This film is part of Rentals
The Queen of Spades
Thorold Dickinson's most dazzling success, based on Pushkin’s 1834 tale of black magic and gambling.
Director: Thorold Dickinson
Overview
The distinguished British film director Thorold Dickinson (1903-1984), made only nine features in a chequered but remarkable film-making career which began in 1936 and ended in 1955. He subsequently became Britain’s first Professor of Film at the Slade School of Art and wrote the much re-printed ‘A Discovery of Cinema’ (1971). Everything this brilliant, neglected stylist made showed a rare intelligence and intense cinematic flair, a dry wit and a refusal of sentimentality, and combined acute visual invention with great sensitivity and imagination in the use of music and sound. The Queen of Spades is perhaps his most dazzling success. Dickinson was brought in to direct it at only three days’ notice, on the recommendation of its star, Anton Walbrook. Based on Pushkin’s 1834 tale of black magic and gambling, this chilling film persuasively recreates 1815 St Petersburg on a shoestring in a Welwyn Garden City studio (designer, Oliver Messel). It’s an astonishing, thrillingly unbritish piece of work, with extraordinary performances from Walbrook, as the obsessed gambler, and (toweringly) Edith Evans, as the diabolical old Countess.
mild threatRelated
Timestalker Timestalker
Comedy 2024 89 mins Director: Alice Lowe
What if unrequited love spanned the centuries? Alice Lowe's time-jumping fantasy rom-com is a colourful, darkly funny treat.
The BFG The BFG
Children's 2016 117 mins Director: Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg’s luminous Roald Dahl adaptation boasts an enchanting performance from Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant who befriends a little girl (Ruby Barnhill).
Lost River Lost River
Fantasy 2013 95 mins Director: Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut is a disturbing, visually experimental fairytale about a single mother drawn into a nightmarish netherworld.
The Beast The Beast
Fantasy 2022 145 mins Director: Bertrand Bonello
Léa Seydoux wanders through a maze of past, present and uncertain future in Bertrand Bonello’s audacious blend of period drama and conceptual crystal-gazing.
La Chimera La Chimera
Action and Adventure 2023 132 mins Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Alice Rohrwacher’s fascinating new drama finds Josh O’Connor’s fish out of water delving into the world of stolen artefacts.
The Tales of Hoffmann The Tales of Hoffmann
Anthology 1951 125 mins Director: Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell
Powell and Pressburger direct this adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's spectacular opera, featuring sensationally sumptuous production design.
Oh... Rosalinda!! Oh... Rosalinda!!
Musical 1956 99 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Like the gloriously camp, all-singing, all-dancing cousin of The Third Man, the Archers’ take on Strauss’s operetta of infidelity is as frothy as the champagne it celebrates.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
War 1943 164 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece follows the rise and fall of a career soldier, from dashing and brave young officer in the Boer War to a pompous and old-fashioned Colonel by the time of World War Two.
Arsenal Stadium Mystery Arsenal Stadium Mystery
Police drama 1939 86 mins Director: Thorold Dickinson
When a player is poisoned at Highbury, an eccentric inspector is put on the case. Martin Scorsese is among the fans of this classic football film.
The Taste of Mango The Taste of Mango
Documentary 2023 75 mins Director: Chloe Abrahams
Sleepwalking into submerged depths of memory, a mother’s dream and a daughter’s beckoning, this fascinating film tenderly untangles the knots of the past.
2073 2073
Documentary 2024 83 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia's unsettling drama-documentary delivers a powerful commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things
Biopic 2024 88 mins Director: Mark Cousins
A striking portrait of an artist deserving of greater recognition, directed by Mark Cousins (A Story of Film).
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
Documentary 2024 150 mins Director: Johan Grimonprez
Johan Grimonprez’s involving film essay, anchored by the rhythm of American jazz, reveals disturbing truths about the decolonial struggle between global political powers.
No Other Land No Other Land
Documentary 2024 92 mins Director: Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
This powerful documentary from a Palestinian-Israeli collective might be one of the most important films of this year.
Small Things Like These Small Things Like These
Drama 2024 99 mins Director: Tim Mielants
Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as a coal merchant who discovers horrific secrets about his local convent.