Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler - Ein Bild der Zeit (1922)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Norbert Jacques (novel)
Fritz Lang (writer)

Release Date:

26 May 1922 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Disguise | Organized Crime | Seance | Temptation | Germany

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	Dr. Mabuse
Aud Egede Nissen	...	Cara Carozza, die Tänzerin
Gertrude Welcker	...	Gräfin Dusy Told (as Gertrude Welker)
Alfred Abel	...	Graf Told / Richard Fleury - US version
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Staatsanwalt von Welk / 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
Charles Puffy	...	Hawasch (as Karl Huszar)
Grete Berger	...	Fine, a servant
Julius Falkenstein	...	Karsten
Lydia Potechina	...	Die Russin
Julius E. Herrmann	...	Emil Schramm (as Julius Herrmann)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julietta Brandt		(as Julie Brandt)

Also Known As:

Dr. Mabuse, Inferno des Verbrechens (Germany) (second part title)
Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler (Germany) (short title)
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

Runtime:

297 min (restored version) | Germany:100 min (part 2) | Germany:95 min (part 1) | Spain:114 min (part 2) | Spain:154 min (part 1) | USA:231 min (video version) | 271 min (Murnau Foundation restoration) | Germany:242 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-12 (first part) | Finland:K-16 (second part) | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2004)

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film Studio, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Uco-Film GmbH

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.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: 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.

Quotes:

Dr. Mabuse: Tsi-Nan-Fu!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Garotas do ABC (2003)

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!'