" The Will of Dr. Mabuse " Shown by the
London Film Society THE London Film Society concluded its season last Sunday with this German talkie, a sequel to the silent Dr. Mabuse, also directed by Fritz Lang, which was shown over here about eight years ago. The present film has been banned in Germany, possibly because it is considered " decadent." There is nothing in it likely to offend an ordinary Censor, but its attitude towards crime and insanity is certainly " decadent " in the sense of attaching no importance to human values. It neither glorifies nor excuses crime, but the characters exist simply as material for a series of sen- sational episodes, treated with a wealth of technical in- genuity so empty of human significance as to become in the end rather repulsive.
Dr. Mabuse, the master criminal, is shut up in an asylum, where he gradually recovers enough sanity to cover sheets of paper with detailed plans for further criminal enterprises. These schemes are put into effect by a gang who obey the orders of an unknown leader, and the police are baffled until at last the director of the asylum, Dr. Baum, is suspected and run to earth. The whole story, long and complicated, displays Fritz Lang's usual blend of macabre atmosphere with realistic detail. There are many graphic episodes ; the acting and photography are brilliantly efficient ; and the motor chase towards the end is one of the best ever screened. But it is always as though a man of great gifts were writing a superior kind of feuillelon, unable to believe that one sensation matters more than another.
Previous page
