Dr. Mabuse -- The Gambler (1922)

Written and directed by: Fritz Lang

Starring: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede-Nissen, Gertrude Weicker

Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler is two films released months from each other making up one story. I am writing this piece after seeing Part 1 and then finishing it after seeing Part 2.

At the end of Part 1 of Dr. Mabuse, I wonder if the doctor is meant to be the main character of the story. The opening act shows him manipulating European stocks through robbery and subterfuge, making large amounts of money, showing off his cunning and unscrupulousness. The rest of the movie focuses on his hypnotism in regards to gambling. How he disguises himself, visits secret casinos, and compels other players to part with their money against their will.

The reason I wonder this is that in a more traditional narrative, Edgar Hull would be the hero. He's a rich young sap who is set on by Mabuse. Not only causing him to lose vast sums of money, but having him fall in love with Cara Carozza, a dancer who loves Mabuse and is willingly part of his schemes. Hull moves the plot forward by getting State Prosecutor Von Wenk involved (well, Wenk gets himself involved after Hull has been set upon). Wenk is the actual hero of this story, using his own wits to hunt down Mabuse. Near the end of the film, Mabuse sets a trap for Hull. Wenk evades it, but Hull is murdered in the street, Carozza being arrested as an accomplice in the act.

Whether it's another disguise or his original profession, an early scene shows Mabuse lecturing on the topic of psychoanalysis and how it can cure a large number of nervous conditions. The work of Sigmund Freud would have been famous at this point in history, and this scene seems to explain why Mabuse has these strange hypnotic powers that can compel weak minds to obey him. In the final scenes of Part 1 he tells Countess Told that the only thing that matters in life is will to power (one of the popular philosophical ideas of Nietzsche), and then he proves his will by forcing the Countess' husband to be revealed as a cheater. In the confusion of this revelation, he takes the faint Countess back to his home, ending Part 1.

There is no doubt that Dr. Mabuse is the villain of this story. My question is if he's the main character. Is this a tragedy, where we're following a man whose downfall is ensured by the end of the tale? I'm cheering for Wenk to outsmart Mabuse and rescue the Countess. To avenge the death of Hull. I would be lying if I said that Mabuse wasn't the most captivating character of the movie. The film is named after him too. I have to wonder if he gets away with everything. There were two other films made starring him after all.

Having watched part 2, I think I have an answer to my question. Dr. Mabuse is the main character of the picture. The film could even have been titled "The Fall of Doctor Mabuse". Part 2 shows off the lengths the doctor will go to. When Countess Told doesn't comply with his advances, he sets upon her husband. He pretends to treat the Count for his illness, convincing him through his hypnotism to commit suicide. Thinking that Carozza will betray him, the doctor has a guard that works for him sneak poison into her cell. She willingly drinks it. A young man working for Mabuse is arrested and on his way to be interrogated by Wenk, Mabuse orchestrates a mob to waylay the transport, allowing a sniper to dispatch the prisoner.

Mabuse waits for Wenk and lets him know about Sandor Weltmann, a stage hypnotist who might be to blame. Of course Weltmann is Mabuse as well. One of the last sequences of the film is Wenk attending Weltmann's stage show. Feats of mass hypnosis and magic are displayed. The whole evening is a ruse to dispose of Wenk. During the hypnosis, Wenk realises that Weltmann is Mabuse, as well as the old man from the secret casino that failed to manipulate him. At this point though it is too late. Wenk is under Mabuse's spell and the only thing that saves him from crashing his car into the quarry are his aides who realise something is wrong and pull him out of the speeding car.

The finale is a shootout at Mabuse's house. The army is called in. Mabuse flees through a secret passage and is trapped in his counterfeiting house. He is not strong enough to unlock the steel door at the entrance or lift the trap door he came through. At this point madness and guilt start to creep in. He is haunted by the ghosts of those he has killed, and when Wenk and the police finally reach him, he is a quivering mess. The whole of Part 2 is Mabuse making bad decisions that lead to his downfall. His hubris gets in the way, or perhaps it's the idea that playing with the fates of other people will always lead down the path of destruction.

Considering all the people he had killed, I was quite surprised that Mabuse wasn't shot or beat up by Wenk. Of course I'm thinking in modern American cinema terms where a villain this diabolical, that caused this much pain and suffering needs to pay for their crimes on screen. The hero has to triumph. Mabuse being haunted by those he killed, losing his mind, all alone trapped in a room is likely punishment enough. He's been arrested and will face justice, although this is only implied. I'm also thinking that Fritz Lang the director might have loved the character of Mabuse so much that he needed to ensure it was possible to make another movie with him. There were two more Mabuse films made after this one.

This leads me back to the idea that Mabuse is the main character. I mentioned that the hero has to triumph. Wenk is most definitely the hero, but the hero doesn't have to be the main character. Mabuse's reach extended so far and his powers touched so many lives that there was always that wonder if he was going to get away with it in the end. Like Walter White in Breaking Bad, we don't have to agree with the main character of a story, we just have to find them compelling enough to follow their journey. I wanted Mabuse's downfall after Part 1, but seeing how many more bodies he was responsible for in Part 2, I wondered if a man this powerful could be taken down. Someone willing to go this far. Mabuse certainly flexed his will to power, but that same will destroyed him. He was too arrogant in dealing with Wenk, not careful enough. Wenk was competent, but not a true adversary. In the end, the one truly responsible for taking down Mabuse was Mabuse. A lesson for those in positions of great power.

Personal enjoyment: ★★★★