Underplayed Gems

The Chess Player (1938)

The Chess Player poster
Original title
Le Joueur d'échecs
Directed by
Jean Dréville
Genre
drama film
Country
France
Runtime
1h 10m
Rating
5.3 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like this

How it feels

In 18th century Vilnius under Russian rule, a chess master gets caught up in political intrigue. The film follows his struggles against the authority of Catherine the Great.

tensemelancholicslow-burnhistoricalstatelycerebralbrooding

What happens

The Chess Player (French: Le joueur d'échecs) is a 1938 French historical drama film directed by Jean Dréville and starring Françoise Rosay, Conrad Veidt and Bernard Lancret. It is a remake of the 1927 silent film The Chess Player, itself based on the 1926 novel of the same title by Henry Dupuy-Mazuel. The film takes place in Vilnius during the reign of Catherine the Great. It was shot at the Cité Elgé studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Lucien Aguettand and Marcel Magniez. It was released by Compagnie Française Cinématographique in France and Columbia Pictures in the United States (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.