The Queen of Spades (1916 film)

The Queen of Spades
File:The Queen of Spades (1916 film).jpg
Directed by	Yakov Protazanov
Produced by	Joseph N. Ermolieff
Written by	Aleksandr Pushkin Yakov Protazanov Fedor Ozep
Starring	Ivan Mosjoukine
Music by	Rafal Rozmus
Cinematography	Yevgeni Slavinsky
Release dates	1 April 1916 (1916-04-01) (Russian Empire) 18 November 1917 (1917-11-18) (U.S.)
Running time	84 minutes
Country	Russian Empire
Language	Silent film Russian intertitles

The Queen of Spades (Russian: Пиковая дама, translit. Pikovaya dama) is a 1916 film adaptation of the Aleksandr Pushkin short story of the same name, noted for high producer and operator culture, with the psychological depth of actor's game, first of all of Ivan Mosjoukine. It was one of the best pre-revolutionary films.

The film was the second production (first was the silent film adaptation of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky opera) of mystical novel of Aleksandr Pushkin, named by critics as "monumental". Director used the receptions, unexpected for those times, like retrospection, visions of heroes (as if the prototypes of the stream of consciousness), the combination shot.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Hermann, a Russian military officer with a small fortune, is fascinated when he hears a story of Countess Fedotovna, who won her fortune by playing three certain cards, the identity of which she refuses to reveal. Hermann gains entrance to the house through a flirtation with Lizaveta, ward of the countess. He confronts the countess with a revolver and demands to know the cards she played. The countess falls to the chair, apparently dead. Remorseful, Hermann goes home. The next morning he receives a message from the countess telling him that the three cards are the trey, seven, and ace. The first two nights he plays the trey and seven and is successful. The third night he bets all of his money, feeling sure that the card will be the ace. He finds it is the queen. With the loss of his money he loses his mind.

Cast

• Hermann - Ivan Mosjoukine
• Lizaveta - Vera Orlova
• The Countess as a young woman - Tamara Duvan
• The Countess - Yelizaveta Shebueva
• The Count St. Germain - Nikolai Panov
• The Count - Pavel Pavlov

Survival status

The film has been released on DVD.

See also

• The Queen of Spades (1960 film)
• The Queen of Spades (1970 film)
• The Queen of Spades (1982 film)
• Queen of spades

External links

• The Queen of Spades at IMDb
• The Queen of Spades at AllMovie
• About the film (Russian)
• Article in mega.km.ru (Russian)
• The Queen of Spades at Kinopoisk (Russian)
• Watch The Queen of Spades with English subtitles