Fritz Lang had a decade-long and successful career before he came to America. His silent films Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Die Nibelungen, and Metropolis are still acclaimed and considered some of the greatest films of all time. In 1931, he took controversial topics of the day in his native Germany, including the morality of the death penalty, the capture of a child serial killer labeled “The Vampire of Düsseldorf”, and the German version of the Mafia called “Ringvereine”, and combined them into the film, M. M is also an early world cinema example of sound cinema, and it uses the concept of sound in film to great effect by weighing the value of silence versus sound from scene to scene and uses a leitmotif, a whistling of “In the Hall of the Mountain King”, to indicate to the audience when the killer is nearby.

By the time the movie starts, the killings have already started. The entire city of Berlin is on edge and terrified of the child murderer on the loose. As a little girl, Elsie Beckmann, is leaving school, she is approached by a man named Hans Beckert, who offers to buy her a balloon and whistles “In the Hall of the Mountain King” while he walks. The only indication we have of Elsie’s fate is the balloon floating to the heavens. With Elsie missing, Berlin is on even higher alert. Beckert writes a letter to the police, taking credit for the murders, and the police work around the clock to catch him. Inspector Lohmann authorizes multiple raids on the various crime organizations in town in hopes of finding Beckert amongst them. The criminals believe the police’s manhunt is interfering with their “business”, and so the leaders meet together and discuss setting up their own manhunt. They use the homeless as their eyes and ears on the street. Beckert meets another girl along the street and treats her to candy from a candy shop. The blind ballon vendor from earlier recognizes Beckert by his whistling and alerts the Ringvereine. A man puts a letter “M” on Beckert’s coat with chalk so the homeless can keep tabs on him. The girl with Beckert draws his attention to it, and he realizes he’s being watched and leaves the girl and runs into a bank and hides just before they lock up for the night. The Ringvereine stage a break in to get Beckert and quickly take him to an undisclosed location before the police arrive. At this location, they hold a kangaroo court to try Beckert for the murders. Beckert pleads insanity and argues the criminals choose to commit their crimes and so have no right to judge him. Just before they carry out his sentence, the police arrive and make several arrests. At the real trial, a group of mothers sit outside and weep for the children that will not return.

This was only Peter Lorre’s third film when he took on the role of Hans Beckert, and he never could quite shake the typecasting of villains that followed him after he came to Hollywood. What’s interesting is that prior to M, he had only worked in comedy. This movie was difficult to produce at first because Fritz Lang was denied funds and studio space when it was believed that his film would be critical of the Nazi party, the irony being that he was critical of the Nazi party…just not with this movie. In his own words, M was made to “warn mothers about neglecting children.” On a technical level, besides the use of sound, Lang makes excellent use of reflection, having pivotal scenes of action take place through a window or mirror – something that’s been repeated, particularly in the thriller genre, a thousand times. It’s impossible to overstate the impact M has had on thriller, crime and courtroom drama genres.

Bonus Review: Zodiac

Speaking of M’s influence on future films, Zodiac is David Fincher’s investigative thriller over the, you guessed it, Zodiac Killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the late 60s and 70s.