The Bit I Like More Than Maybe I Should #4
The 1,000 Eyes Of Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1960)
A Fugue In Nicotine…
 |
Smoke. Smokety-smoke smoke smoke.
 |
Puff puff, smoke, draaag.
It’s as if Lang knew that this was to be the last film he’d ever make, realized he hadn’t publicized cancer sticks as much as he’d meant to when he was just starting out, and decided to make up for it in one nicotine-infested scene.
 |
Look at all the smoking paraphernalia on the desk! Ashtrays for everybody!
 |
Sometimes the smoke thoroughly engulfs entire heads.
 |
 |
Sometimes lovely little smoke rings waft across.
 |
The fellow on the left…he’s smoking when the scene starts, and I do believe he lights up two more before this meeting is done.
 |
So enjoy, you chain-smoking Teutons! All except the white-haired guy on the right – he doesn’t smoke, doesn’t light up, doesn’t even condescend to casually brandish even one ciggy!
Do you think he feels like less of a man than his colleagues? Or just maybe he has some inkling of what lung cancer’s all about, and thinks he’s the smart one? Enjoy your roomful of solid secondhand smoke!
You know, Lang had a reputation as a guy not afraid of multiple takes and substantial fiddling with his setups. They probably had to burn a lot more smokes that day than are apparent in the end product. I wonder if a few of the cast/crew didn’t end up turning a little green before all this was over.
