The opening credits, rather than simply reading "Screenplay By", "Music By", "Director of Photography", etc., as in most films, read "The Screenplay By", "The Music By", "The Director of Photography", "The Art Director", etc.
[prologue] 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.