Fritz Lang's 1931 classic M was his first venture into sound, and the first time the world at large got to see the talents of Peter Lorre. As a child murderer named Hans Beckert, Lorre gives one of the all time great performances, sometimes funny (making "mad man" faces in the mirror), sometimes sad, but always disturbing. Lorre was so brilliant in this film, and so convincing in his role, that it effectively destroyed his budding acting career, with Lorre immediately becoming typecast in horror films or as scummy underworld types.
The plot is straightforward, with child murderer Beckert causing a public uproar and the police cracking down on the "respectable" criminal element and basically any man who speaks to a young girl. The criminals are pissed that Beckert is causing them to be constantly harassed, so they decide to do their own manhunt. Surprisingly, Beckert is discovered an hour into the film, with the remaining 50 minutes spent chasing him down, capturing him, putting him on trial, and the police wondering what the fuck is going on. The trial scene is the only low point for me, as I've never been a big fan of these and this one in particular drags a bit, but it has enough humor and irony in it that I appreciate Lang's effort here. The morality of the criminal underworld is always a fascinating topic, even in scenes that move at a snail's pace.
What I love about early sound films is how great directors experimented with how sound can be used in this medium. Witness Hitchcock using muffled, murmured speech in Blackmail with only the word "knife" being audible. Here, Lang will have shots played out in completely silence, not even with room tone, and then a police whistle will break it and a frantic scene will ensure. Also, Beckert is eventually caught when the blind man who sold him a balloon recognizes his whistling of Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King. There's an enthusiasm about sound that I adore in these films, one that would eventually reach its zenith in Rouben Mamoulian's 1932 musical Love Me Tonight.
Lang's brilliant expressionistic style is still in full force here, with Beckert introduced by his shadow being cast against a wanted poster. The visual flourishes in this film are breathtaking, especially said sequence which ends with a little girl's murder being shown by an empty dinner plate, a rolling ball, and a floating balloon. There's also a lot of surprising humor in here, some of which doesn't land, but some of it playing out beautifully. Then penultimate scene of the criminals putting Beckert on trial, only to slowly raise their hands when the police arrive is fantastic, though Lang wisely chose to end the film on a more somber (but surprisingly preachy) note.
M is one of those films, like The Seventh Seal and Grand Illusion, that every budding cinephile has to see to get into "the club." I love M, but a lot of it has to do with recognizing great art. The procedural aspects are somewhat dull here, and don't have the same kind of drive as similar scenes in Kurosawa's High and Low. And really, High and Low is the film that I keep mentally comparing this film to, as both are much more than what the surface would suggest. M is in contention for my favorite Fritz Lang film, and even though I don't enjoy watching it as I do, say, The Silence of the Lambs, it's a more satisfying experience. Plus I fucking love Peter Lorre, and I think he's a creepier heavy than Hannibal Lector, behaving like a terrified, scurrying rat when caught and operating on pure base urges when approaching his victims.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
2. Robocop (1987)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. M (1931)
6. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
7. Grand Illusion (1937)
8. High and Low (1963)
9. Shock Corridor (1963)
10. Hard Boiled (1992)
11. Sid and Nancy (1986)
12. The 400 Blows (1959)
13. Walkabout (1971)
14. The Killer (1989)
15. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
16. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
17. Dead Ringers (1988)
18. The Naked Kiss (1964)
19. A Night to Remember (1958)
20. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
21. The Samurai Trilogy (1954-1956)
22. The Long Good Friday (1980)
23. Blood For Dracula (1974)
24. Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
25. Amarcord (1973)
26. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
27. Summertime (1955)
28. Alphaville (1965)
Next time: Will David Lean live up to my Great Expectations?
You see what I did there?
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