Main title from The Queen of Spades (1949) (17). A tale of old St Petersburg. In 1806 the craze for gambling had spread throughout Russia. Faro – a simple card game similar to our Snap – was all the fashion, and fortunes were won and lost on the turn of a card. As a result there arose many superstitions concerning the cards – one of these was the evil influence of the Queen of Spades.