Dr. Mabuse - Watch Order: Lang Trilogy

Other Watch Orders:
1922 - 19603 Films8h 12m4.4 Average

Fritz Lang's three Mabuse films span four decades of the director's career, representing his personal exploration of the criminal mastermind across different eras of cinema and society. These films establish the character's iconic status and explore themes of hypnosis, surveillance, and psychological terror that would influence countless thrillers to come.

While not conceived as a traditional trilogy, Lang's return to Mabuse in 1960 after 27 years creates a fascinating artistic arc - from the silent epic that launched his career, through the anti-Nazi allegory that got him banned from Germany, to his final film that modernized the character for the Cold War era.

1
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler poster

Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler

19224h 31m4.6
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Aud Egede-Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Alfred Abel, Bernhard Goetzke

Dr. Mabuse and his organization of criminals are in the process of completing their latest scheme, a theft of information that will allow Mabuse to make huge profits on the stock exchange. Afterwards, Mabuse disguises himself and attends the Folies Bergères show, where Cara Carozza, the main attraction of the show, passes him information on Mabuse's next intended victim, the young millionaire Edgar Hull. Mabuse then uses psychic manipulation to lure Hull into a card game where he loses heavily. When Police Commissioner von Wenk begins an investigation of this mysterious crime spree, he has little to go on, and he needs to find someone who can help him.

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2
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse poster

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

19332h 2m4.6
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Oscar Beregi Sr., Camilla Spira, Otto Wernicke, Paul Henckels

After a detective is assaulted by thugs and placed in an asylum run by Professor Baum, he observes the professor's preoccupation with another patient, the criminal genius Dr. Mabuse the hypnotist. When Mabuse's notes are found to be connected with a rash of recent crimes, Commissioner Lohmann must determine how Mabuse is communicating with the criminals, despite conflicting reports on the doctor's whereabouts, and capture him for good.

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3
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse poster

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

19601h 39m3.9
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Dawn Addams, Werner Peters

A reporter is murdered while driving to his job. The Police are contacted by a clairvoyant who saw the death in a vision, but some dark force is preventing him from seeing the man behind the crime...

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