Underplayed Gems

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler poster
Original title
Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler
Directed by
Fritz Lang
Genre
silent film, crime film, thriller film, dystopian film
Country
Germany
Runtime
4h 30m
Rating
7.7 of 10 from 211 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A master criminal named Dr. Mabuse uses gambling, hypnosis, and forgery to manipulate people and spread chaos in Weimar Germany. The film follows his schemes and the authorities trying to stop him.

suspensefuldarkcerebralslow-burnatmosphericintriguingunsettlingbleak

What happens

Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (German: Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) is the first film in the Dr. Mabuse series about the character Doctor Mabuse who featured in the novels of Norbert Jacques. It was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1922. The film is silent and would be followed by the sound sequels The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960). It is four and a half hours long and divided into two parts, originally released a month apart: Der große Spieler: Ein Bild der Zeit and Inferno: Ein Spiel von Menschen unserer Zeit. The title, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, makes use of three meanings of the German Der Spieler which can mean gambler, puppeteer, or actor. The film is included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, being the first of five Lang films to be included. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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