(1931)

Starring Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke; dir: Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang’s first sound picture and perhaps the best from his German period, M is a dark film loosely based upon the case of child-murderer Peter Kurtin, also known as "the Vampire of Dusseldorf".  M deals with the frantic search for the murderer - not just by the police but also by the underworld.  The underworld becomes interested in tracking down the killer because of increased harassment by police in their search for him. Lang’s treatment of the underworld society is in many ways similar to and in part based upon Bertold Brecht’s vision in The Threepenny Opera (Lang was later to work with Brecht on Hangmen Also Die in 1943.)

As research for the film Lang met various murderers who he gained access to through friends of his in Berlin’s Homicide Department. What is interesting about the film is that Lang extends sympathy not only to the victims and their families but also to the murderer himself whilst not lessening the horror nor seriousness of his crimes. It is a complex, multi-layered picture and Peter Lorre is excellent as the murderer. It is one of the great films of the 1930s.

Fritz Lang’s influence on film noir can be seen in his depiction of a society riddled with corruption and decay and of his use of the city and architectural structures as dark, foreboding characters in their own right.

Four points of interest-

1. Of all his own films M is Fritz Lang’s favourite.

2. Although the script was credited to Thea von Harbou and Lang, Lang later claimed that almost all of the writing was done by him.

It is hard to substantiate claims like this but it is certain in my opinion that if the script were written mostly by Harbou then it’s probably the first and last time she ever wrote this well. Scripts where she did the bulk of the writing such as Metropolis and Siegfried are at best silly; M is in a whole other league.

3. The character of Commissioner Karl Lohmann as played by Otto Wernicke was to reappear a year later in Lang’s supernatural thriller The Testament of Doctor Mabuse. Lohmann was to be featured many times in Mabuse sequels not directed by Lang and not played by Otto Wernicke.

4. M was later remade by Joseph Losey. I have not seen this picture but all the reviews suggest that it is an inferior film. The financier of this remake attempted to buy all copies of Lang’s picture and have them destroyed. Hollywood it seems is a synonym for barbarian.

Another picture that almost suffered this fate was Kurasawa’s The Seven Samurai when it was remade as The Magnificent Seven.