SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE On Blu-ray From Eureka

 

The fifth film in Eureka's MABUSE LIVES! set is 1963's SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE (original German title SCOTLAND YARD JAGT DR. MABUSE, also known as SCOTLAND YARD VS. DR. MABUSE). 

The preceding film in Artur Brauner's Mabuse series for his CCC production company, THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, detailed how the criminal mastermind (played by Wolfgang Preiss), shut up in an asylum, used his malignant life force to possess Professor Pohland (Walter Rilla), the scientist who was studying the villain. In SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE, Pohland takes on the mantle of the mad doctor, and with the help of his associates, steals a device that can control people's minds. Pohland/Mabuse switches his base of operations to London, where he attempts to take over the British government with the unwitting help of a member of the Royal Family named (believe it or not) Princess Diana!! Facing off against Mabuse is an English secret agent named Bill Tern (Peter van Eyck) and a German police inspector (Werner Peters). 

SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE presents a shift in tone to the Mabuse series. It has more espionage adventure than noir-infused paranoia (it was made when the James Bond fad was starting to heat up). In the earlier films Mabuse was a sinister, shadowy barely-seen presence, but here he's very up front and real. 

This film's story was based on a Bryan Edgar Wallace novel titled THE DEVICE, and the MacGuffin here is a contraption that is shaped like a handheld camera. The mind control can be wiped away by a good night's sleep, and the device's effects can be warded off by wearing a hearing aid, meaning that once again Mabuse's grandiose schemes fall very flat. 

SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE has a more lighthearted air than the earlier entries as well--Bill Tern is a playboy bachelor who lives with his elderly eccentric mother (Agnes Windeck), and that character happens to steal the film--she's the one who figures out what is going on most of the time, and she even shows up to help save the day during the climatic battle. SCOTLAND YARD also has more open-air, daylight scenes than one usually sees in a typical Krimi movie. It was also filmed in a 1.37:1 aspect ratio, which makes it seem less grand, and it was directed by Paul May, who was not a Krimi veteran. 

One big advantage this film has is the appearance of Klaus Kinski in a supporting role as a member of Scotland Yard. If you find it rather improbable that Kinski could be an English defender of law and order, the actor himself seemed to have the same thoughts, for he has a surly, suspicious expression on his face throughout. Kinski's character eventually gets taken over by the mind control device, which is rather fitting. 

As in the other films included on Eureka's MABUSE LIVES! set, SCOTLAND YARD has a choice between German and English voice tracks, with English subtitles provided. SCOTLAND YARD shares a disc with THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, and the disc also includes a featurette called KRIMINOLOGY, by David Cairns and Fiona Watson. This runs about a half-hour, and it discusses elements of this unique genre. Tim Lucas provides an introduction to the film, and he points out how it was influenced by the burgeoning James Bond phenomenon. Lucas also talks about the novel on which SCOTLAND YARD was based. 

David Kalat returns again for another audio commentary, and he also discusses the Bryan Edgar Wallace novel the movie is based on, along with some of the other Krimis CCC made based on the author's works. Kalat also points out how the Great Train Robbery influenced the film, and he mentions the grey-market home video copies of the Mabuse films that introduced the series to many American film buffs. 

SCOTLAND YARD HUNTS DR. MABUSE is more of a standard action-adventure tale than a Mabuse thriller, but it's still entertaining, especially for those who appreciate off-beat cinema.