The will of Dr. Mabuse (1962)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The will of Dr. Mabuse |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1962 |
| length | 88 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Werner Klingler |
| script |
Ladislaus Fodor , RA Stemmle based on a manuscript by Thea von Harbou |
| production | CCC Filmkunst GmbH ( Artur Brauner ) |
| music | Raimund Rosenberger |
| camera | Albert Benitz |
| cut | Walter Wischniewsky |
| occupation | |
| |
The will of Dr. Mabuse is a German crime film that was shot in West Berlin in 1962 under the direction of Werner Klingler . It is the fourth film in the Dr. Mabuse film series from the 1960s and a remake of the film of the same name by Fritz Lang from 1933. The film, produced by Artur Brauner in black and white, was shown on September 7, 1962 in the German Federal Republic Cinemas.
action
Under a crypt is the command center of a dangerous criminal who gives orders to the gang of a certain Mortimer in the nifty hiding place. On behalf of the unknown boss, who always sits behind a curtain, the snobbish Mortimer and his people raid a state gold transporter. A short time later, according to the phantom's written instructions, the criminals rob the diamond exchange. Commissioner Lohmann , who is investigating the cases with detective assistant Krüger, feels at the crimes of Dr. Mabuse, who is safely behind the bars of Professor Pohland's mental hospital .
When Mortimer is supposed to get another gang member, his choice falls on the young boxer Johnny Briggs. He can be recruited by Mortimer with a devious trick. Meanwhile, a false banknote appears at the police station, which comes from a customer of the prostitute Wackel-Heidi. Before Inspector Lohmann can interrogate the man, the stranger is shot in the street. When a freight car with paper for banknotes disappears, Lohmann's suspicion that Dr. Mabuse developed telepathic skills in the insane asylum that directly affect the mysterious boss of Mortimer's gang.
Flocke, who was dismissed from the police force for bribery, has meanwhile smuggled into the gang to rehabilitate himself with the inspector. After he was blown and killed by Mortimer in cold blood, Lohmann found detailed instructions on the murder of Flocke in Mabuse's notes, which were collected and evaluated by Professor Pohland. Meanwhile, Johnny Briggs' doubts about his new boss grow and his fiancée Nelly suspects that her partner is not doing any ordinary job.
Regardless of the progress made by Commissioner Lohmann, the mysterious stranger orders another crime. With the help of incriminating letters and captivating photos, the criminals managed to extort the keys to the vaults from the authorized signatory and the second director of the city bank. It turns out that Professor Pohland himself is hypnotized by Mabuse and is head of the criminal organization without his knowledge. Against his will, the scientist receives Mabuse's order to kill the inspector and to keep the legacy of the mysterious criminal, a will.
Inspector Lohmann and his assistant Krüger manage to thwart the robbery in the city bank and arrest Mortimer with his gang. But Pohland is now completely under the spell of Mabuse's ghost and brings Johnny Briggs and his fiancée Nelly into his power. When the inspector went to the mental hospital, Mabuse died. The possessed Pohland, who wants to continue Mabuse's work with all his might, lures Lohmann into a trap in order to kill him with high voltage. In the end, Johnny Briggs can free himself, Nelly, and the inspector. Dr. Mabuse is dead. His will and the car of the hypnotized professor sink into a moor after a rapid escape by car.
History of origin
prehistory
With the first three Dr. Mabuse films of the 1960s, producer Artur Brauner brought extremely successful films into the cinemas, which represented a successful and successful counterpart to the Edgar Wallace crime novels of the Rialto Film . Since both series of films were marketed by Constantin Film , the start dates could be coordinated so as not to compete unnecessarily with oneself. Spurred on by the high viewership, is Brown an old Mabuse film, of 1932-33 under the direction of daring first time in 1962 to remake Fritz Lang turned classic The Testament of Dr. Mabuse .
Pre-production and script
Ladislas Fodor and Robert Adolf Stemmle wrote a new version based on the original script by Thea von Harbou , which in turn was based on the novel of the same name by Norbert Jacques . In addition to the locations of the plot, the role names have also been changed. For example, "Professor Dr. Baum" became "Professor Pohland '", and the criminal assistant Müller was now called Krüger . Only "Dr. Mabuse" and the figure of " Commissioner Lohmann ", who first appeared and recurs in the Fritz Lang film M (1931), were retained. For the second and last time after Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse (1961), Gert Fröbe was seen as an idiosyncratic investigator who was embodied in Otto Wernicke's old films . Brauner hired Werner Klingler , to whom the producer had previously entrusted the production of the Bryan Edgar Wallace crime thriller The Secret of the Black Suitcase , as director.
production
The shooting of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse took place in West Berlin from May 16 to June 23, 1962 . The studio recordings were shot in the CCC-Film studios in Berlin-Haselhorst . Officially The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is not produced by CCC Filmproduktion GmbH, but like Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse from CCC Filmkunst GmbH, founded in 1960. As a set designer were Helmut Nentwig and Paul Markwitz committed. Vera Mügge was responsible for the costume advice .
