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The Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades

Drama · Fantasy · Horror · 1949

A czarist captain stops at nothing to learn the secrets of a countess rumored to have sold her soul to the devil in order to always win at cards.

Movie details

The Queen of Spades

“Passionate... Exciting... Intriguing... He bartered his soul for the SECRET of the cards!”

1949 Drama · Fantasy · Horror 1h 35m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A czarist captain stops at nothing to learn the secrets of a countess rumored to have sold her soul to the devil in order to always win at cards.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Queen of Spades?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Thorold Dickinson

Written by

Rodney Ackland · Arthur Boys

Anton Walbrook

Anton Walbrook

Capt. Herman Suvorin

Edith Evans

Edith Evans

The Old Countess Ranevskaya

Yvonne Mitchell

Yvonne Mitchell

Lizavetta Ivanova

Ronald Howard

Ronald Howard

Andrei

Mary Jerrold

Mary Jerrold

Old Varvarushka

Anthony Dawson

Anthony Dawson

Fyodor

Miles Malleson

Miles Malleson

Tchybukin

Court is in session

Put The Queen of Spades on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.