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Overview

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. The title, Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, makes use of three meanings of the German Der Spieler which can mean gambler, puppeteer, or actor. The character Dr. Mabuse, who disguises himself, manipulates people, and is a notorious gambler, embodies all senses of the word. Therefore, the Player might be a more appropriate translation of the title. The film is included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, being the first of five Lang films to be entered.

  • Number of Movies: 10
  • Revenue: $27,690

Featured Cast

  1. Rudolf Klein-Rogge

    Rudolf Klein-Rogge

    Dr. Mabuse

  2. Peter van Eyck

    Peter van Eyck

    Major Bill Tern, Henry B. Travers, Maj. Bob Anders

  3. Gert Fröbe

    Gert Fröbe

    Kriminalkommissar Lohmann, Kras, Lohmann

  4. Lex Barker

    Lex Barker

    Joe Como, FBI Agent Joe Como

  5. Aud Egede-Nissen

    Aud Egede-Nissen

    Cara Corozza, Cara Carozza

  6. O.E. Hasse

    O.E. Hasse

    Prof. Larsen

  7. Karin Dor

    Karin Dor

    Liane Martin

  8. Senta Berger

    Senta Berger

    Nelly

  9. Dieter Borsche

    Dieter Borsche

    George Cockstone

  10. Oscar Beregi Sr.

    Oscar Beregi Sr.

    Prof. Dr. Baum

  11. Wolfgang Preiss

    Wolfgang Preiss

    Dr. Mabuse, Dr. Krone / Dr. Mabuse, Geist von Dr. Mabuse, Prof. Jordan/Peter Cornelius/Dr. Mabuse

  12. Werner Peters

    Werner Peters

    Martin Droste, aka Bobo the Clown, Inspektor Vulpius, Hieronymus B. Mistelzweig, Böhmler

  13. Gertrude Welcker

    Gertrude Welcker

    Countess Dusy Told, Gräfin Dusy Told

  14. Yvonne Furneaux

    Yvonne Furneaux

    Gilda Larsen

Featured Crew

  1. Fritz Lang

    Fritz Lang

    Writing, Directing

  2. Ladislas Fodor

    Ladislas Fodor

    Writing

  3. Thea von Harbou

    Thea von Harbou

    Writing

  4. Norbert Jacques

    Writing

  5. Harald Reinl

    Harald Reinl

    Directing

  6. Paul May

    Directing

  7. Marc Behm

    Writing

  8. Hugo Fregonese

    Hugo Fregonese

    Directing

  9. Werner Klingler

    Werner Klingler

    Directing

Doctor Mabuse is a criminal mastermind, doctor of psychology, and master of disguise, armed with the powers of hypnosis and mind control, who oversees the counterfeiting and gambling rackets of the Berlin underworld. He visits gambling dens by night under various guises and aliases, using the power of suggestion to win at cards and finance his plans.

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.

As the police intensify their bemusing search on Doctor Mabuse's notorious band of gangsters, the deceptive, elusive hypnotist Mabuse simultaneously begins to close in on himself.

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

A reporter is murdered while driving to his job. The Police are contacted by a clairvoyant who saw the death in a vision, but some dark force is preventing him from seeing the man behind the crime...

The supposedly dead and buried Mabuse returns to his criminal activities, as his longtime foe Police Inspector Lohmann, a dauntless girl reporter, and an American - who may be an FBI agent, or maybe a Chicago mobster - investigate a series of gruesome murders connected to a maximum security prison and involving a minister who has written a book called "The Anatomy Of The Devil".

Strange things happen in a revue theatre. The dancer Maria seems to be hunted by an invisible admirer. When the body of a probable FBI agent is found in a trunk the police asks FBI man Joe Como for help. Como gets interested in the revue theatre and an ominous transport firm soon. When he is receiving mysterious threatening letters he is sure that Dr. Mabuse has risen again. But what is going on at "Enterprise X" so that both the goverment and the mad genius in crime are interested in it?

Dr. Mabuse has been locked away for years in an insane asylum. Suddenly crimes start occurring and no one knows the culprit. A detective goes to visit the Doctor to find some sort of clues to the robberies.

The spirit of the evil Dr. Mabuse takes over the body of a famous professor. The professor/Dr. Mabuse then begins a new crime wave that terrorizes the city.

The evil Dr. Mabuse develops a death ray with which he threatens the world.

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