The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 18
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 1
liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 4,891
Movie Info
Fritz Lang directed this sequel to his nearly four-hour Dr. Mabuse silent of 1922 (often shown in two parts, Dr. Mabuse: Der Spieler/The Gambler and Dr. Mabuse: King of Crime). The film opens with Detective Hofmeister (Karl Meixner) spying on the activities of a criminal syndicate. Not realizing he has been seen, Hofmeister is attacked by the thugs and later turns up out of his mind. He is placed in the institution of Professor Baum (Oscar Beregi), who becomes increasingly obsessed with another
Jan 1, 1933 Wide
May 18, 2004
Criterion Collection
Cast
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Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Dr. Mabuse -
Otto Wernicke
Commissioner Karl Lohma... -
Gustav Diessl
Kent -
Wera Liessem
Lilli -
Karl Meixner
Hofmeister -
Theodor Loos
Dr. Kramm -
-
Camilla Spira
Juwelen-Anna -
-
-
-
Paul Henckels
Lithographer -
Georg John
Baums Diener -
Theo Lingen
Karetzky -
-
Klaus Pohl
Muller -
-
-
Ludwig Stossel
Arbeiter -
-
Rudolf Schündler
Hardy -
Oskar Hocker
Bredow -
-
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Oscar Beregi Sr.
Prof. Doctor Baum -
-
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All Critics (18) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (2) | DVD (11)
The story is very long-winded and even an ingenious director like Fritz Lang could not prevent its being rather slow-moving in places.
By 1932, the character had become rather more than just king villain of the serials: Testament finds him mouthing undisguised Nazi slogans from his asylum prison.
Top CriticIt is a hallucinating and horrifying story, depicted with great power and the extraordinary beauty of photography that Lang has led his admirers to expect.
The movie captures an air of dread, despair, and individual impotence -- a political atmosphere that meshed perfectly with Lang's raging paranoia.
Fritz Lang's suspense masterpiece starts with a kick and then piles on the subterfuge, suspense and terror.
[Lang's] ambitious command of the medium...keeps us rooted to our seats from start to finish.
Richly inventive crime thriller
So while lauded by the wine-swirling art-house set, Lang was a German master whose films -- and there are a lot of them -- also appeal to those of us who rarely use the phrase 'mise en scène' in conversation.
Testament is still a great film that provides a perfect summation of Lang's German career.
This absolutely riveting crime film by Fritz Lang demonstrates the height of taut, suspenseful filmmaking.
Vivid images and tight storytelling.
The most notorious of the [Dr. Mabuse movies], simply because it was the film that helped trigger Lang's flight from Nazi Germany.
Too bad it's not much fun to watch
Not only the most modern-looking film of 1932, it still looks modern today.
This important, controversial work from one of cinema's great early masters is more than a mere museum piece -- it's also spellbinding entertainment.
Lang used Mabuse as a symbol for corruption and decadence in Germany's Weimar Republic.
A haunting, suspenseful sequel to the great Fritz Lang's 1922 silent Dr. Mabuse the Gambler.
Audience Reviews for The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Commissioner Karl Lohmann: Ma - Bu - Se...Mabuse.
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Movie: ID: 19791 Title: The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse Release Date: 1933-01-01 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 6 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (DE)
- The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) (UK)
Lang's use of sound to tie scenes together (i.e. a ticking time-bomb becomes a man tapping on his breakfast egg) worked so well that similar effects are still being used today. The specter of Dr. Mabuse and his hypnotic mind control manifests itself in ghostly apparitions which Lang presents in transparent fashion, complete with makeup that is almost as effective and frightening today as it was in 1933.
Don't expect this to be in the same league as Lang's landmark crime drama M, to compare the two would be unfair. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is much more of a ghost story, a horror film, than it's predecessor but it is very much a classic in it's own right. Anchored in realism but delving far further into the macabre and the surreal.