.
Nick Pinkerton’s commentary is the other standout extra. It also packs in a load of info and complements Hutchinson’s chat track well, though there’s inevitable crossover. We get a bit more of a scene-specific look at the film, a lot about the original story, and plenty more about the international flavour of the cast. It’s a rich and almost encyclopaedic look at the film, which will be well worth revisiting for the amount of information included. Another fabulous extra on this wonderful disc.
In a one-minute archival introduction Martin Scorsese describes the film as “stunning” and highlights how he feels director Thorold Dickinson deserves to be far more celebrated, and how scenes have stayed with him since his first viewing.
The five-minute archival interview with Michael Medwin, who played Hovaisky, features a couple of neat memories from the actor. He shares how much of his performance was left on the cutting room floor, and reveals an anecdote where the director apparently said he’d made a mistake cutting so much of his performance. Medwin describes the film as “wonderful” though so clearly is happy to show his support for it despite his part being so heavily truncated.
Anna Bogutskaya plays The Queen of Spades is a 20-minute piece that provides a good overview of the film, particularly focusing on a few of the scenes, the backstory the production, and the actors.
The Nightmare People is a 33-minute piece from an edition of Saturday Night at the Movies with director Thorold Dickinson. The NBC TV show ran from 1961-1978. The interview takes place at the director’s home either side of a TV showing of The Queen of Spades. It sees Dickinson is fine form recalling the making not just of the film but also the movie version of Gaslight which he directed.
The Philip Horne analysis of the film is 19 minutes long and provides a lot of background on Dickinson. It focuses on the ambitious nature of the script, what led to Dickinson taking it on and some of the production.
The first audio interview with Dickinson is from 1951 and runs for 17 minutes. It focuses on The Queen of Spades, how Russian-born producer Anatole de Grunwald helped with the atmosphere of the movie, and some of the other choices that helped to bring the film to the screen. Dickinson speaks very highly of actors Edith Evans and Yvonne Mitchell.
The second audio interview with Dickinson marks the 20th anniversary of its production in 1968 and runs for 24 minutes. This focuses on how late Dickinson came in and the first week of his involvement. This interview focuses more on the making of the film, particularly looking at the fantastic sets. There is also some interesting background on its soundtrack. Both of the archival audio interviews are fabulous, as are all of the pieces with the director, featuring distinct anecdotes and well worth a listen for fans of the film and filmmaking in general.
The stills gallery contains 16 black and white behind the scenes images.
Completing the package is a three-minute trailer.
The Queen of Spades is an outstanding slice of 1940s British cinema which features a strong supernatural element, particularly in the final act, wonderful performances, and an incredible atmosphere. It is very well served on a new disc on ViaVision’s Imprint label, with a first class transfer and a wealth of incredibly informative extra features, including a phenomenal commentary that is exclusive and new to this edition.
Disc/Package: