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.
Related
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.
O Lucky Man! O Lucky Man!
Comedy 1973 178 mins Director: Lindsay Anderson
A coffee salesman travels England in Lindsay Anderson's profane and satiric vision of English high and low life.
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 Goldman Case The Goldman Case
Drama 2023 116 mins Director: Cédric Kahn
Gripping courtroom drama based on the explosive 1976 murder trial of French political activist, Pierre Goldman.
My Favourite Cake My Favourite Cake
Romance 2024 97 mins Director: Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha
Life begins at 70 for Mahin, who decides to shake her life up in this charming, quietly subversive tale from Iran.
In Camera In Camera
Drama 2024 95 mins Director: Naqqash Khalid
A struggling actor faces relentless knockbacks in Naqqash Khalid’s sharp-witted comment on race and identity in the film industry.
Kneecap Kneecap
Drama 2024 105 mins Director: Rich Peppiatt
Fantastically outlandish biopic about the anarchic Belfast rap trio and their fight to save the Irish language.
About Dry Grasses About Dry Grasses
Romance 2023 198 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkish Palme d’Or-winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan returns with an icy portrait of a teacher whose life unravels following an accusation of inappropriate behaviour.
Close To You Close To You
2023 99 mins Director: Dominic Savage
Simmering apprehensions surround a family get-together as Elliot Page’s Sam returns home for the first time since transitioning, in this highly collaborative feature.