I ask them if they've seen Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler. This truly may be the worst movie ever made. A 4 hour silent movie where you can't even tell who the star of the film is because he's always in some stupid disguise.
Oh, man is this film bad. At least it's so bad it ranks as probably the worst ever, imo.
I personally think this is one of the greatest films of all time, but you're complaint is a valid one. I couldn't be sure of every scene in which it was Dr. Mabuse untill the 3rd time I watched it.
black and white movies were better
Not true, concerning the Mabuse character. Rudolf Klein Rogge, who plays Mabuse, is always disguised, yes, but his basic profile always remains the same. The pointed nose and vibrant eyes (always darkened around the lids) remain the constant signature of both the actor and character. Klien-Rogge also has a similiar profile as Rotwang in METROPOLIS. DR. MABUSE: Tha Gambler achieves what FANTOMAS should have achieved. The point of both super villains is that they are unidentifiable enigmas. Feuillade's FANTOMAS series spoils the mystery by showing to the audience the cast of the film without makeup and then crossfades to the cast with makeup and costumes. There is no illusion or subtlety.
The redeeming point to the Mabuse epic is that Lang, although revealing Mabuse getting made-up in his first disguise at the ebginning of the film, keeps MAbuse as much of a shapeshifting mystery as possible. I belive his aim was to do so and keep the audience confused until the end of Part 2: INFERNO when Mabuse, undisguised goes mad while being trapped in his counterfeiting lab.
The audience, therefor, is forced to participate in the story. It's like "Where's Waldo in Weimar Era Munich?" except Waldo is masterminding an empire of crime and comes to a morbid end.
This is one of my favorite films of all time, but I don't get how people recognize every disguise on the first viewing. I think the OP makes a valid point, given I was confused by all the disguises, probably because I didn't realize in the first scene that Dr. Mabuse was being made up. Luckily, I realized that I had to have been missing something, so I restarted the film, and from thereon, have viewed it as a masterpiece. You use the interesting phrase of "Where's Waldo in Weimar Era Munich?", which is one of the most interesting aspects of this film. Mabuse is the many-faced embodiment of evil and corruption, and can be found in every circle of society. Fritz Lang and Rudolf Klein-Rogge transformed a pulp story into a masterful comment on society.
black and white movies were better
Sure, sure. And I might as well ask if you´ve seen Griffith´s Broken Bosoms? The difference in mastery and vision is simply astounding; no wonder they ended up hijacking both Lang and Murnau as well as a slew of other European filmmakers. Where would Hollywood have been without them? And Dr Mabuse is solid entertainment from top to bottom, moving at a swift pace, beautifully filmed, impressively acted. Flamboyant, but not goofy - or downright idiotic - the way the aforementioned BB is.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Sundmanage- First off, why would you watch a 4 hour silent movie unless you are already a fan of epic silent films?
I am always puzzled when someone watches "Greed" or "Intolerance" or "Dr. Mabuse" or any other epicly long silent knowing beforehand exactly what era it was made in and how long the movie is. I personally can completely understand why someone watching today would hate this film. But, I assume anyone searching out this movie is a fan of other classic silent films of significant length.
Instead of bashing the movie, "Because it is long and silent." Perhaps the poster should watch shorter silent films and decide whether or not silent films is something he or she would enjoy. I would recommend Chaplin or Keaton short films. If you enjoy those films test out their feature films. "The Kid" is a great feature that isn't too long at 70min. "The Gold Rush" or "Sherlock Jr." or Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last" are a couple other crowd pleasers for newbie silent film watchers.
If all of those go over well then perhaps try something a little less comedic like, "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." If you hate that film which runs in at just over 1hr 20min, then perhaps serious silent films aren't your thing. But to make sure try out Victor Sjostrom's "The Phantom Carriage" Murnau's "Nosferatu" or "Faust" all three of which run about 1hour 30min or less. If you don't find a film you like through these trials then don't bother wasting your time on longer silents like "Metropolis" or "Dr. Mabuse" or "Greed" or "The Passion of Joan of Arc"
In the simplest terms possible, in this day and age I find it completely understandable for some people to not connect with this classics of the past. I am not surprised to hear that someone who sat through "Greed" absolutely hated it. I just wonder to myself why someone would watch it unless they loved other films of that era.
Having said that, if you do indeed like other films from that era than I am curious to know what specifically you didn't care about in this film. If it is merely the disguises then you are missing the point of the movie. Mabuse is well disguised to make it believable that he could continually be unnoticed by those around him. He is an actor of sorts, dedicated to his craft and he never breaks character. For the audience not to know early on displays exactly how Fritz Lang wanted us to feel. However, if you didn't pick up early on that he was indeed using makeup and disguises then it is my belief that your attention span does not hold too well. By the 2nd or 3rd character you should pick up that he is often going to be hidden from a scene and at times the viewer won't realize it is him until Lang decides to show us. (The mob in the street scene is one example where Lang didn't need us to know that Mabuse was the one who orchestrated the demonstration until after his associate had been shot. In that case we realize as Mabuse is back at his house taking off the makeup and we think to ourselves "Aha! He was the one who ran into the bar screaming of the injustice!")
Anyways, as I said in some cases Lang didn't want us to know for a purpose and in other cases we should have figured it out since we know he is in disguise and therefore we should be looking for the characteristics that stick out meanwhile the other individuals in the film do not know what to look for because they do not know a man is in disguise.
As far as being the worst ever, I believe you need to see some more films my friend. Anyone that claims a film as heralded as Lang's classic by calling it "so bad it ranks as probably the worst ever, imo," clearly has not seen enough films OR this is one of the few silent features the person has ever seen.
Once you see some more films (preferably from all eras in order to aide in your perspective) then you can come back and state your position. In the meantime I will assume your novice criticism is based solely on your inexperience.
(The mob in the street scene is one example where Lang didn't need us to know that Mabuse was the one who orchestrated the demonstration until after his associate had been shot. In that case we realize as Mabuse is back at his house taking off the makeup and we think to ourselves "Aha! He was the one who ran into the bar screaming of the injustice!"
I can tell you how someone could watch without knowing....TCM mentions only part one. I had no idea that after 14 hours of Harold Lloyd--mostly silent, and starting at 3:15 am--that I was in for 4 1/2 hours silent Dr. Mabuse and then 1:21 subtitled German Testament of Dr. Mabuse! And after that is M and Metropolis! I started watching and watching and watching...and the subtitles are yellow, over the white german ones! My head hurts.
I love the movie. Love the soundtrack even more. But my DVR was already behind when it started, and after grabbing some dinner, feeding the dog, etc, by part two, I'd run out of space. Ready to scream, I found it on youtube and will have to fill-in a lot of part two later. Why on Earth they think we can watch 22 hours of subtitles in 26, I have no clue. I filled up my extra DVR space with other old movies I haven't seen in years, so that's not an option till I watch some temporary stuff. At least I fit one on the DVR so Testament now waits till later...but it seems so good....
Yawn, these kinds of posts are boring and do not actually deserve a response. Even The GodFather and The Shawshank Redemption will have some idiot saying the same.
I suppose you haven't seen that many films if you think this is the worst film ever made, worse than Howard the Duck? Worse than the top 100 movies of all time as voted for on this very site? Boy, you need to get your head out from up your arse and watch a lot more movies before coming out with inane comments like your OP
I am a four eyed evil genius.
I'm suprised to discover someone who couldn't recognise Dr. Mabuse through his various disguises. I thought it was incredibly obvious and recognised him instantly.
"I'm not afraid of death.......I am afraid of murder."