M (1951)

M (1951)

„M“ is a 1951 Black & White film-noir vigilante crime thriller film directed by Joseph Losey. The screenplay by Norman Reilly Raine and Leo Katcher is based on the original screenplay by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou.

This is a remake of Fritz Lang’s 1931 German film of the same title about a child murderer. This version shifts the location of action from Berlin to Los Angeles and changes the killer’s name from Hans Beckert to Martin W. Harrow.

Martin W. Harrow is a compulsive child-murderer, and the public demands of the mayor and police that he be caught. The police start a crackdown on criminal operations, dive bars and hangouts in the city, hoping that the murderer will turn up in one of the many raids. This pressure is preventing the city’s crime syndicate from doing business, and its boss, Marshall, organizes his forces to find and stop the murderer so that the police will stop the crackdown and Marshall can go back to business as usual. Meanwhile, Police Inspector Carney has a psychiatrist examining patients who have been released from mental hospitals as possible suspects.

At the same time that the police focus on Harrow, finding incriminating evidence – the shoes of the dead children – in his apartment, the criminals track him down with his intended next victim. They capture him, and place him on trial by his „peers“ in the Los Angeles criminal underworld. Harrow makes an impassioned plea for his life, explaining that he is unable to stop himself from committing his unspeakable crimes. Just as he is about to be killed by the crowd, the police arrive to take him away, but not before Marshall has shot and killed his alcoholic lawyer, Dan Langley.

Cast:

• David Wayne – Martin W. Harrow
• Howard Da Silva – Inspector Carney
• Martin Gabel – Charlie Marshall
• Luther Adler – Dan Langley
• Steve Brodie – Police Lt. Becker
• Raymond Burr – Pottsy
• Glenn Anders – Riggert
• Norman Lloyd – Sutro
• Walter Burke – MacMahan
• John Miljan – Blind Baloon Vendor
• Roy Engel – Police Chief Regan
• Janine Perreau – The Last Little Girl
• Leonard Bremen – Lemke
• Benny Burt – Jansen
• Bernard Szold – Bradbury Bldg. Watchman
• Robin Fletcher – Elsie Coster
• Karen Morley – Mrs. Coster
• Jim Backus – The Mayor
• Jorja Curtright – Mrs. Stewart
• Frances Karath – Little Girl in Hallway
• Michael Cirillo – Bartender
• Michael Jeffers – Bartender
• Wesley Gale – Bootblack
• Benjie Bancroft – Cab Driver
• Jack Perry – Cab Driver
• Sammy Shack – Cab Driver
• Jack Tornek – Carnival
• Joseph Glick – Citizen
• Charles Ferguson – Detective
• Jack Gordon – Detective
• George Hoagland – Detective
• Kenner G. Kemp – Detective
• Ray Walker – Detective
• William Newell – Detective Questioning Blonde About License Plate
• Bill Welsh – Dr. Graham, Police Psychiatrist
• Harry Hines – Dr. Graham’s Patient
• Alvin Hammer – Father
• Virginia Farmer – Harrow’s Landlady
• Peter Virgo – Harry Dennis, Jaywalker
• Norman Leavitt – Harry Greer
• Boyd Cabeen – Hood
• Sam Finn – Hood
• Tom Kennedy – Hood
• Dee Pollock – Little Boy in Hallway
• Sherry Jackson – Little Girl
• Mabel Smaney – Mabel Smith
• Lester Sharpe – Man Helping Little Girl on Skates
• Dewey Robinson – Man in Crowd
• Abdullah Abbas – Man in Mob
• Al Bain – Man in Mob
• Ivan Bell – Man in Mob
• Willie Bloom – Man in Mob
• James J. Casino – Man in Mob
• Bing Conley – Man in Mob
• Jimmy Dime – Man in Mob
• John George – Man in Mob
• John Indrisano – Man in Mob
• Donald Kerr – Man in Mob
• Will Lee – Man In Mob
• George Magrill – Man in Mob
• Hank Mann – Man in Mob
• Robert Milasch – Man in Mob
• Frank O’Connor – Man in Mob
• Bob Perry – Man in Mob
• Victor Romito – Man in Mob
• Jack Roper – Man in Mob
• Cap Somers – Man in Mob
• Harry Wilson – Man in Mob
• Bobbie Hale – Man Watching Broadcast
• Stanley Price – Man Watching Broadcast
• Ewing Miles Brown – Minor Role
• Bess Flowers – Minor Role
• Muriel Maddox – Minor Role
• John Marlin – Onlooker at Accident
• Johnny Kern – Pedestrian
• Stanley Prager – Police Detective
• Madge Blake – Police Station Witness
• Ralph Volkie – Police Station Witness
• George Barrows – Policeman
• Russell Custer – Policeman
• Raoul Freeman – Policeman
• Joe Garcio – Policeman
• Buddy Mason – Policeman
• William H. O’Brien – Policeman
• Bob Reeves – Policeman
• Brick Sullivan – Policeman
• Mike Donovan – Policeman at Bar
• Dick Wessel – Policeman Ticketing Jaywalker
• William Schallert – Rorschach Test Subject
• Fred Aldrich – Sam
• June Smaney – Singer
• Don Anderson – Speakeasy
• Gregg Palmer – Television Broadcaster
• Marjorie Nelson – Woman
• Jane Crowley – Woman in Mob
• Tiny Jones – Woman in Mob
• Anne Kunde – Woman in Mob
• Eleanore Vogel – Woman in Mob

„M“ ist ein Film-Noir-Krimi aus dem Jahr 1951 unter der Regie von Joseph Losey. Das Drehbuch von Norman Reilly Raine und Leo Katcher basiert auf dem Originaldrehbuch von Fritz Lang und Thea von Harbou.

Es handelt sich um ein Remake des gleichnamigen deutschen Films von Fritz Lang aus dem Jahr 1931 über einen Kindermörder. In dieser Version wird der Schauplatz der Handlung von Berlin nach Los Angeles verlegt und der Name des Mörders von Hans Beckert in Martin W. Harrow geändert.

Martin W. Harrow ist ein zwanghafter Kindermörder, und die Öffentlichkeit verlangt vom Bürgermeister und der Polizei, dass er gefasst wird. Die Polizei startet eine Razzia gegen kriminelle Machenschaften, Spelunken und Treffpunkte in der Stadt, in der Hoffnung, dass der Mörder bei einer der vielen Razzien auftaucht. Dieser Druck hindert das Verbrechersyndikat der Stadt an seinen Geschäften, und sein Chef, Marshall, organisiert seine Kräfte, um den Mörder zu finden und aufzuhalten, damit die Polizei die Razzia beendet und Marshall wieder zur Tagesordnung übergehen kann. In der Zwischenzeit lässt Polizeiinspektor Carney einen Psychiater Patienten, die aus psychiatrischen Kliniken entlassen wurden, als mögliche Verdächtige untersuchen.