German (Ivan Mozzhukhin) is at a party in the home of his friend, Narumov. German is interested in a card game being played by some of the guests but doesn’t gamble himself. Narumov mentions that it is his grandmother’s birthday. He then relays a story to those present about his grandmother, the Countess (Yelizaveta Shebueva).
60 years ago, Countess had a gambling problem and incurred a debt that her husband (Polikarp Pavlov) refused to pay. She then learned a secret that ensured her that she would win, provided she played certain cards in a certain order. Using the secret, she was able to pay off her debt and become extremely wealthy. German was fascinated with the story and wanted to find out the secret.
German learns that Countess has a young ward, Lizaveta (Vera Orlova). He begins a campaign to woo the naïve young woman. Lizaveta falls for the dashing Russian guard and gives him a key to Countess’ home. She tells him that she and Countess will be going to a party, and he should let himself into her rooms and wait for her to return from the party. German enters the house and hides until they return.
When they return, Countess is taken to her rooms. German comes out from his hiding place and confronts the elderly woman demanding to know the secret of the three cards. When German becomes threatening, Countess has a heart attack and dies. Realizing that he is the cause of her death, German is distraught and returns to his barracks. Lizaveta realizes that she was used, and that German was only interested in Countess’ wealth.
Alone in his rooms, German is visited by the ghost of Countess who tells him that she was ordered to give him the secret. She tells him to play the three, seven and ace in succession. Then he will win. Her ghost disappears. German learns that there is a high stakes game regularly held at a club owned by Chekalinsky. German decides to use the secret at the gambling tables.
“The Queen of Spades” was released in 1916 and was directed by Yakov Protazanov. It is a Russian silent horror fantasy film that was based on a story written in 1834 by Aleksandr Pushkin. This was the second of several silent adaptations of the story.
Unfortunately, it is another uninteresting version of the story. Much of it drags and the horror part isn’t all that scary. The movie is old and slightly deteriorating but that is to be expected in a film over a hundred years old. The move is fleshed out more than the previous version released in 1910, but there is still some of the story left out or not explained as well as I was hoping for. The movie does have some rather interesting special effects that were well done considering the age of the film. It’s an interesting view of the story but boring in spots. I’m inclined to give the film some slack due to the learning curve in the film industry at the time.