The Return of Dr. Mabuse

If you see that a big truck is following you, run as fast as you can, you are in danger of being set on fire with a flamethrower, crushed against a wall or thrown a substance that will put you to sleep and then kidnap you. All this and many other fascinating things happen in this film, it's a successful one from the Mabuse series. Harald Reinl, the director, was as good as Fritz Lang. We have a very young and beautiful Daliah Lavi in the role of a very curious reporter and at the same time the daughter of a scientist, we have the natural and very convincing Gert Fröbe as Kommissar Lohmann and Lex Barker as a FBI agent and the excellent experts in villainous roles Werner Peters as Böhmler and Wolfgang Preiss as Dr. Mabuse. And Peter Sandloff's music is good, he being also the author of the music for "Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse" (1962).

I had heard that Gert Frobe was a pretty good actor. Most of us remember him in "Goldfinger," of course. He plays a multi-dimensional police detective who must pursue the wily Dr. Mabuse (whoever he might be). Working with a man imprisoned for his experimentation, a series of alleyways and twists and turns, leading to prisons, narrow escapes, and death, Frobe stays on the path, even though he doesn't seem to be respected by his adversary. The scientists daughter becomes a pawn in the game and complicates things. The pacing is pretty good and there are some surprises. And, as we know, super villains aren't all that easy to kill. Still, I liked the low key performance of Frobe and the way he is never intimidated by his discoveries.

This film has had more titles than some folks have shorts.No matter what the title we do have a nifty follow up to the classic 1000 Eyes Of Dr Mabuse.

A man is murdered on a train which brings in Inspector Lohmann.In a rather gruesome scene a woman representing the Chicago Mafia is roasted alive by a flame thrower in a truck.This brings in Joe Como,FBI agent.Or is he really Nick Scapio from the Chicago mob?

Dr Mabuse wants to make a deal with the Chicago gangsters for some undisclosed reason.He has a chemical which makes a person a slave to the will of Dr Mabuse.Mabuse intends to take over and destroy a nuclear power plant in the city as a show of good faith.Cleverly using prisoners from the local prison Mabuse intends to create mass havoc & terror.

This film is never dull and will keep you guessing right until the end.It also has one of the more paranoid endings in the Dr Mabuse series.If you can find it enjoy it!

Second part of the new Doctor Mabuse series

As a competitor to the successful Edgar Wallace film adaptations, producer Artur BRAUNER brought old Mabuse out of obscurity with his CCC. The American Tarzan actor Lex BARKER, whom BRAUNER met in Rome at the premiere of THE SWEET LIFE, joined the cast of the German shocker.

In a city with the license plate P (filmed in Berlin), bizarre murders occur again, including a female FBI spy (Laura SOLARI). This brings Joe Como (BARKER) from America onto the scene. But Inspector Lohmann (Gert FRÖBE), who actually wanted to go fishing, is also investigating. The attractive Maria Sabrehm (Daliah LAVI / GOLDEN GLOBE nomination for TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER CITY) is also bustling around the crime scene as a frenzied reporter. The investigation soon focuses on a church whose pastor (Rudolf FERNAU) writes obscure books about the devil, and a prison whose warden (Fausto TOZZI) is soon murdered. Doctor Mabuse is back at it again...

Director Harald REINL (OSCAR nomination for MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE) brings new impetus to the series. This is also ensured by the lively Lex BARKER, who was already able to warm up for the role of Old Shatterhand. Other standard actors from the German horror thriller appear: Werner PETERS, Ady BERBER, Wolfgang PREISS. Daliah LAVI from Israel, who later became very successful as a pop star, also cuts a good figure. Incidentally, Hans-Jürgen KIEBACH (OSCAR for CABARET) was responsible for the production design. 2.483 million visitors wanted to see the film in West German cinemas. Sequel follows! The series could continue!

This was another good entry in the Dr. Mabuse series, and a good German mystery movie in general.

Gert Frobe is excellent as Lohmann, and Lex Barker is a welcome addition with his character, who keeps us on our toes by never really letting us know his true allegiances until late in the film.

Once again though, a lot of traps and salient plot points are recycled from some of the previous Mabuse movies. The addition of the "Chicago Syndicate" element looks to have been added to make the movie more reachable to US audiences, but the film does manage to keep the unique verve that most German cinema had back in the fifties and sixties.