Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922)
If digitally manufactured Dinosaurs, big budget films with talking Lions, and anything with Keanu Reeves is the sort of film that floats your particular boat, this film is something you not seek. If you have a healthy respect for the art and beauty of the old silent films, this early effort that tackles the topic of gambling is something you should actively seek out.
Dr. Mabuse was filmed about the same time that discussions about the Red Barron would be considered a current event topic. Obviously this is a silent film, so there will be a good bit of reading involved along with a soundtrack that sounds like something from an organ grinder.
As the story goes, Dr. Mabuse himself is a master manipulator and hypnotist. He is a mysterious and, for the most part, anonymous force as he manipulates the stock market to disrupt the business and lives of those who are abusing and eroding the German economy. He uses his powers of mind control over the idle rich who gamble away money, while millions of Germans suffer in hunger on the streets outside the gambling clubs. Mabuse sees the world as nothing but worthless cattle that exist for his pleasure alone.
The hero of this film is State attorney von Wenk. His life is dedicated to the single purpose of shutting down the gambling casinos. Through the course of his investigations discovers that a criminal, who is shrouded in mystery, has been preying upon the very people that von Wenk is trying to prosecute like a vampire feeding on the blood of cow.
Many people would be scared away from this film simply because of the era in which it was made; that would be a mistake. This classic of the silent era is as good to watch today as it was nearly a century ago.
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