Evening star., 1951-01-24

mind of Alexander Pushkin, a spec
that man had q soul when that
was a safe assumption in Eastern
Europe. ......
In a meditative mood one day,
Pushkin dreamed up a character
who sold his soul for the secret
Of the cards and out Of 1t has been
made one of those large, misty.
baroque melodramas which have a
sinister attractiveness on the
screen. Its British makers have
cast it with genuine authority with
Dame Edith Evans as a magnifl-
cent old ruin Of a Czarist aristo-
crat and Anton Walbrook as her
young disciple In moral catas-
trophe. Between them they give
the legend of Faust a dramatic
twist that makes it interesting If
1t cannot quite make it seem fresh.
Apart from these two outstand-
ing members of the cast, there is
q sad-faced gentle performer in
1.-THE Queen Of Spades" who will
keep reminding you Of some one
you have seen before His name
is Ronald Howard, an artistic chip
of the late, greatly popular Leslie
Howard.
Like all classic Russian fictions,
"The Queen of Spades" has the
quality of holding your attention
by giving you the feeling that you
are not quite getting it. This is
intensified by a production which
goes In for half-lights in settings
that are quite alien, a gypsy night
club, one of those great old St
Petersburg mansions and a Gar
ist army barracks where cards
and romance are the main con-
Germs Of the military occupants.
A stranger has to keep alert in
such places as these and Thorold
Dickinson's direction of The
Queen Of Spades" rather counts on
that.
Once he feels that this audience
focus is fixed, he whisks off on
one Of those massive adventures
In evil that make non-Russian
sinners look downright petty.
First Of those to sell soul for
Satan's secret of how to win at
cards is the Countess Dame
Edith. She is covered in a pro-
logue which shows her being rob-
bed by an unappreciative lover
and later bartering her afterlife
for chance to recoup at the gam
ing table.
Having made this deal and be-
ing afraid to die-as who would
not be?-the Countess spends her
fantastic great age in exercising
. spell upon st. Petersburg.
Most fascinated of all is a young
captain of Engineers (Walbrook)
who finally sets his mind upon get
ting the Countess secret regard
less of the He'll to which 1t may |
lead. This requires some master |
full strategy but the young Of
fcer proves up to 1t by making
use of the Countess beautiful
young companion as his tool.
Needless to say, like Satans ear
1ier customer for this secret. the
Captain lives to regret the whole
thing.
It is an impressively evil atmos-
phere in which Dame Edith fights
her duel with death and the am
bilious young man fights to get
her secret which will make him
rich and powerful. The military
and social sets of old st. Peters
burg are kept constantly in om-
NOUS motion, most of it center
ing In and around the cold, ghost
ly mansion of the old woman.
Dame Edith. looking like
death mask of the once beautiful
young woman who made a bar
gain with Satan. and speaking in
q voice that might be coming out
Of a dank tomb, is the arresting
figure among PushKin's charac-
tiers. She moves through "The
Queen of Spades" like terrify-
ing skeleton of evil. swapping. ter
rified of being alone, and con |
temptucus of those who have |
lacked the courage to live as dam
eerously as she.
Walbrook is hard put to keep