Fritz Lang

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the criminal mastermind Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has scribbled his last will and testament: a manifesto establishing a future empire of crime. When the document’s nefarious writings start leading to terrifying parallels in reality, it’s up to Berlin’s star detective, Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke, reprising his role from M) to connect the most fragmented, maddening clues in a case unlike any other. A sequel to his enormously successful silent film Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Fritz Lang's The Testament of Dr. Mabuse reunites the director with the character that had effectively launched his career. Lang put slogans and ideas expounded by the Nazis into the mouth of a madman, warning his audience of an imminent menace, which was soon to become a reality. Nazi Minister of Information Joseph Goebbels saw the film as an instruction manual for terrorist action against the government and banned it for “endangering public order and security.” A landmark of mystery and suspense for countless espionage and noir thrillers to come, this is the complete, uncut original director’s version in a stunning new transfer.

Film Info

  • Germany
  • 1933
  • 121 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.19:1
  • German
  • Spine #231

Special Features

  • New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound, presented here in its original aspect ratio of 1.19:1 for the first time
  • Audio commentary by David Kalat, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse
  • Complete French-language version of the film, Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse, filmed simultaneously by Lang with French actors
  • Excerpts from For Example Fritz Lang (Zum Beispiel: Fritz Lang), 1964 interview with Lang, directed by famed German documentarian Erwin Leiser (Mein Kampf)
  • Mabuse in Mind (Mabuse Im Gedächtnis), 1984 film by Thomas Honickel featuring an interview with actor Rudolf Schündler (Hardy in The Testament of Dr. Mabuse)
  • Comparison between the 1933 German version, the French version, and The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, the edited and dubbed American version of the film
  • Interview with German Mabuse expert Michael Farin about the literary inventor of the series, Norbert Jacques
  • Rare production design drawings by art director Emil Hasler (M, The Blue Angel)
  • Collection of memorabilia, press books, stills, and posters
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

New cover by Aesthetic Apparatus

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound, presented here in its original aspect ratio of 1.19:1 for the first time
  • Audio commentary by David Kalat, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse
  • Complete French-language version of the film, Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse, filmed simultaneously by Lang with French actors
  • Excerpts from For Example Fritz Lang (Zum Beispiel: Fritz Lang), 1964 interview with Lang, directed by famed German documentarian Erwin Leiser (Mein Kampf)
  • Mabuse in Mind (Mabuse Im Gedächtnis), 1984 film by Thomas Honickel featuring an interview with actor Rudolf Schündler (Hardy in The Testament of Dr. Mabuse)
  • Comparison between the 1933 German version, the French version, and The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse, the edited and dubbed American version of the film
  • Interview with German Mabuse expert Michael Farin about the literary inventor of the series, Norbert Jacques
  • Rare production design drawings by art director Emil Hasler (M, The Blue Angel)
  • Collection of memorabilia, press books, stills, and posters
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by Tom Gunning, author of The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity

New cover by Aesthetic Apparatus

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Cast
Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Dr. Mabuse
Otto Wernicke
Inspector Lohmann
Oskar Beregi, Sr.
Prof. Dr. Baum
Gustav Diessl
Thomas Kent
Wera Liessem
Lilli
Karl Meixner
Hofmeister
A.E. Licho
Dr. Hauser
Theo Lingen
Karetzky
Klaus Pohl
Müller
Theodor Loos
Dr. Kramm
Camilla Spira
Anna
Rudolf Schündler
Hardy
Georg John
Baum's assistant
Credits
Director
Fritz Lang
Producer
Seymour Nebenzal
Screenplay
Fritz Lang
Screenplay
Thea von Harbou
Directors of photography
Fritz Arno Wagner
Directors of photography
Karl Vass
Art direction
Karl Vollbrecht
Art direction
Emil Hasler
Music
Dr. Hans Erdmann

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