AllMovie

There are various versions of the short story The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin, and in this performance of Tchaikovsky's opera on the same topic, Herman, a young army officer, is anxious to marry Lisa, the woman of his dreams, but Herman does not have much money. However, Lisa's grandmother is a Countess who has the secret of winning at cards. The avaricious young Herman decides he has to get the secret from the Countess in order to satisfy his own cupidity. The actors mime the parts of the various characters in this filmed opera, while the opera singers themselves supply the vocals.