M
M is a 1931 German mystery suspense thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre in his third screen role as Hans Beckert, a serial killer who targets children. An early example of a procedural drama, the film centers on the manhunt for Lorre's character, conducted by both the police and the criminal underworld.
Plot
In Berlin, a group of children are playing an elimination game in the courtyard of an apartment building, using a chant about a murderer of children. A woman sets the table for lunch, waiting for her daughter to come home from school. A wanted poster warns of a serial killer preying on children, as anxious parents wait outside a school.
Cast
- Albert Hörrmann
- Bruno Ziener
- Carl Balhaus
- Carl Junge-Swinburne
- Edgar Pauly
- Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel
- Elisabeth Wendt
- Ellen Widmann
- Else Ehser
- Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
- Erwin Faber
- Franz Stein
- Friedrich Gnaß
- Fritz Odemar
- Georg John
- Gerhard Bienert
- Günther Hadank
- Gustaf Gründgens
- Hadrian Maria Netto
- Hanna Maron
- Hans Behal
- Heinrich Gotho
- Heinrich Gretler
- Hertha von Walther
- Hugo Döblin
- Ilse Fürstenberg
- Inge Landgut
- Josef Dahmen
- Karl Elzer
- Karl Hannemann
- Karl-Heinz Stroux
- Karl Platen
- Klaus Pohl
- Leonard Steckel
- Lotte Loebinger
- Otto Waldis
- Otto Wernicke
- Paul Kemp
- Paul Mederow
- Paul Rehkopf
- Peter Lorre
- Rolf Wanka
- Rosa Valetti
- Rudolf Blümner
- Sigurd Lohde
- Theo Lingen
- Theodor Loos
- Wolf Trutz
More details
author | Fritz Lang Paul Falkenberg Thea von Harbou |
---|---|
contentLocation | Berlin |
director | Fritz Lang |
editor | Paul Falkenberg |
events | capital punishment serial killer |
genre | crime drama mystery thriller |
keywords | abandon anonymous letter apartment building bos build burglar alarm capture child murder claim counting-out game crime boss crime bosses dead children distillation distillery elimination game even fingerprint handwriting analysis improvised in the hall of the mountain king kangaroo court kill murderer of children office building organized crime police search psychiatric patients question rented rooms ringvereine silent alarm wait wanted poster whistle young girl |
musicBy | Edvard Grieg |
producer | Seymour Nebenzal |
productionCompany | Nero-Film |
publisher | Vereinigte Star-Film GmbH |
recordedAt | Berlin Germany |
theme | psychological thriller serial killer vigilante |