M

In Brief: Fritz Lang's first talkie, 1931's M, definitely shows its age in terms of the technical aspects of early sound — though there's no denying it's a big improvement over his final silent, The Woman in the Moon (1929), which I've been working my way through for years. However, it still has the power to grip an audience more than many slicker movies. As a story, it’s the perfect blending of Lang’s penchant for serial-like melodrama with something that has more on its mind. In this regard, as a successful fusion of the two elements, it’s probably only second to his next film, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). It is also probably not accidental that the two films are connected by the presence of Otto Wernicke as the same character, Inspector Lohmann, in each. On the one hand, M is a crime-thriller with a twist. Not only do we have the police on the hunt for a serial child murderer, Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), the criminal underworld joins in as well. This is not from any altruistic motive, mind you. The underworld has grown tired of too much interference from the police (thanks to their increased presence in the search for the murderer), so it follows that his capture is in their best interest. Lang is fascinated by the mechanics of both forces engaged in this manhunt, but he’s equally interested in the psychology of Beckert himself — a character who manages to generate a measure of sympathy because he can’t help himself. No film had previously dealt with the idea of a serial killer like this — and few films have ever topped it for psychological perception. It’s entertaining, exciting and distinctly disturbing.