MovieChat Forums > Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1943) Discussion > which mabuse dvds to get ??? help!

which mabuse dvds to get ??? help!

posted 20 years ago by istvanmatis
15 replies | jump to latest

i have recently gotten into fritz lang's films. after seeing "M" and 'metropolis,' i am convinced that he is easily one of the most important and significant film directors to have ever lived. i was planning on getting soem more of his films and this one seemed like a really good place to start. however, i have noticed that lang made numerous "dr. mabuse" films throughout his lifetime and there are so many different films floating around, i am now getting confused as to which is which. as far as i can tell, there is the 1922 film (dr. mabuse, the gambler), the 1933 film (the testament of dr. mabuse) and the 1960 film (the 1000 faces of dr. mabuse) . YIKES!

all i want to know is which verision is which, because i plan on definately getting the 1933 movie and and also want to get the 1922 movie as well, but i am sort of ignorant as to whether or not they are actualyl different films altogether. thanks in advance..

steve

[–] bruno-44 20 years ago

Yes, they are three different films.

I'd watch the 1922 silent one first. The 1933 one (Testament of Dr. Mabuse) is a direct sequel to it, and to a lesser extent M. (Inspector Lohmann is carried over from M.) The Criterion release of TESTAMENT also has the French language version Lang shot at the same time. 1000 EYES OF DR. MABUSE is an loose sequel. Apparently, a producer bought the rights to the Mabuse films and wanted to start a new series. He convinced Lang to do a new one (his last film). The producer then remade TESTAMENT with another director, followed by several more. 1000 EYES isn't as good as the earlier movies, but it is interesting as a proto-James Bond film. (With Gert Frobe (Goldfinger) as the hero no less.) The TESTAMENT remake is also available on DVD and I believe it also contains THE CRIMES OF DR. MABUSE, which was an American re-cut/dubbed version of the original TESTAMENT.

The DVDs of THE GAMBLER, TESTAMENT, and 1000 EYES all contain very informative commentaries that help keep this all straight. The TESTAMENT one also refutes Lang's story about fleeing Germany after meeting with Goebbels. Apparently, you can't trust a lot of what Lang said.

[–] istvanmatis 20 years ago

thanks SOOO much for the highly informative post. following your advice, i began looking for a slightly more affordable ($40 is a little bit too much for me these days...) version of the new 2 DVD version of the 'dr. mabuse, the gambler' and someone posted on amazon about that version (the one currently available as a region 1 dvd here in the states) and how it IS NOT the complete version. they mentioned something about there being a newer region 2 version, put out by eureka that apparently contains "the FULL version" of the movie. have you heard anything at all about this? i really want to see 'dr. mabuse' but i would hate to drop $25-30 on something if it wasn't the complete version that another company claims to own. by the way, you could contact me through my email address ([email protected])as its much more easy to communicate via email as opposed to the IMDB board. i am still soo incredibly new to fritz lang that anyone who knows even a little bit more about him (as you seem to know A LOT more) is an asset to me. anyway, thanks again for the information about the various movies..

[–] bruno-44 20 years ago

According to the Alternate Versions section on DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER, the region 2 version contains a scene with Mabuse lecturing. The Image disc mentions this scene in the commentary but does not include it. I would recommend renting the movie, but a quick survey of on-line rental places show it isn't regularly available. THE GAMBLER is available on Numberslate.com and apparently Blockbuster.com, but they both require subscriptions. I rented the move from Numberslate but cancelled my subscription a few months ago because of their total lack of customer service. Nicheflix.com has the Region 2 version if you can play that.

You might also want to check e-bay. I saw that recently someone was selling the Image version for $20.

[–] istvanmatis 20 years ago

if it is a scene with mabuse lecturing, i can't possibly think that it is THAT significantly important? unless it is? uhm. anyway, thanks a lot for telling me. i think i will go ahead and get a hold of the readily available 'mabuse the gambler' here in the states. by the way, i also considered getting 'die nibelugen,' have you seen this?? i want to see as many of lang's films as possible. could you tell me which one of his films are totally worth getting? i have only seen "m" and "metropolis," so i am still practically a lang virgin, so to speak. thanks in advance and for the DVD info.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Rosabel 20 years ago

I've got both the Image and the Eureka dvds of 'Dr Mabuse, The Gambler', and I'm glad I've got them both. To watch the Eureka one, you'll need a region-free dvd player, or you might be able to play it on your computer. The Eureka one has more extra stuff than just the scene of Mabuse lecturing; I'd compare it to the difference between the theatrical release of the Lord of the Rings movies and the extended edition released later on dvd. Only Mabuse is better, because you're seeing it the way it really was, not with extra cutting-room floor stuff put in. There's another terrific solo scene with Mabuse - I guess it would count as an extended scene, where he goes to the Round Room (the "girls' room" in his house) and it's clearly all about sex, even though all he does is look around the room and touch the covers on the bed. But it's Klein-Rogge, and nobody is better at telling you a whole chapter without saying a word. In addition to the restored scenes, the Eureka version is pristine and restored - it's the quality of the restored 'Metropolis' that came out with the original score. Really gorgeous. The Image version has a great commentary by David Kalat; the Eureka version is just beautiful, beautiful to watch. It's worth having both.

