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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.

With the titular character, crime lord Dr. Mabuse now locked away in an asylum, taken by madness, under the watchful eye of Professor Baum, mysterious violent crimes begin to occur around the city. The only clues left behind lead to the impossible scenario that the nefarious crime lord has been directing the crimes from his cell in the asylum.

Using the same stunning visuals that defined his silent films, like Metropolis and the earlier Mabuse film, Lang creates an astonishing vision of the morose, high tech, and eerie impending doom that would find itself banned by the Reich. Shadowy docks, empty warehouses, foggy nights, explosions, and a fantastic climax verging on the supernatural all make The Testament of Dr. Mabuse one of Lang’s classics on par with his most memorable title, the Metropolis.

Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Otto Wernicke, Thomy Bourdelle
Country: Germany, France
Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

In 1933, Lang shot simultaneously two entirely different versions of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. One was in German, the other in French, and, excluding Klein-Rogge, with an entirely different cast. The German version of the film was immediately banned by Josef Goebbels, while the French version managed to find its way to a number of theaters across Europe and U.S.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) Criterion Collection
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2xDVD9 | NTSC 4:3 | 02:01:10 | 7.27 Gb + 6.70 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Deutsch
Subtitles: English

Extras:
• Audio commentary by David Kalat, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Mabuse (recorded exclusively for the Criterion Collection in 2003)
• 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, 1964 interview with Lang
• Mabuse in Mind, 1984 film by Thomas Honickel featuring an interview with actor Rudolf Schundler
• Comparison between the 1932 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
• Collection of memorabilia, press books, stills, and posters

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) Eureka – Masters of Cinema
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BD50 | 1080p AVC | 02:01:02 | 34.2 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Deutsch
Subtitles: English

Extras:
• Commentary - this excellent audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat was originally recorded for The Masters of Cinema Series in 2009 for The Complete Fritz Lang Mabuse Boxset. Mr. Kalat discusses the film's interesting history, the socio-political conditions under which it was made, its various reincarnations (highlighting specific differences between the German, French and American versions of the film), and Fritz Lang's legacy.