Wissenswertes

Soviet editors re-cut the Dr. Mabuse films into one shorter film (see Alternate Versions). The lead editor was Sergei Eisenstein.

Fritz Lang originally wanted the actress portraying Venus to be completely nude. When the first take was completed, he didn't like how the woman's pubic hair looked, and ordered her to shave it off. The actress indignantly refused, sending Lang into a tantrum. Eventually, a compromise was reached when a small strip of cloth was draped over the offending hair. This scene was predictably removed from the revival versions that circulated throughout the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and has only recently been part of the film in the rare showings of the Fritz Lang archives' complete copy of Dr. Mabuse.

Edgar Hull's gambling losses (170,000 marks) would be worth widely varying amounts in dollars depending on what time of year the game was played, thanks to very high rates of inflation of the mark against the dollar in 1922. In January, marks were approximately 200:1, making his loss about $850, or more than $12,000 today. In December, however, with marks worth only 8000:1, his loss would have been a mere $20, or about $300 today (2019).

The car seen in the first few minutes of the film, during the train robbery, is a 1911 Brennabor Landaulet Typ F. Brennabor was the biggest auto manufacturer in Germany for part of the 1920s, to be surpassed eventually by Opel. The company stopped producing automobiles by the early 1930s, and went back to producing baby carriages, bicycles and motorcycles. It was finally dismantled in 1945.

Posthumously listed as one of Akira Kurosawa's 100 favorite films.