M (1931 film)

M
M theatrical release poster
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFritz Lang
Written byFritz Lang
Thea von Harbou
Produced bySeymour Nebenzal
StarringPeter Lorre
CinematographyFritz Arno Wagner
Edited byPaul Falkenberg
Production
company
Distributed byVereinigte Star-Film GmbH
Release date
  • 11 May 1931 (1931-05-11)
Running time
111 minutes[1]
CountryGermany
LanguageGerman

M is a 1931 German mystery thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre in his third screen role as Hans Beckert, a serial killer who targets children. Both Lang's first sound film and an early example of a procedural drama,[2] M centers on the manhunt for Beckert conducted by both the police and organized crime.[3]

The film's screenplay was written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It features many cinematic innovations, including the use of long tracking shots and a musical leitmotif in the form of "In the Hall of the Mountain King", which is repeatedly whistled by Lorre's character. Lang regarded the film as his magnum opus,[4] and it is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time and an indispensable influence on modern crime and thriller fiction.[5][6][7]

An American remake under the same title, directed by Joseph Losey, was released in 1951.

  1. ^ "M (A)". British Board of Film Classification. 24 May 1932. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep: A Brief History of Child Murder in Cinema". Bloody Disgusting!. 22 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  3. ^ Monsters of Weimar pp. 296–98
  4. ^ Kauffman, Stanley. "The Mark of M". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  5. ^ "M: In Context". The Cinessential. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ "The long shadow of M". The Dissolve. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  7. ^ "A Peerless Classic". @GI_weltweit. Retrieved 28 September 2020.