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"M" 31 August 1931 (Sweden).
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User review: 8.6
Plot
It's noon. Concerned parents are lined up outside the schools waiting to escort their kids home for lunch. Signs along the street ask "Wer ist der Morder?" (Who is the murderer?) of eight children killed over the past year. Little Elsie Beckmann [Inge Landgut] has just become victim number nine.Who is the murderer? It could be anyone (the viewer knows that it is Hans Beckert [Peter Lorre]). Neighbors are turning in neighbors and fingering strangers in the street just for talking to a child. The police are on the job 24 hours a day, but all they have turned up so far is some Ariston cigarette butts, some sugar grains, and a bag that held candy. They have investigated over 1,500 clues and have compiled 60 volumes of documents. Every thicket, every bush, every hole in the area has been combed. Every place from flop houses to underworld hangouts are being raided every night.
In fact, the police investigation has been so thorough that the Underground is getting worried about the shakedowns. Underworld boss Schränker [Gustaf Gründgens] has come to the conclusion that the child killer must be found before the police ruin business. After a lengthy discussion with all the Underworld bosses in attendance [there is a wonderful scenario where the Underworld bosses discuss strategies while the police do the same, such that it hard to tell the difference between Gangsters and Police], they decide that the best solution is to monitor all children at all times and that the best persons to do that, the only ones who can be seen on the streets without arousing suspicions, are beggars. So, every street has its beggar sitting in a doorway, having a smoke on the corner, watching the children and noting anyone following or with a child.
A break comes in the person of a blind balloon peddlar [Georg John] who hears a man whistling a tune and remembers the same tune being whistled by a man who purchased a balloon on the day Elsie Beckmann was murdered. He alerts his block's beggar, who follows the Beckert, who is leading a little girl into a candy store. When Beckert makes the mistake of throwing an orange peel on the sidewalk, the beggar pretends to slip on it and, while clutching Beckert for support, he transfers onto the back of Beckert's shoulder a big "M" that he previously chalked on his palm. The beggars are now able to follow the man with the "M" on his coat.
Meanwhile, the police have been attempting to trace the origin of a postcard sent by the child killer to the local newspaper. While investigating released criminals and mental patients that fit the profile of the killer (lazy, indolent, and of strong and pathological sexuality), the police come to Hans Beckert's apartment. Beckert isn't home, but the landlady shows them in. Searching Beckert's room, they find some Ariston cigarettes and a red pencil, the likes of which was used to write the postcard. Certain that Beckert is the killer, the police lay in wait for Beckert to return.
But Beckert is on the make. The little girl that he is with suddenly notices the "M" on his shoulder and offers to wipe it off. Certain that he has been caught, Beckert runs into an office building. The beggars contact Schränker who sends a group of gangsters to comb the building and capture the child killer. Unfortunately, the night watchman sounds an alarm, alerting the police. In the minutes before the police arrive, the gangsters find Beckert, and everyone, except for burglar Franz [Friedrich Gnass], manages to get out before the police arrive.
Fearing that he is going to face a murder rap, Franz sings. He tells how the gangsters have captured the child killer and taken him to an abandoned distillery to stand trial. When Beckert explains to Schränker that he is driven by a voice and an evil impulse he can't control, it is voted to eliminate him so that there is no chance of him ever getting free to murder another child. Only Beckert's appointed defense counsel [Rudolf Blumner] argues that, since Beckert is driven by an uncontrollable impulse, he cannot be held responsible for his actions and should be turned over to the police so that the state can render him harmless. At that moment, the police enter the distillery and escort Beckert away.
Epilogue: As Beckert's real trial progresses, the mothers of the slain children listen to the verdict. The ultimate and final comment comes from Frau Beckmann [Ellen Widmann] who says that none of this will bring back the children and that mothers must keep a closer watch over them. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
| Names | Acting as: | |
|---|---|---|
 | Peter Lorre | Le Chiffre |
 | Ellen Widmann | Frau Beckmann |
| Inge Landgut | Elsie Beckmann |
| Otto Wernicke | Inspector Karl Lohmann |
| Theodor Loos | Inspector Groeber |
| Gustaf Gründgens | Schränker |
| Friedrich Gnaß | Franz, the burglar |
| Fritz Odemar | The cheater |
| Paul Kemp | Pickpocket with six watches |
| Theo Lingen | Bauernfänger |
| Rudolf Blümner | Beckert's defender |
| Georg John | Blind panhandler |
| Franz Stein | Minister |
| Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur | Police chief |
| Gerhard Bienert | Criminal secretary |
Movie Trivia
The tune that Peter Lorre's character whistles is "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from the "Peer Gynt" suite, by Edvard Grieg.Peter Lorre was Jewish and fled Germany in fear of Nazi persecution shortly after the movie's release. Fritz Lang, who was half Jewish, fled two years later.
