February 25, 2021

BAPL Monthly Film Club – Queen of Spades (1949)

Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/25/2021
7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Categories


Set in 1806 St. Petersburg, The Queen of Spades (1949) is a supernatural tale of the obsession of a poor but ambitious Russian soldier who desires the secret of winning at Faro tables.  Directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, and Yvonne Mitchell, the film is based on a 1834 short story by Alexander Pushkin, a tale which would go on to inspire a Tchaikovsky opera.

Each month we pick a culturally significant film for library patrons to watch on Kanopy. Then our virtual film club meets on Zoom to discuss the film! Registration is required.  Last day to register is February 23rd. Email invitations for Zoom will be sent out the day prior to the event.

The Queen of Spades (1949 film) - Wikipedia

REVIEWS:

The New York Times (1949) https://www.nytimes.com/1949/07/01/archives/at-the-little-cine-met.html

Tengy Talks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b6M7v6Mx3U

INTERVIEWS:

With director Thorold Dickinson (1960) on the occasion of his appointment as a Lecturer in Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_nADY7fEHY

UCL Film Society Martin Scorsese interview with Philip Horne (on Thorold Dickinson) http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/65

VIDEO:

Original Movie Trailer (1949): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a-OyGGB7EE

Introduction by Martin Scorsese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsFhYh_kYzk

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:

BFI Screen Online Biography http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/531286/index.html

The Guardian (David Thomson) https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/nov/07/1

FOR FURTHER READING:

BOOKS:

  • Richards, Jeffrey. Thorold Dickinson and the British cinema (Scarecrow Press, 1997).
  • Thorold Dickinson: a world of film (edited by Philip Horne and Peter Swaab) (Manchester University Press, 2008).
  • Dickinson, Thorold. A discovery of cinema (Oxford University Press, 1986).
  • Original short story: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55024/55024-h/55024-h.htm. Accessed February 13, 2021.

ARTICLES:

  • Miller, Henry K. ‘The High Command/The Queen of Spades/The Secret People,’ Film Comment (vol. 46, issue 4) July/August 2010, p. 72.

JUST FOR FUN!

The score for The Queen of Spades was written by the noted French composer Georges Auric 1899-1983), one of the famed ‘Les Six’ (which also included Louis Durey (1888–1979), Arthur Honegger (1892–1955), Darius Milhaud (1892–1974), Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), and Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983). Here’s about 2 minutes of the score: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NzuoGyiSkU

Bookings

Bookings are closed for this event.