Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)

Arch-criminal Dr. Mabuse sets out to make a fortune and run Berlin. Detective Wenk sets out to stop him.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Norbert Jacques (novel), Fritz Lang

Stars:

Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede-Nissen, Gertrude Welcker

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	Dr. Mabuse
Aud Egede-Nissen	...	Cara Carozza, the dancer
Gertrude Welcker	...	Countess Dusy Told (as Gertrude Welker)
Alfred Abel	...	Count Told / Richard Fleury - US version
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Prosecutor von Wenk / Chief Inspector Norbert von Wenck / Chief Inspector De Witt - US version
Paul Richter	...	Edgar Hull
Robert Forster-Larrinaga	...	Spoerri
Hans Adalbert Schlettow	...	Georg, the Chauffeur (as Hans Adalbert von Schlettow)
Georg John	...	Pesch
Károly Huszár	...	Hawasch (as Karl Huszar)
Grete Berger	...	Fine, a servant
Julius Falkenstein	...	Karsten
Lydia Potechina	...	The Russian
Julius E. Herrmann	...	Emil Schramm (as Julius Herrmann)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julietta Brandt	...	(as Julie Brandt)

Storyline

Dr. Mabuse and his organization of criminals are in the process of completing their latest scheme, a theft of information that will allow Mabuse to make huge profits on the stock exchange. Afterwards, Mabuse disguises himself and attends the Folies Bergères show, where Cara Carozza, the main attraction of the show, passes him information on Mabuse's next intended victim, the young millionaire Edgar Hull. Mabuse then uses psychic manipulation to lure Hull into a card game where he loses heavily. When Police Commissioner von Wenk begins an investigation of this mysterious crime spree, he has little to go on, and he needs to find someone who can help him.

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Plot Keywords:

black and white | black and white film | silent film | berlin germany | 1920s | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

30 September 1922 (Hungary)

Also Known As:

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film, Oberlandstraße 26-35, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Uco-Film GmbH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

297 min (restored) 100 min (part 2) 95 min (part 1) 114 min (part 2) 154 min (part 1) 231 min (video) 271 min (Murnau Foundation restoration)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fritz Lang originally wanted the actress portraying Venus to be completely nude. When the first take was completed, he didn't like how the woman's pubic hair looked, and ordered her to shave it off. The actress indignantly refused, sending Lang into a tantrum. Eventually, a compromise was reached when a small strip of cloth was draped over the offending hair. This scene was predictably removed from the revival versions that circulated throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and has only recently been part of the film in the rare showings of the Fritz Lang archives' complete copy of Dr. Mabuse.

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Goofs

Towards the end of part II, one of Mabuse's henchmen is thrown into a cell and tries to climb the walls to get at the barred window. The left wall flexes several inches as he puts his foot to it.

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Quotes

Title Card: If you can't find your man, you just might find your woman!

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Alternate Versions

The complete restored version of this film is now available (June 2004) on a double DVD from Eureka in the UK. This version includes the scenes not present in the US Image Entertainment release.

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Connections

Referenced in Ulysses' Gaze (1995)

User Reviews

The police force are on the trail of Mabuse, a criminal mastermind wreaking havoc on Weimar Germany. But can they catch him before he strikes again or self-destructs?

Fritz Lang's first masterpiece, a four & a half hour double-feature with hardly a moment wasted, has been restored to stunning effect. (WARNING: In the KINO DVD edition, you MUST lower the contrast & brightness levels to reveal the full grey scale.) On one level, this is simply a far-fetched, but smashingly entertaining detective drama about Mabuse, a criminal mastermind who shows up in more disguises than Alec Guinness in KIND HEARTS & CORONETS to counterfeit, manipulate the stock exchange, kill personal rivals, run the drug racket and generally lord it over the pursuing police force of the modern city. If Part One offers a more devastating look at the perilous world that was Weimar Germany, there's still plenty of action & schemes left for Part Two. In MABUSE, Lang manages, more than he would in METROPOLIS, to hold all the expressionist elements (design, acting, story construction) in perfect balance. The dynamism for an early '20s pic, (before the era of easy camera movement) is simply phenomenal. And where else will you find an inter-title as glorious as: 'Eat some cocaine, you weakling!'