The Episcopalians are a target-rich environment these days. Even so, the Doc has got SERIOUS game.
Christopher Johnson | Homepage | 06.30.06 - 1:54 pm | #

I think I'd feel better toward Doctor Mabuse if that weren't the name of the "supervillain" in a number of Fritz Lang's films, intended as a caricature of Hitler.
A. Nonymouse | 06.30.06 - 3:13 pm | #

It's a bit of a long story, how I ended up with the name Dr. Mabuse; basically, I've been working on a modern Mabuse story for the past 18 months. I've been researching the whole Mabuse canon, and have spent a lot of time with the bad doctor. It's not true that he was meant purely as a caricature of Hitler; Lang came up with that story many years after his 1933 film, 'The Testament of Dr. Mabuse', and he was notorious for embroidering the truth and outright lying. Mabuse predates Hitler by quite a bit; Norbert Jacques created him in 1920 in his novel 'Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler'. He was meant as an embodiment of everything that was wrong and corrupt in Weimar Germany; when Hitler came along 10 years later, he definitely fit the mold, but he wasn't the source for the character. Mabuse went on to be a character in many German movies in the 60s, and in Germany his name is as well-known as Dracula or Frankenstein in the English-speaking world. He morphed into a sort of ominous genius supervillain with quasi-supernatural powers, and there was a lot of James Bond-like intrigue in those later movies.
Dr. Mabuse | Homepage | 06.30.06 - 9:08 pm | #

I didn't mean to imply that Dr. Mabuse was based on Hitler, but Lang inserted Hitlerian rhetoric into some of the films, putting it into the mouth of an obvious villain/lunatic.

He did a similar thing in "M," which a number of people mistakenly take as "pro-Nazi." No -- Lang deliberately juxtaposed legal and illegal methods of restoring order (capturing the child murderer) to show that the end does not justify the means -- a primary belief in the Nazi credo. The boss of the criminal underground was a Hitler-figure, restoring order (sort of) by merest chance (a blind balloon seller recognizing the whistle), and using a caricature of legality in the form of a mock trial. This was quintessential Nazism. The French eventually called Hitler "Adolph Legalite" for his insistance on "legal" methods. The inspector on the other hand plodded through using strictly legal methods, and had identified the criminal before the underground caught him -- and would have had him, had the criminals not trapped him in the office building. Criminal interference actually delays justice, and makes a mockery of it by asserting that they wish to restore order only to be able to carry out their usual criminal acts in peace.

We see this to a much lesser extent in "Frau im Mond," in which Lang selected an actor for the villain who not only spouts Nazi rhetoric, but (in some careful Lang-style shots) bears a striking resemblance to Hitler physically -- which was pretty safe to do in 1929, when "Frau" came out. Thea von Harbo idolized Hitler, and Lang's constant disparagement of Der Fuhrer probably contributed to their divorce -- as well as possibly giving Lang incentive to continue it ... after all, what man wants his wife panting over a guy with a cheesy mustache?
A. Nonymouse | 07.03.06 - 8:14 am | #

Fair point. It's difficult to know just what was going on with Lang and von Harbou; they had a great professional partnership, but on the personal side, things were a little sticky. It's probably surprising their marriage lasted as long as it did, since Lang was flamboyantly unfaithful to her. I think that HER affair (with an Indian journalist, if I recall correctly) had more to do with their breakup than politics, but it's true that she was very pro-Hitler, and wouldn't have dreamed of leaving the country when he did. I just get the impression that Lang was not really the most savvy person when it came to politics; it took him a while to figure out that he, personally, was going to be affected by the Nazi takeover, and the brave new world really didn't have any room for him.

I mostly just wanted to clarify that I didn't pick the name "Dr. Mabuse" as some kind of coded homage to Hitler! If anything, it's to honour Fritz Lang and Rudolf Klein-Rogge, the first and greatest Dr. Mabuse.
Dr. Mabuse | Homepage | 07.04.06 - 12:44 pm | #

Now *that* I'll agree with wholeheartedly. My only problem is trying to stay awake during Lang's early films. I love them ... but, to a generation conditioned to sixteen explosions, three shootouts, two car chases and six naked boobs per episode, I fall asleep. Plus I have the habit of working on something else when the VCR is playing, and the trick with "silent" films is that you have to pay strict attention the whole time. This explains why I managed to jab my finger yesterday with a pin while attempting to reupholster my chair AND watch "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (and cook dinner). At least I didn't sew my fingers together.
A. Nonymouse | 07.05.06 - 8:06 am | #