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Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler Part 1 (The Great Gambler - A Picture of the Time) PG rating

Fritz Lang's legendary epic of silent cinema, following the diabolical crimes of the titular arch-villain, is a masterpiece of conspiracy, fear and paranoia.

Crime 1922 155 mins Silent

Director: Fritz Lang

Overview

One of the legendary epics of silent cinema — and beginning a series of films that Fritz Lang developed up to the very end of his career — Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler is a masterpiece of conspiracy that constructs its own dark labyrinth from the base materials of human fear and paranoia.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays Dr. Mabuse, the criminal mastermind whose nefarious machinations provide the cover for — or describe the result of — the economic upheaval and social bacchanalia at the heart of Weimar-era Berlin. Initiated with the arch-villain’s diabolical manipulation of the stock-market, and passing through a series of dramatic events based around hypnotism, charlatanism, hallucinations, Chinese incantations, cold-blooded murder, opiate narcosis and cocaine anxiety, Lang’s film maintains an unrelenting power all the way to the final act… which culminates in the terrifying question: “WHERE IS MABUSE?!”