Unfortunately, though, there are just as many forgettable films out there that get the same formula horrible wrong.ĭirected and co-written by Patrick White, Queen of Spades is one of the latest additions to the urban legend subgenre. Tried and true classics like Candyman, The Blair Witch Project, and The Ring are just a few examples that really get this idea right. There are some things that should not be said in front of a mirror.Īs any horror fan already knows, a good urban legend can be a terrific foundation for a genre film.

Queen of Spades was directed by Patrick White and stars Ava Preston (from Critters Attack!), Daniel Kash (from Mama), Kaelen Ohm, Eric Osborne (from Pyewacket), Jamie Bloch (from The Echo) and Nabil Rajo. Retrieved 22 August 2018.According to legend, an ominous entity known as the Queen of Spades can be summoned by performing an ancient ritual.

^ '100 Best British Films: Directors'.

'The Queen of Spades | Film review' – via

^ 'Festival de Cannes: The Queen of Spades'.

^ 'BFI Screenonline: Queen of Spades, The (1949) Credits'.

^ a b c d e 'Tale of luckless director dealt bad hand'.

^ Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p489.

Hay Petrie as Herman's servant (final film).

Pauline Tennant as young Countess Ranevskaya.

Anton Walbrook as Captain Herman Suvorin.

In a short conclusion, Lizavyeta and Andrei celebrate their future happiness together by fulfilling Lizavyeta's dream of purchasing every bird in the bird market and setting them all free. Showing compassion, Andrei escorts a very distraught Herman from the gambling table, who mumbles repeatedly 'three, seven, ace … three, seven, queen'. Herman places his selected card face down on the table and bets on the ace-but when cards are shown, he finds he has bet on the queen of spades, rather than the ace, and loses everything. In his deck of cards, Hermann spots the ace of spades in front of the queen of spades. Herman and Andrei agree on a second round, which Herman wins on the seven of spades. Herman bets all his savings on the three of spades and wins. Herman accepts the challenge on condition that Andrei play a hand of faro with him Andrei accepts the condition. When he arrives, Andrei challenges him to a duel. Herman takes his entire savings to a gaming salon, where men (including many military officers) gamble at faro for high stakes. The next day Herman tries to reconcile with Lizavyeta but she again rejects him. The ghost names the secret of the three cards (three, seven, ace), but orders him to marry Lizavyeta as a condition. Subsequently, the ghost of the countess visits his apartment. Later that night, Herman reads a chapter of his book titled The Dead Will Give Up Their Secrets. Herman attends the funeral of the countess, and is terrified to see the countess open her eyes in the coffin and look at him. He escapes from the house with the aid of Lizavyeta, who is disgusted to learn that his professions of love were a mask for greed. He defends himself by saying that the pistol was not loaded. There he confesses to frightening the countess to death with his pistol. Herman then flees to the apartment of Lizavyeta in the same building. He draws a pistol and threatens her, and the old lady dies of fright. He repeats his demands, but she does not speak.

He offers to assume her sin in exchange for the secret. Herman gains access to the house where he accosts the countess, demanding the secret. Andrei discovers Herman's advances, breaks off their friendship and warns Lizavyeta that Herman is dangerous. At the same time, Herman tries to seduce Lizavyeta with love letters, in order to persuade her to let him into the countess's house. Andrei, a military officer of noble birth and a friend of Herman, encounters Lizavyeta in a bird market and decides to be her suitor. The countess (now very elderly) has a young ward, Lizavyeta Ivanovna. Herman assumed the 'Countess R***' was Countess Ranevskaya. The countess had to promise not to disclose the secret. One chapter of the book describes how in 1746 a 'Countess R***' obtained the secret the three winning cards from the count and subsequently won a fortune from gambling. Later Herman purchases a book titled The Strange Secrets of the Count de Saint Germain purporting to tell the true stories of people who sold their souls for wealth, power or influence. Herman overhears gossip among several military officers about the aging Countess Ranevskaya who knows the secret of winning at cards and won a large sum of money after selling her soul. He constantly watches the other officers gamble at faro, but never plays himself because he is adverse to the risk of losing his money. Captain Herman Suvorin is a Russian officer of the engineers in St Petersburg in 1806.

Queen of spades movie