Fritz Lang: M

Director - Fritz Lang
Writer - Fritz Lang and Thea Von Harbou

Cast Character

Peter Lorre ... Hans Beckert
Ellen Widman ... Frau Beckman
Ing Landgut ... Elsie Beckman
Otto Wernicke ... Kommissar Lohmann
Theodor Loos ... Kommissar Groeber

M begins with a circle of children playing a game warning of a nasty old man in black who will come to chop them up. A woman yells at them from the balcony to stop singing that song. A little girl plays with a ball on the street and bounces it on a reward sign of the murder of Klaus Klawitzky and his sister Klara. A shadow emerges on the poster asking the girl what her name is - she says Elsie Beckman. He buys her a balloon of a figure meanwhile her mother calls to her outside her apartment. A rolling ball outside and balloon stuck in the power lines shows her fate after meeting the mysterious stranger.

Newspapers explode with the headline news. The killer writes to the newspapers telling them his plan is not finished and is still in progress. The man has killed 8 children. At the table men read about the story. They read about how the killer lures them in with fruit, candy or a toy and that he has left no clues. Tensions fly as one man accuses another of being the murderer. Everyone is suspicious of anyone talking to children on the street. A great shot of two men arguing has the bigger one accusing the smaller one is accompanied with a low angle shot of the bigger man making him look powerful and a high angle shot of the shorter man making him look smaller and submissive.

The murderer's article is shown on the front page. Two politicians argue whether his article should even be shown causing fear for the citizens. They try take to fingerprints but are unsuccessful. They blow up the fingerprint bringing in a graphologist to examine it. Looking at his handwriting they see his broken letters determining he has an actor's personality and he has a strong and pathological sexuality. They do a primitive form of handwriting analysis. They find empty candy wrappings and setup a radius to investigate the serial killer. They search everywhere proving their investigation fruitless. Police search the forest and cheap hotels and check identities of vagrants. Police investigations prove bad business for bars as customers flee. The police demand to see their papers. Anyone without papers goes to police headquarters. The police apprehend a multitude of guns, brass knuckles, flasks, watches, burglar drills and wallets from people in the bar. Everyone is a suspect. Even the criminals are angry as it proves a detriment for business with police looking everywhere for the killer. There is an interesting shot as the camera dollies in to a heated discussion of the killer to build tension and dollies out once the tension subsides. Once rational conversation takes over the camera is at rest.

They wait for Shranker the head criminal. He tells them the killer is bringing too much heat on other criminals causing problems for business. Police talk and suggest having more raids and implementing spies among the police force. They are concerned that people are largely indifferent outside the hype of the story because there is no accuracy in their details. They plan to visit every asylum that houses criminals with his condition. They conclude the killer must be a beggar as they are the least suspected and can be anywhere without anyone paying notice.

The police desperation heightens as they hire unemployed union workers to patrol certain streets. They obtain a list of all mental patients who have been recently released. One police officer goes into a possible suspect's home to try to get a writing sample or pen that had the same color the killer used. A great shot has Hans Beckert, the killer, looking in the window of a storefront with the reflection of a fractured diamond around his face. This shows his fractured state of mind. He sees a little girl in the reflection of a diamond mirror and almost faints. When she is near another storefront window there is a clever dropping arrow and spinning circle Fritz Lang employs to hint at sexual penetration.

When the girl is away and safe Hans Beckert drinks to take his mind off his compulsions. The detectives find things in his trash bin of no use other than a letter to Ariston which rings a bell for one of them. The killer constantly whistles a tune which the blind balloon seller recognizes. A man sees the killer in the store with a kid. He marks M on hishand with chalk and presses it on the killer's back complaining about littering. The M in the story is ambiguous but it most likely is short for mark, murderer or molester. The girl points out the mark which she cleans. This terrifies him and he runs off. He is now surrounded by three people on the street but escapes to an alley.

Hans Beckert escapes to an office building outside. A man pulls out a gun and demands the guard open the gate and 15 men rush in the building. A guard is jumped and men investigate the building to find the murderer. They try to get in one room but avoid it so to not set off the alarm. Instead they drill a hole from the ceiling above to get in. Behind one door is Hans Beckert and one of the men hears him as he tries to flatten a nails to use as a lock pick to escape. It's amazing how throughout the whole film Hans Beckert says almost nothing yet his body language by actor Peter Lorre is so expressive. When he hears the henchmen outside his door he is shocked. They eventually come in the room.

News comes as the guard hits the alarm and the henchmen hurry their search to find Hans. They spot him and carry him out the building. They question the guards and the last henchman who was caught. In a flashback sequence the inspector incorrectly concludes they were after the safe. Nothing is stolen.Franz asks Karl Lohmann what the murder squad is for fearing for his life. Franz says he doesn't want to be part of a murder investigation but the inspector says it is too late. Franz reveals they were looking for the child murderer and the inspector loses thought. When asked Franz tells the inspector they took him to an abandoned distillery.

The mob throws Hans into a cellar and in a wide pan shot 200 people look at him. The blind man acutely hears his voice, recognized it and says their is no mistake. When shows the pictures of the dead children he panics and tries to escape. They get him and the mob wants him dead. He demands to go to the police instead but the mob laughs. The head in charge says for him to go to a jail would be useless as he would be pardoned or escape. Hans says he can't help what he does. He tells the mob of criminals they should learn a trade or skill and that he can't help himself. He has no control over what he does. He says he tries to escape himself only to see the ghosts of those he has killed.

The head in charge says because Hans has to murder he himself must be executed. The mob agrees. The lawyer argues that Hans should be put in an asylum. He argues Hans isn't guilty because his compulsions are not voluntary. The lawyer keeps arguing for him to be handed over the police. They rush to Hans until off camera a police enters and everyone raises their hands. The ending has women lamenting no matter the verdict it won't bring their dead children back.