Features: DVD, Black & White, Mono Audio, Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, English, Subtitled
About the Transfer
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.19:1, a European process that is much narrower than the 4:3 monitor. The black bars along the side of the screen, called “pillarboxing,” are normal for this format, and will be even more pronounced on widescreen televisions. The narrowness of this format is due to the variable density soundtrack, which was positioned to the left of the picture area. Various prints made in later years were zoomed in to fill out the frame. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from the restored 35mm duplicate negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the new digital restoration master, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal will be directed to the center channel on 5.1-channel sound systems, but some viewers may prefer to switch to two-channel playback for a wider dispersal of the mono sound.
Editor's Note
The tenuous and terrified atmosphere of Germany on the eve of Nazi ascendancy is cleverly evoked in Fritz Lang's THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE. The film opens with former police officer Hofmeister frantically warning police inspector Lohman of a mysterious gang's activity. He is especially insistant about the gang's leader, but is stopped in mid-confession before he can reveal the leader's identity. Dr. Baum runs the insane asylum where former arch criminal Dr. Mabuse is kept after going insane from his attempts to elude the police. After being incarcerated, Mabuse began writing reams of gibberish prose that gave complex instructions for how to commit crime sprees. When a fellow doctor confronts Dr. Baum with evidence that these exact crimes are coming true, he is mysteriously assassinated. Kent is an unwilling member of the gang and after taking their newest orders from a disembodied voice, he decides to leave the gang. Lohman continues to search for the identity of the gang's leader, as the crime sprees continue, and Mabuse's ghost begins to haunt Dr. Baum. As all of the characters speed chaotically towards the film's dark climax, the idea of a madman controlling a mass of hypnotized people and causing them to commit crimes that he premeditates creates a mystical and simultaneously potent political allegory of Lang's time.
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