M (1951)

March 1, 1951 (US) • Crime, Drama, Thriller • 88m

Overview

Remake of the 1931 Fritz Lang original. In the city, someone is murdering children. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.

Director

Joseph Losey

Writers

Norman Reilly Raine, Leo Katcher

Top Billed

David Wayne

Keywords

child murder film noir

Where to watch

Check streaming options on TMDB

Top Billed 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

Abdullah Abbas

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Fred Aldrich

Sam (uncredited)

Don Anderson

Speakeasy Patron (uncredited)

Al Bain

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Benjie Bancroft

Cab Driver (uncredited)

George Barrows

Policeman (uncredited)

Ivan Bell

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Madge Blake

Police Station Witness (uncredited)

Willie Bloom

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Ewing Miles Brown

Minor Role (uncredited)

Boyd Cabeen

Hood (uncredited)

James J. Casino

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Michael Cirillo

Bartender (uncredited)

Bing Conley

Bartender (uncredited)

Jane Crowley

Woman in Mob (uncredited)

Russell Custer

Policeman (uncredited)

Jimmy Dime

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Mike Donovan

Policeman at Bar (uncredited)

Virginia Farmer

Harrow's Landlady (uncredited)

Charles Ferguson

Detective (uncredited)

Sam Finn

Hood (uncredited)

Bess Flowers

Minor Role (uncredited)

Raoul Freeman

Policeman (uncredited)

Wesley Gale

Bootblack (uncredited)

Joe Garcio

Policeman (uncredited)

John George

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Joseph Glick

Citizen (uncredited)

Jack Gordon

Detective (uncredited)

Bobby Hale

Man Watching Broadcast (uncredited)

Alvin Hammer

Father (uncredited)

Harry Hines

Dr. Graham's Patient (uncredited)

George Hoagland

Detective (uncredited)

John Indrisano

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Sherry Jackson

Little Girl (uncredited)

Michael Jeffers

Bartender (uncredited)

Tiny Jones

Woman in Mob (uncredited)

Kenner G. Kemp

Detective (uncredited)

Tom Kennedy

Hood (uncredited)

Johnny Kern

Pedestrian (uncredited)

Donald Kerr

Man in the Mob (uncredited)

Ann Kunde

Woman in the Mob (uncredited)

Norman Leavitt

Harry Greer (uncredited)

Will Lee

Man In Mob (uncredited)

Muriel Maddox

Minor Role (uncredited)

George Magrill

Man in the Mob (uncredited)

Hank Mann

Man in the Mob (uncredited)

John Marlin

Onlooker at Accident (uncredited)

Buddy Mason

Policeman (uncredited)

Robert Milasch

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Marjorie Nelson

Woman (uncredited)

William Newell

Detective Questioning Blonde About License Plate (uncredited)

William H. O'Brien

Policeman (uncredited)

Frank O'Connor

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Gregg Palmer

Television Broadcaster (uncredited)

Bob Perry

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Jack Perry

Cab Driver (uncredited)

Dee Pollock

Little Boy in Hallway (uncredited)

Stanley Prager

Police Detective (uncredited)

Stanley Price

Man Watching Broadcast (uncredited)

Bob Reeves

Policeman (uncredited)

Dewey Robinson

Man in Crowd (uncredited)

Victor Romito

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Jack Roper

Man in Mob (uncredited)

William Schallert

Rorschach Test Subject (uncredited)

Sammy Shack

Cab Driver (uncredited)

Lester Sharpe

Man Helping Little Girl on Skates (uncredited)

June Smaney

Singer (uncredited)

Mabel Smaney

Mabel Smith (uncredited)

Cap Somers

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Brick Sullivan

Policeman (uncredited)

Jack Tornek

Carnival Patron (uncredited)

Peter Virgo

Harry Dennis, Jaywalker (uncredited)

Eleanore Vogel

Woman in Mob (uncredited)

Ralph Volkie

Police Station Witness (uncredited)

Ray Walker

Detective (uncredited)

Bill Welsh

Dr. Graham, Police Psychiatrist (uncredited)

Dick Wessel

Policeman Ticketing Jaywalker (uncredited)

Harry Wilson

Man in Mob (uncredited)

Crew

Joseph Losey

Director

Michel Michelet

Original Music Composer

Ernest Laszlo

Director of Photography

Edward Mann

Editor

Norman Reilly Raine

Screenplay

Leo Katcher

Screenplay

Ben Hersh

Production Supervisor

Leon Becker

Sound

John Hubley

Layout

Edward R. Robinson

Set Decoration

Don Weis

Script Supervisor

Ted Larsen

Makeup Artist

Mac Dalgleish

Sound Recordist

Bert Shefter

Music Director

Fritz Lang

Original Story

Thea von Harbou

Original Story

Harold Nebenzal

Associate Producer

Jack R. Berne

Second Assistant Director

Robert H. Justman

Production Assistant

Seymour Nebenzal

Producer

Martin Obzina

Art Direction

Robert Aldrich

Assistant Director

Waldo Salt

Additional Dialogue

Reviews

John Chard

⭐ 7/10

June 25, 2019

It could be anyone's child, anyone's, no one is safe.

M is directed by Joseph Losey and written by Norman Reilly Raine and Leo Katcher. It stars David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Martin Gabel, Luther Adler, Steve Brodie and Raymond Burr. Music is by Michel Michelet and cinematography by Ernest Laszlo.

Fritz Lang's original film from 1931 is a seriously classy classic, no doubt about it and although making a remake seems to many like birthing the devil's spawn, the 1951 version exists. How great to find that it's a very fine offering, one that was made at the right time (the film noir zeitgeist) and puts its own slant into the mix.

Story here has been relocated to Los Angeles, where there's a child murderer on the loose and not only are the cops under pressure to capture the fiend, but also the criminal underworld since there's too much heat being brought into the vicinity of their operations. Narrative is structured in three ways, the operations of the police investigation, the criminal mobsters forming their own plan of seek and eradicate, and of course we follow the despicable actions of the killer, Martin W. Harrow (Wayne).

Following closely from the original's template, Losey instils key haunting images and the killer's traits, whilst giving them their own identity within the grimy downtown L.A. locales. That we are in Bunker Hill and taking in such landmarks like the Angels Flight railway and the Bradbury Building, makes for some superb period flavours. Couple these with Laszlo's spell bindingly noir compliant cinematography, and Losey has got atmosphere to burn.

Cast are giving good turns, with many noir favourites doing their thing, best of all, mind, is Wayne as the tormented kiddie killer. Getting more screen time than Peter Lorre does in the original, Wayne gives us a different interpretation that works for a high end portrayal of a man at the mercy of his desperate urges. None more so at pic's denoument, where he is cast to the floor and proceeds to outpour his very being. Wayne would never be this good again.

It's not close to being as good as Lang's original, and the thread of the crime underworld worrying about their image is just daft. It's also safe to say that there's no deepness on show, there's some reasoning for why Harrow is as sick as he is - and a little snippet of vigilante paranoia, but this does fail to expand upon some serious themes. That said though, this is certainly a worthy entry in the file that contains remakes that hold their own. 7/10

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M (1951)

Norman Reilly Raine, Leo Katcher

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

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Status

Original Language

Budget

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