One of the legendary epics of the silent cinema - and the first part of a trilogy that Fritz Lang developed up to the very end of his career - Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler. [Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler.] is a masterpiece of conspiracy that, even as it precedes the mind - blowing Spione from the close of Lang's silent cycle, constructs its own dark labyrinth from the base materials of human fear and paranoia. Rudolf Klein - Rogge plays Dr. Mabuse, the criminal mastermind whose nefarious machinations provide the cover for - or describe the result of - the economic upheaval and social bacchanalia at the heart of Weimar - era Berlin. Initiated with the arch - villain's diabolical manipulation of the stock - market, and passing through a series of dramatic events based around hypnotism, charlatanism, hallucinations, Chinese incantations, cold - blooded murder, opiate narcosis and cocaine anxiety, Lang's film maintains an unrelenting power all the way to the final act... which culminates in the terrifying question: " WHERE IS MABUSE?! " A bridge between Feuillade's somnambulistic serial - films and modern media - narratives of elusive robber - barons, Lang's two - part classic set the template for the director's greatest works: social commentary as superpsychology, poised at the brink of combustion.