M - The Eclectic Cinema

EARLY CINEMA

M PG

Germany | 1931 117 minutes

DIRECTED BY

Fritz Lang

STARRING

Peter Lorre|Ellen Widman|Inge Landgut

Following the success of our screening of Fritz Lang’s silent masterpiece Metropolis in January, we are now screening his other best-known film from his time as a director in Germany before he fled Nazi repression in 1933. Like Metropolis, this film was also written by Lang and his then wife Thea von Harbou. Not a silent, this is Lang’s first sound film and was released in 1931.

The story is set in Berlin where a child-murderer is on the loose. The police and other local authorities are not doing well in solving the crime and bringing the serial killer to justice. People fear for their loved-ones. Regarded as such a heinous crime, the city’s criminal underworld becomes involved to augment the so-far failed efforts of officialdom.

This is a film with a film-noir style and many arresting images. The scene towards the end when the apprehended murderer faces a ‘kangaroo court’ comprised of Berlin’s criminals is particularly striking.

The star is Peter Lorre, and M represented a breakthrough in his film career. He, too, being of Jewish descent, fled Nazism soon after this film. He continued to be the go-to actor for villainous characters, and his next film was Alfred Hitchcock’s 1934 British version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In lists of the greatest films of all time, M makes regular appearances. Of his own films, it was one of Fritz Lang’s favourites. This is your chance to see it at The Eclectic Cinema.

15 April 2024 MONDAY 19:30

AUDITORIUM

Tickets £8.00|£5.00 (up to age 25)