Yup, when you think 'shocking horror' you think German oompah-band music.

[–] myboigie 19 years ago

I agree, most of the Lang DVDs are pretty-good so-far. THe resorted "M" is
breath-taking! I would love to know where to buy the Eureka DVD of "Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler," it must be sparkling. The Image version isn't bad at-all, really, but any improvement is great!
Fritz Lang was easily one of the most-important filmmakers of all-time, a true international director. So-far, the only DVD of Lang that truly SUCKS
is the Image-version of "You Only Live Once," which is horrible-looking. It's definitely from several generations away from the negative and was done
on-the-cheap. Horrible, avoid. Otherwise, the DVD-imprints are doing a fine-job on his material.Lang only directed three Mabuse films: "Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler" (1922),
"The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" (1933), and "The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse"
(1960)--his final film. "1,000 Eyes" is incredibly-prescient in its examination of surveillance-culture, and the futility of watching everyone,
all-the-time. Buy everything except "You Only Live Once," and you'll be OK.
Even "The Spiders" looks good for its age of over 80-years!
That's pretty damned old for corn-celluloid, film degrades pretty-rapidly, even black & white. Particularly if it isn't stored with any care. I'd love to do film-restoration, but more from the research-side, towards locating-documents and invoices, finding the location of the prints via dectective-work.

[–] Rosabel 19 years ago

I got my copy of the Eureka version of 'Dr Mabuse, The Gambler' from a British place called Bensons World: http://www.bensons-world.co.uk/. You might also be able to get it on eBay. The Kino version of "Spies" is really beautifully restored, too, and the music is great. I've ordered the just-released Eureka version of that movie, too, because it comes with an audio commentary. (I just hope it isn't the same guy who did the commentary for the fully-restored authorized version of 'Metropolis' - dear God, that man was DULL!) Now, if you're in North America like me, you need a region-free dvd player to watch them here, because these are Region 2 (Europe) format. But these players are now more readily available, and affordable. I got one just before Christmas for $69 Cdn, and it works like a charm, so really it's now possible to watch these foreign dvds, and that's useful if you enjoy silent movies. So much great restoration work is done over there, and may not be transferred to NTSC format because there isn't such a big market over here for those films.

UPDATE: By coincidence, I just happened to get an email from Bensonsworld today, and they're having a sale on a lot of their Eureka titles, including Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler. So if you're interested in getting it, this might be a good time.

Yup, when you think 'shocking horror' you think German oompah-band music.

[–] mastergundam 19 years ago

"There's another terrific solo scene with Mabuse - I guess it would count as an extended scene, where he goes to the Round Room (the "girls' room" in his house) and it's clearly all about sex, even though all he does is look around the room and touch the covers on the bed."

Will you stop spreading that garbage around? That scene reads nothing like you say it is. You've got one oversexed mind...Wanda.

ME

[–] ltarex 18 years ago

I've just get the Hungarian-subtitled DVD version of "Testament" and I'm about to see it!!!

"A voice from behind me reminds me. Spread out your wings you are an angel."

[–] captbeefheart6 18 years ago

The criterion collection release of The Testament of Dr Mabuse: http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=231

[–] Xcalat3 17 years ago

I have not seen the others but this is a masterpiece

I Worship The Goddess Amber Tamblyn

[–] richard-III 16 years ago

Since about two years, Brazil has a release of the 1922-1923 film, 'Dr Mabuse: Der Spieler' and part two 'Dr Mabuse: Menschen der Zeit'. Together they form the first Dr Mabuse film Fritz Lang made, and it runs for about four hours with excellent picture quality.

(Before that, I only had a video of the two parts together, shortened into a 90 minutes US released feature. So more than 60% of the original was cut out!)

"The Beamer Xperience: 9 feet wide home cinema bliss."

[–] HulotderSpeiler 14 years ago

In the name of god dont settle for anything other than the Kino disc for Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler!!!! It is an hour longer than any other existing version, and has the wonderful score by Aljoscha Zimmermann

black and white movies were better

[–] Swissangel4616 11 years ago

There are several Dr. Mabuse Film made. The first was made in 1922 "The gambler" "Das Testament" follows the 1922 version and again 1960 version follows the 1933 version.

And there is another interesting connection to another famous german movie: "M" with Petere Lore. The Inspector/Commisoner in "M" is the same in "Das Testament" and played by the same actor - so its a kind of a semi-sequel from "M" too.

In the 1960s are made 5 "Dr. Mabuse" movies in Germany and had been VERY popular