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Dr. Mabuse : the Gambler

DVD - 2001 DVD Silent-Film Doctor 1 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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Call Number: DVD Silent-Film Doctor
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor
1-week checkout
DVD Silent-Film Doctor 1-week checkout On Shelf

Based upon the novel by Norbert Jacques.
A DVD recording of the silent film originally released in 1922. Includes English sub-titles and an accompanying orchestral score.
pt. 1. The great gambler: a picture of the times -- pt. 2. Inferno: a play about the people of our time.
Rudolf Klein-Rogge; Aud Egede Nissen; Gertrude Welcker; Alfred Abel.
"Dr. Mabuse--criminal genius, psychologist, hypnotist, counterfeiter, card shark, master of disguise, thief of state secrets and ruler of a sinister empire founded on selfishness, chicanery and murder ... Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler is indeed a snapshot of a precise historical moment when Germany was often likened to Sodom and Gomorrrah, when inflation skyrocketed, public morality collapsed, and the Nazi party first emerged from Munich beer-halls."--Case.
DVD; Dolby Digital stereo ; full screen.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Prototype Crime Thriller submitted by nbauer on December 29, 2009, 8:07am Stylish and sleek, this episodic movie feels modern, especially after a steady diet of Griffith's old-fashioned epics. It establishes right away that well-dressed, good-looking people in swanky settings are a lot more fun to watch than poor folks who dress and look like us. Additionally, rich people doing bad things are fascinating. The line, "You want to study character? Look at the Russian. When she loses, she's fabulous," nicely sums it up.

Dr. Mabuse is a prototype criminal mastermind, from his calculated selection of victims to his half dozen or so disguises to his cold-blooded manipulation. The actor playing him, Rudolph Klein-Rogge, is well cast, and has a face that morphs, if only slightly, in ways that make Dr. M's capabilities credible. His so-called "evil eyes" are mesmerizing in a relatively subtle fashion, without bugging out like a carnival freak, unlike much of the "villainous" acting seen in earlier movies on this list. Much more use is made of intertitles, letters, newspaper articles, and writing in general to tell the complex story. This movie's twisty, and watching it engages more brain cells than Griffith's work, which goes straight for the heartstrings.

Lang's cutting is brisk, and despite the scope of the story, which, with both parts, clocks in at just under 4 hours, there don't seem to be too many extraneous parts. In fact, in some ways, Dr. M seems to prefigure later episodic formats like radio and TV shows. There's a lot to take in, and the various "acts" feel pretty packed, but Lang helps you keep it straight.

In Part 2, with the story established, Lang has even more fun. Beginning with a gorgeous shot of a woman's white face against a dark background and the shadows of a barred window, which sway back and forth like a pendulum, Lang continues to throw in visual flourishes that show off the poetry made possible by a moving camera. In one scene, a man runs out of a room, leaving it empty; the only movement comes from a gauze curtain blown, ballet-like, for a good 30 seconds. The final sequence, when the pursued Mabuse starts hallucinating, shows off Lang's wild imagination and gift for imbuing technology with menace.