UK, 1949
95m
35mm film, black and white, 1.37:1
mono, English
A British fantasy film directed by Thorold Dickinson.
Plot Summary
An old Countess sells her soul to the devil in exchange for the secret of winning at cards. A young army officer hears about this and determines to uncover her secret – but after he murders the woman, he finds himself haunted by her vengeful ghost.
Credits
Crew
Director: Thorold Dickinson
Associated British Picture Corporation, World Screen Plays *
Producer: Anatole de Grunwald
Associate Producer: Jack Clayton
Script: Rodney Ackland, Arthur Boys
Story: Alexander Pushkin
Director of Photography: Otto Heller
Editor: Hazel Wilkinson
Music: Georges Auric
Sound Recordist: Frank McNally
Costumes: Oliver Messel
Make Up: Robert Clarke
Hair: Frank Cross, Betty Cross
Art Director: William Kellner
Settings: Oliver Messel
Period Adviser: Dr Baird
Studio: Welwyn Studios, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Cast
Anton Walbrook (Captain Herman Suvorin)
Edith Evans (The Old Countess Ranevskaya)
Yvonne Mitchell (Lizaveta Ivanova)
Ronald Howard (Andrei)
Mary Jerrold (Old Varvarushka)
Anthony Dawson (Fyodor)
Miles Malleson (Tchybukin)
Michael Medwin (Hovaisky)
Athene Seyler (Princess Ivashin)
Ivor Barnard (bookseller)
Maroussia Dimitrevitch (Gypsy singer)
Violette Elvin (Gypsy dancer)
Pauline Tennant (young countess)
Jacqueline Clarke (Milliner's assistant)
Yusef Ramart (Countess' lover)
Valentine Dyall (St Germain's messenger)
Gordon Begg (General Volcholnikov)
Gibb McLaughlin (bird seller)
Drusilla Wills (Countess' old servant)
Aubrey Mallalieu (Fedya)
George Woodbridge (Vassili)
Pauline Jameson (Anyutka)
Hay Petrie (Herman's servant)
Brown Derby (The Countess' footman)
Geoffrey Dunn (hairdresser)
Ian Colin, Clement McCallin, John Howard, Aubrey Woods, David Paltenghi, Elwyn Brook-Jones (officers in the gaming room)
Leonard Boucher, Michael Ward [officers in the gaming room – uncredited]
Alternative Titles
La donna di picche – Italian title
Pique Dame – West Germany title
Pique Dame verliert – Austrian title
La reine des cartes – French title
References
Periodicals
- Film Industry vol.6 no.44 (24 March 1949) p.7 – credits, review (by K.R.)
- Kine Weekly 8 October 1948 – note
- Kine Weekly 11 March 1948 – review
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.15 no.180 (December 1948) p.179 – note
- Monthly Film Bulletin vol.16 no.184 (April 1949) p.61 – credits, synopsis, review
- Sequence Summer 1949 – review
- Sight & Sound vol.18 no.70 (Summer 1949) p.89 – review
- Today's Cinema vol.71 no.5722 (3 November 1948) p.13 – note
- Today's Cinema vol.72 no.5779 (18 March 1949) – review
Books
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.388 – credits
- Unsung Horrors by Eric McNaughton & Darrell Buxton (eds) pp.372-373 – illustrated review (by Stephen Robert Shutt)
Other sources
- 47th London Film Festival Catalogue (2003) p.103 – credits, review
- Trieste Film Festival 1968 Catalogue – review
