| The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse |
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| Genre: | Art/Foreign |
| Year: | 1960 |
| Rating: | NR |
| Length: | 1 Hour 39 Minutes |
| Cast: | Fritz Lang, Gert Fr”be |
Before Ian Fleming's Dr. No, there was novelist Norbert Jacques's Dr. Mabuse, the criminal mastermind at the center of Fritz Lang's famous silent serial in the '20s and '30s and a subsequent sound feature. In 1959, Lang left Hollywood and returned to his native Germany to direct what would be his final film -- The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. The image of this infamous villain is revived, after nearly 30 years, to frame a complex criminal story set in a luxury Berlin hotel where every room is secretly under video surveillance. Lang's talent for handling intricate plots reaches a zenith here in a labyrinthine tale filled with more twists and turns than would seem possible in a mere hour and a half. Indeed, there's hardly a character in 1000 Eyes who's the person he appears to be, or a scene without a hidden camera, a two-way mirror, or a secret passage. Also typical is Lang's lovingly detailed portrayal of police investigative methods and techniques. The strong cast of this paranoid thriller includes Gert Fr”be (Goldfinger) as a rough-edged homicide detective, Peter van Eyck as a wealthy industrialist, Dawn Addams as a beautiful -- and suicidal -- love interest, and Wolfgang Preiss as a blind, white-haired clairvoyant who helps the detective with his investigations. Once again, All Day Entertainment has done a stellar job putting together the DVD version of a nearly forgotten cult classic. The image was painstakingly restored from original studio negatives, and the disc includes a menu of enticing extras. Gregory Baird
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