As in the two previous parts of the film series, well-known locations in Berlin were not used for the outdoor shots. The name of the city does not appear in the film, so it remains open where the story takes place. The local spectator can make out the car used in the attack on the money transporter as a vehicle of the Berlin city cleaning by the coat of arms (a Berlin bear), whereby the place name was masked quite simply. The license plates visible in the film again show a "P", which was not assigned at the time of filming and was already intended for Potsdam in the event of the reunification of Germany .
The following locations can be seen in the film:
- Chaussee, Berlin-Tegel : attack on the gold transport
- AOK building, Galenstrasse 6, Berlin-Spandau : Diamond Exchange
- Lecture hall of the Free University of Berlin , Berlin-Dahlem : Lecture by Professor Pohland
- Markt, Berlin-Spandau: "Hot corner"
- Johannesstift station , Berlin-Hakenfelde : train attack
- Bartningallee at the S-Bahn station Bellevue , Berlin-Hansaviertel : Murder of Flocke
Film music
The film music was composed by Raimund Rosenberger . Since the soundtrack only exists on the film's soundtrack , the CD Kriminalfilmmusik No. 4 just a digitally edited video recording of the theme music.
reception
publication
The FSK released the film on August 31, 1962 from the age of 18. The film, which premiered on October 13 of the same year, was far less well received by the public than the previous works in the film series. Constantin Filmverleih refused to bring more Dr. Mabuse films to the cinemas. Regardless of this, and because the box office income from crime films was still very profitable, Brauner produced the sequel Scotland Yard chases Dr. Mabuse , which Gloria Film Distribution should include in its program.
For the DVD release in 2005, the later age rating of the film was downgraded from 16 to 12 years. For the entire box set, because of the film it contains, Scotland Yard is chasing Dr. Mabuse, however, still has a release from 16 years.
Reviews
"With serious actors under precise direction a - if you accept the fantastic basic idea - a successful remake that [...] is quite exciting."
“By German standards, this thriller turned out very well, and it [...] has a cast that is appropriate to the type. Cinematography (Albert Benitz) and music (Raimund Rosenberger) are worth mentioning alongside Klingler's direction. Mabuse, the immortal (Wolfgang Preiss mimes him between seriousness and comedy), fascinates his horror community and with his will did not say goodbye to this cinema world at any price. "
"Tension-free new version of the dark story of the mentally disturbed power criminal and his willless accomplice. An uncomfortable crime thriller, the exterior of the famous Fritz Lang film from 1932 is an epigone model. "
“'The will of Dr. Mabuse 'is not very convincing. On the one hand, this may be due to the staging, which is just exhausting, and on the other hand, to the confused story, where you can guess from the beginning how it will end. "
"Here is Dr. Mabuse is just a brand name. "
literature
- Norbert Jacques : Dr. Mabuse, medium of evil. Part 3: The will of Dr. Mabuse. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-499-13954-5 (with the correspondence between Norbert Jacques / Thea von Harbou / Fritz Lang and statements by Fritz Lang about his Mabuse films. With essays by Elisabeth Bronfen et al.)
- Solveig Wrage: Dr. Mabuse in the film. Reinhard Weber Verlag, Landshut September 2011, ISBN 978-3-943127-00-3
Audio book
- The will of Dr. Mabuse. An audio book based on the original movie. Author: Susa Gülzow. Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-8218-5389-5
Web links
- The will of Dr. Mabuse in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The will of Dr. Mabuse at Filmportal.de
- Sound carrier with the film music
Individual evidence
- ↑ 88 minutes for cinema projection (24 images / second), 85 minutes for television playback (25 images / second), film length: 2418 meters
- ↑ a b Joachim Kramp: Hello! This is Edgar Wallace speaking. The history of the crime film series from 1959 to 1972. Third, revised and expanded edition . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89602-645-3 , p. 452-454 .
- ↑ Role name according to the English dialog list ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 410 kB) and German film program : Polland . In other sources, in the film and in the sequels, the spelling is "Pohland".
- ↑ Daily report No. 15 of the CCC-Film ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 162 kB) from June 2, 1962
- ↑ Daily report No. 19 of the CCC-Film ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 163 kB) from June 7, 1962
- ↑ Daily report No. 26 of the CCC-Film ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 164 kB) from June 18, 1962
- ↑ CD crime film music No. 4 . BSC Music. 2000. Order no. 398.6560.2
- ↑ The will of Dr. Mabuse . In: Paimann's film lists . No. 2734 , September 20, 1962. Online: Reizfeld.net ( Memento from January 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Immortal Dr. Mabuse . A well-done thriller by German standards. In: Hamburger Abendblatt . October 24, 1962, p. 15 ( abendblatt.de [PDF; 1.8 MB ]).
- ↑ The will of Dr. Mabuse. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Thomas Ays: film review at moviesection.de
