M (1931)

Synopsis: In Fritz Lang's startling and exquisite film M, fear stalks the streets of Berlin in the form of a serial child murderer whose grisly accomplishments are so heinous even the criminal minds of the... In Fritz Lang's startling and exquisite film M, fear stalks the streets of Berlin in the form of a serial child murderer whose grisly accomplishments are so heinous even the criminal minds of the underworld want him dead. Filmed in post-Weimar Germany during the infancy of the Nazi state, this tale of moral depravity serves not just as an allegory for the need of justice for all, but as an ominous foreshadowing of the sort of societal hysteria that leads to cultural witch hunts. Originally titled "Morder Unter Uns" ("Murderers Among Us"), M was one of Peter Lorre's (CASABLANCA) first major film roles. Fritz Lang's expressionistic eye plunges into the dark cityscape of Berlin, as he follows the killer whistling down the street, seducing small children with toys and candy, and eventually fleeing for his life. A city paralyzed by fear, and a vast criminal underground network of blind beggars, thieves and murderers, as well as an unforgettable climax notable for its startling statement about the murderous nature which resides within human beings, are all rendered in Lang's painterly cinematography of sharp angles, dark corners and breakneck pacing. [More]

Starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Gründgens, Theo Lingen

Starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Gründgens, Theo Lingen, Theodor Loos, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Georg John, Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur, Paul Kemp, Rudolf Blumner, Karl Platen, Gerhardt Bienert, Rosa Valetti, Hertha von Walther, Fritz Odemar, Friedrich Gnass, Heinrich Gretler, Lotte Lobinger, Isenta, Leonard Steckel, Albert Karchow, Edgar Pauly, Werner Kepich, Gunther Neumann, Hermann Krehan, Josef Almas, Kurth, Carl Balthaus, Leeser, Hans Behal, Rosa Lichenstein, Carell, Sigurd Lohde, Hugo Doblin, Alfred Loretto, J.A. Eckhoff, Mascheck, Else Ehser, Matthis, Karl Elzer, Paul Mederow, Erwin Faber, Margarete Melzer, Ilse Furstenberg, Trude Moss, Gelingk, Hadrian M. Netto, Goldstein, Nied, Anna Goltz, Klaus Pohl, Heinrich Gotho, Franz Polland, Gunther Hadank, Rebane, Robert Hartberg, Paul Rehkopf, Ernst Paul Hempel, Reihsig, Oscar Hocker, Rhaden, Albert Hoermann, Hans Ritter, Max Sablotski, Alexander Sascha, Agnes Schulz-Lichterfeld, Karl Heinz Stroux, Swinborne, Wolf Trutz, Otto Waldis, Borwin Walth, Rolf Wanka, Gelin Wannemann, Ernst Wulf, Bruno Zeiner, Josef Damen, Maja Norden

Director: Fritz Lang

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Seymour Nebenzal
Screenwriter: Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou, Paul Falkenberg, Adolf Jansen, Karl Vash
Composer: Edvard Grieg

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