The Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades (1949) is a British Gothic thriller based on Alexander Pushkin's novella — the only Western film adaptation of the story — and you can watch it online on iFILM. Director Thorold Dickinson does not play it as a period romance; the film is psychological horror, shot with shadow and a stillness that makes the supernatural feel genuinely threatening.

Captain Hermann (Anton Walbrook) is consumed by a single obsession: an aged countess is rumored to hold the secret of three infallible cards, revealed to her long ago by the Count of Saint-Germain. To reach her, he courts her ward Lizaveta. The countess dies of fright without giving up the secret. That night her ghost visits Hermann and names the cards: three, seven, ace.

Walbrook plays a man being eaten from the inside by greed disguised as ambition — every scene shows him sliding closer to ruin and choosing not to notice. Edith Evans has only a handful of scenes as the ancient countess, but she leaves the film to everyone else. Stream The Queen of Spades (1949) on iFILM.