Queen of Spades (1918)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Queen of Spades
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1918
length approx. 74 minutes
Rod
Director Arthur Wellin
script Rudolf Strauss
Carl Singer based
on the novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin
production Rudolf Dworsky
occupation

Pique Dame is a German silent film drama from 1918 based on the novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin . Alexander Moissi plays the lead role, directed by Arthur Wellin .

action

Russia, during the tsarist times in the 19th century. The young engineer lieutenant Stanislaus Kovolski is in constant financial need. One day he meets a fortune teller who prophesies that the great windfall awaits him after meeting an old lady. His friend Prince Domsky talks in passing in the club about his old aunt, Countess Balinski. Stanislaus learns from friend Paul that she has acquired her great fortune through a mysterious card game. Now Kovolski really wants to get to know the old lady. One of his first attempts to get close to the countess led to the acquaintance of Lisaweta, an impoverished relative of the very wealthy aristocracy, with whom he quickly fell in love. Next time, Stanislaus tries to secretly look over the shoulder of the old lady in order to elicit the secret of the game of cards. Countess Balinski was so frightened that she suddenly fell dead.

From then on, Count Stanislaus is haunted by night demons. Plagued by a guilty conscience, he constantly sees the dead old woman in his mind's eye as an eternal warning. But Madame is by no means reproaching him. Rather, she reveals her secret to Kovolski: in order to achieve his goal, he must win the first three games the next time he goes to the club. To do this, he must first bet on the three, then on the seven and finally on the ace. The first night he succeeds. He's betting on the three. The second night also brings him luck, this time with the announced seven. On the third evening, he is sure to win, and he builds on his ace, which actually wins too. Stanislaus now believes he has a future with Lisaweta, but when he wants to show his ace, to his greatest surprise, it is the Queen of Spades.

Count Kovolski is totally shocked, he can't believe it. Has he seen the ace with his own eyes, and now that? He is deeply convinced that the dead countess wants to take revenge on him, who is to blame for her cardiac death, with this wink of fate from the afterlife. In his confidence in victory he set everything and now everything is gone. Count Kovolski's entire fortune is lost with one playing card. The shock is so deep that Stanislaus Kovolski gradually succumbs to mental derangement and finally ends his life in an asylum.

Production notes

Pique Dame was created at the beginning of 1918, passed the censorship in March of the same year with a youth ban and was premiered on May 17, 1918 in Berlin's Tauentzienpalast . The length of the four-act vehicle was 1521 meters.

Producer Rudolf Dworsky also designed the film structures.

criticism

“It was a lucky move to win the best actor from Ibsen and Tolstoy's characters, Alexander Moissi, for the film. (...) His impressive and punchy game, with which he depicts the lieutenant engineer who has become a criminal out of addiction to wealth, makes us completely forget that we only see Moissi on screen. At the climax of the plot, when the lieutenant goes insane as a result of losing the game, the performance of the great artist is downright overwhelming. Moissi's task is made easier by the other artists, of whom Johanna Tenvin [sic!] And Herta Russ deserve special mention, who do their best together with the good direction. This film gains a lot from the good photography, through which we can also follow the finest nuances in Moissi's play. "

- Cinematographic review of August 31, 1918. p. 94

Web links