In 1922,
Fritz Lang
conceived Mabuse as a cypher for Weimar Germany's corruption and decadence: the two-part Dr Mabuse, the Gambler/Inferno shows him as a criminal mastermind, casinos and stock exchange equally in hand, enmeshed in a web of dope, killing, fake seances and madness. By 1932, the character had become rather more than just king villain of the serials: Testament finds him mouthing undisguised Nazi slogans from his asylum prison, and using hypnotism to maintain control over his criminal empire outside; he's opposed by the same cop who hunted Peter Lorre in Lang's M the year before. Goebbels banned the movie but offered leadership of the German film industry to Lang, who left the country overnight.