M
“Who is the murderer?”
Original title: M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
Director
Fritz Lang
Screenplay
Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou
2 wins
Fritz Lang's groundbreaking early sound film stars Peter Lorre as Hans Beckert, a child murderer whose crimes terrorize Berlin so thoroughly that both the police and the city's organized criminal underworld launch parallel manhunts to catch him — the criminals wanting him gone before increased police scrutiny disrupts their own rackets. Lang's use of sound, still novel to cinema at the time, becomes a tool of dread itself, particularly Beckert's ominous whistled theme that signals his presence before he's even seen. Lorre's performance, oscillating between menace and pathetic self-loathing, gives the film a moral complexity rare for the era's crime pictures. Widely considered one of the most influential films ever made, it laid essential groundwork for the psychological thriller and film noir.
Release
May 11, 1931
Budget
—
Country
Germany
Revenue
—
Cast
Peter Lorre
Hans Beckert
Ellen Widmann
Frau Beckmann
Inge Landgut
Elsie Beckmann
Otto Wernicke
Inspector Karl Lohmann
Theodor Loos
Inspector Groeber
Gustaf Gründgens
Schränker
Fritz Odemar
The Cheater
Paul Kemp
Pickpocket with Six Watches
Theo Lingen
Bauernfänger
Rudolf Blümner
Becker's 'Attorney'
Georg John
Blind Panhandler
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
Police Chief
Gerhard Bienert
Criminal Secretary
Karl Platen
Damowitz
Rosa Valetti
Bartender
Hertha von Walther
Prostitute
Carl Ballhaus
Leeser
Reviews
★★★★★★★★★★
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Trailer
Official trailer
M
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From the same director: Fritz Lang
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