M

Occasionally gripping noir from noir's golden period. Middle-age loner Harrow (Wayne) is a serial killer of little girls. His sixth murder alarms much of LA, especially the underworld which feels extra pressure now from the cops. As a result, the various gangs organize in pursuit of the killer before he strikes again. But will the cops and gangsters catch him in time.

The movie has many fine touches, except for the final chase whose massive gangland presence without police intervention amounts to a real stretch. Where the film excels is with Harrow alone and acting out his illness. Note how he squeezes off the head of a female doll with a photo of his mother in the background, the significance of which turns up at the end. Also, his caressing of shoelaces from his victims suggests a sexual fetish. As a reader of true crime, I've learned that shoe fetishes are not that unusual-- there seems no end to human oddities. At the same time, there's the telling touch of a little girl's balloon soaring toward the heavens that implies her death at the killer's hands, along with a note of hope for something better. Oddly, actor Wayne has practically no lines until the final segment. There his monstrous nature is somewhat mitigated by a heartfelt recognition of his mother's twisted role that he was apparently too weak to overcome.

Ace director Losey makes good use of the many LA locations including the famous Bradbury building from DOA (1950) among others. And that's along with a number of noirish lighting touches. Too bad Hollywood's notorious Blacklist period sent him into exile in England during probably his most productive period.

Except for Wayne, the supporting cast is not called upon to express much emotion. Thus attention remains on the killer and the little girls he inveigles with toys and goodies. As indicated earlier, the weakest parts are the staging of the gangland mobs that appear to have buried their differences in favor of large uncontested mob action.

Despite the downside, the movie's subject matter challenged taboos of the time and still manages moments of genuine involvement.

If the mastodons over at the House Un-American Activities Committee hadn't enough reason to blacklist Joseph Losey than his remake of Fritz Lang's classic M gave it to them. This is Losey's best broadside against the witch hunts and the blind panic the gripped vast sections of the American public ferreting out Communists and their fellow travelers.

There's a serial killer of little girls operating in a small American city and it's got the police baffled. With conditions as they are the police turning up the heat, organized crime types can't operate so the local Don played by Martin Gabel starts his own manhunt. He can move into places local police chief Howard DaSilva can't.

The killer is mild mannered David Wayne a truly pitiable sort when unmasked. His devolution of defenses is something to see.

Good ensemble cast worked with the leads. A good remake of a classic.

Wow. This is a really under-sung, but still great remake of M.

Like anyone else, I assumed this would be an inferior version of the Lang classic, but this movie stands alone and takes the already disturbing plot to a very '50's place.

If you're interested in noir, and you're seen the original M, you definitely, so much, HAVE to see this. The performance from David Wayne rivals Peter Lorre's and if nothing else, for you Americans, he is surprisingly sympathetic and relate-able.

The original M is one of the first great thrillers and bridges the gap between expressionism and what would become noir in film. This movie serves an exact opposite purpose - it takes the plot of "M" and does an amazing job of turning it in to a local film that both serves as a great thriller and a great commentary on our society.

Saw this movie last night for the 1st time. I was impressed with whole remake of the original except the VHS video picture quality was quite poor!! I hope they hurry up and get this in a DVD format with clearer, sharper images!! The acting of David Wayne as the "baby killer" was great as was Howard DeSilva's "chainsmoking" police investigator and Martin Gabel's crime boss, and look closely for Raymond Burr's tough talking "goon" who is following orders from the crime boss. Really great overall performances from all involved also including Steve Brody, John Miljan (as blind man....where are all the women in this picture except the children!! No leading actress was featured. Photography on location with excellent use of the moving camera was really eye-filling!!! The fat, laughing lady and those floating balloons were part of the tension and irony. Great movie!!

A perilous remake ,"M" ,while it's not exactly as startling as Fritz Lang's classic ,is proof positive that all the remakes are not doomed .David Wayne's performance compares favorably with Peter Lorre's,which was not an easy task.The screenplay is faithful like a dog to Von Harbou/Lang's story,itself inspired by a true news item ,the vampire from Düsseldorf.David Wayne ,with his next-door-man look,manages to stay disturbing and threatening ,particularly when he plays with laces and Plasticine figures.The over possessive mother's aberrant upbringing is not passed over in silence ("I'm a man;I'm evil;I have got to be punished!")Losey makes an awesome use of the settings in the last sequences .

Thanks to Losey 's talent ,the Americanization of "M" was a success. Please do not redo now!