Contrary to popular belief, Fritz Lang did not change the title from "The Murderers are Among Us" to "M" due to fear of persecution by the Nazis. He changed the title during filming, influenced by the scene where one of the criminals writes the letter on his hand. Lang thought "M" was a more interesting title.
Fritz Lang asserts that he cast real criminals for the court scene in the end.
Fritz Lang's cruelty to his actors was legendary here. Peter Lorre was thrown down the stairs into the cellar over a dozen times.
Based on an article Fritz Lang read about the serial killer Peter Kuerten from Duesseldorf. Details have been changed but some things resemble reality.
In Germany, the Nazis banned the movie in July 1934.
The extras playing the members of the criminal gang were real life delinquents: before the end of the turning 24 of them were put into jail.
Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".
Chosen by the Association of German Cinémathèques as the most important German film of all times.
The use of voiceover narration was a groundbreaking new technique at the time.
The title "M" is short for Mörder, the German word meaning Murderer.
MGM studio head Irving Thalberg assembled his writers and directors for a private screening of this film, telling them that they needed to be making films of this power and caliber. He also admitted that if anyone had brought a story of a child killer to him, he would have rejected it.
Director Fritz Lang made this film in an effort to claw back his artistic standing after the double failure of his two previous films, Metropolis (1927) and Frau im Mond (1929).
Peter Lorre's whistling was dubbed by director Fritz Lang, as Lorre was unable to whistle.
Two German serial killers are mentioned in the film - Georg Karl Großman (believed to have killed up to 50 young women) and Fritz Haarmann (known as the Butcher of Hannover; killed at least 24 young men in Hannover). The film is partly based on Haarmann's crimes as well as those of Peter Kürten (the Vampire of Dusseldorf).
The Tegel Penitentiary in Berlin is Germany's largest prison with about 1,700 inmates (as of 2007).
Alexanderplatz (the Alex) was the site of Berlin Police Headquarters.
Movie Quotes
Hans Beckert: I can't help what I do! I can't help it, I can't...Criminal: The old story! We never can help it in court!
Hans Beckert: What do you know about it? Who are you anyway? Who are you? Criminals? Are you proud of yourselves? Proud of breaking safes or cheating at cards? Things you could just as well keep your fingers off. You wouldn't need to do all that if you'd learn a proper trade or if you'd work. If you weren't a bunch of lazy bastards. But I... I can't help myself! I have no control over this, this evil thing inside of me, the fire, the voices, the torment!
Schraenker: Do you mean to say that you have to murder?
Hans Beckert: It's there all the time, driving me out to wander the streets, following me, silently, but I can feel it there. It's me, pursuing myself! I want to escape, to escape from myself! But it's impossible. I can't escape, I have to obey it. I have to run, run... endless streets. I want to escape, to get away! And I'm pursued by ghosts. Ghosts of mothers and of those children... they never leave me. They are always there... always, always, always!, except when I do it, when I... Then I can't remember anything. And afterwards I see those posters and read what I've done, and read, and read... did I do that? But I can't remember anything about it! But who will believe me? Who knows what it's like to be me? How I'm forced to act... how I must, must... don't want to, must! Don't want to, but must! And then a voice screams! I can't bear to hear it! I can't go on! I can't... I can't...
Pickpocket with 6 Watches: There are more police on the street tonight than whores
Children: [singing] Just you wait, it won't be long. The man in black will soon be here. With his cleaver's blade so true. He'll make mincemeat out of YOU!
[to union member asleep next to him]
Beggar's Union Member: Stop snoring! You'll wake up the lice.
Frau Beckmann: Elsie?... Elsie?... ELSIE!
Hans Beckert: That is a nice ball you have.
Franz, the burglar: [Franz is being tricked into thinking he killed the night watchman, and is going to jail for it] Please, Herr Kommissar! I'll tell you everything; even who we were looking for in that damned building.
Inspector Groeber: Really. Who?
Franz, the burglar: The child murderer, Herr Kommissar!
Woman in Crowd: Shoot him like a mad dog!
Man in Pub: Hey, it's fatty Lohmann!
Everyone in Pub: [Chanting] Lohmann, Lohmann, Lohmann!
Elisabeth Winkler, Beckert's landlady: Could you speak louder please, I'm a bit hard of hearing.
Policeman: As if I couldn't tell.
Inspector Karl Lohmann: Good God! The window sill!
Inspector Karl Lohmann: In the name of the law.
[last lines]
Judge: [about to pronounce sentence] In the name of the people...
Grieving Mother: This won't bring back our children. We, too, should keep a closer watch on our children.
Filming Locations
Staaken, Spandau, Berlin, GermanyInformation
Directed by: Fritz Lang
Runtime: 117 min | 110 min (2004 Criterion DVD edition) | France:118 min | Germany:105 min (2000 restored version) | Germany:108 min (re-release) | USA:99 min
Released in: Germany
Language(s): German
Production company: Nero-Film AG