Nero-Film, 1931
starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Inge Landgut and Gustaf Gründgens

directed by: Fritz Lang

the plot: When a serial murderer begins stalking the streets of a German city, the public is thrown into a panic. Children are disappearing and turning up dead, and police are powerless to stop the killer. After young Elsie Beckmann (Landgut) vanishes, the police begin a crackdown on the city’s criminal underworld, staging raids and arresting just about everyone in an attempt to root out the killer. This makes business difficult for the city’s criminal syndicates, and crime boss Schranker (Grundgens) decides that the criminals themselves should start searching for the killer. Meanwhile, Inspector Karl Lohmann (Wernicke) is compiling clues and is almost ready to capture the monster. As cops and criminals converge, the killer—a quiet man named Hans Beckert (Lorre)—reveals himself. But as he races across the city to evade capture, Beckert learns that his days are numbered, no matter who catches him.

why it’s good: ‘M’ is a quirky little film—an early film noir that lives firmly in the world of police and outlaws, but doesn’t follow any of the usual genre conventions. Lang creates a bleak world where a cabal of powerful men whips the public into a frenzy over an intangible monster. The Nazis, who at the time were seizing power in Germany, were Lang’s clear target, but “M” is also a broad criticism of mob rule and the thin, sometimes non-existent, line that separates those who work inside and outside the law. “M” also catapulted Lorre to stardom—he went on to star in “Casablanca,” “The Maltese Falcon” and other noir classics. Though he’s the focus of the movie, Lorre’s Beckert is rarely onscreen. Instead, we glimpse him in the shadows, or hear him whistling Greig’s “Peer Gynt” from somewhere offscreen. Unlike the police, who state their intentions to invade peoples’ homes in search of the killer, and the criminals, who are unafraid to resort to murder to catch him, Beckert is at least an understandable monster that can be confronted. While “M” ends with an explicit warning to watch out for baddies like Beckert, it’s unspoken moral is to keep an eye out for those shadowy groups who will go to extremes in the name of protecting the public.

why you should own it: Criterion’s latest edition of “M” features a new digital transfer of the film and re-translated subtitles, giving the film a sharp, crisp look. The two-disc set also includes an interview with Lang by William Friedkin and short films about or inspired by “M.”