Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922)

Fritz Lang made one of his early crime films in 1922.  He directed Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922) (affiliate link), which ran approximately four hours and thirty minutes.  It tells the story of Dr. Mabuse, a professor of psychoanalysis.  He is also the leader of a criminal ring in the mold of Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes series.  In his multiple disguises, he plays several characters and uses his powers of hypnosis to carry out his criminal designs.

On the trail of Dr. Mabuse is State Prosecutor Von Wenk.  Von Wenk first becomes aware of Dr. Mabuse’s organization due to the number of prominent people who have recently suffered significant gambling losses.  State Prosecutor Von Wenk approaches Edgar Hall, one of Dr. Mabuse’s recent victims.  They begin working together to identify the head of the gambling ring.  Dr. Mabuse, who is also involved in stock market speculation and counterfeiting , makes plans to kill both Von Wenk and Hull.

Dr. Mabuse is played by Rudolph Klein-Rogge, a frequent star of Fritz Lang’s German films.  Fritz Lang often used him in his major productions such as Metropolis (1927).   It says something about the professionalism of Lang and Rudolph Klein-Rogge that they were able to work so closely on so many major projects.  Rudolph Klein-Rogge was married to screenwriter Thea Von Harbou from 1914 to 1921.  Fritz Lang married Thea Von Harbou in August 1922.  Thea Von Harbou would be Fritz Lang’s screenwriter until he left Germany in 1933.

Like Fritz Lang’s other crime films The Spies (1928), M (1931) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922) focuses more on German society at the time.  It functions as more of a social critique of German society.  It paints German society particularly among the upper classes as decadent and focused on pleasure seeking.  For that reason, this film is not for younger viewers.  It has several scenes of scantily clad women although they are filmed from far away.  Drug use is also present in this film.

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler is available on Netflix.  It runs almost four and a half hours, so it is not easy to watch in one sitting.  Like many early films, it is filmed in acts like a theater play.  It allows the viewer to have a stopping off point that you can come back to instead of watching the whole film at one time.

If you found this article interesting, you may find the chapter about the follow up film, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, interesting.    You can get the ebook by clicking here.  You can order the book by clicking here.

Would you watch a film of this length?  Why or why not?  You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page and Twitter profile.

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