M

M (1931) is a German thriller film directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of a serial killer who preys on children in Berlin. The film follows the investigation led by Inspector Karl Lohmann, who uses new techniques such as fingerprinting and handwriting analysis to track down the killer. The film was inspired by a real-life serial killer, Peter Kürten, and it was Lang's first sound film. It is considered a pioneering work in the genre of serial killer films and has been an influence on many other films and filmmakers. The film begins with a group of children playing an elimination game in a courtyard, chanting a rhyme about a child murderer. A wanted poster warns of the killer, and anxious parents wait outside a school for their children. Little Elsie Beckmann leaves school and is approached by Hans Beckert, who offers to buy her a balloon and walks with her. Her disappearance leads to anxiety among the public, and Beckert sends an anonymous letter to the newspapers taking credit for the child murders and promising to commit more. The police work around the clock to find the killer, using new techniques such as fingerprinting and handwriting analysis. They stage frequent raids to question known criminals, disrupting organized crime so badly that Der Schränker (The Safecracker) summons the crime bosses of Berlin's Ringvereine to a conference. They decide to organize their own manhunt using beggars to watch children. Meanwhile, police search Beckert's rented rooms, find evidence that he wrote there, and lie in wait for him. Beckert sees a young girl in reflection of shop window & begins following her but stops when she meets her mother; he encounters another girl & befriends her but panics when another suspicious man approaches them & flees . He takes shelter at home , where Lohmann arrives , recognizes his whistling motif from Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg , played during his interactions with victims .He attempts t o flee b ut i s caught .In custody , h e confesses t o numerous m urders but c laims t o have n o m emory f them du e t o his alleged "compulsion". H e i s later tried , found guilty & sentenced t o death .As h e i s led away f rom courtroom , h e sings Grieg 's " In th e Hall Of Th e Mountain King ".

You can stream M on: Max The Criterion Channel Amazon Prime ⎥ MAX Apple TV Amazon Store Fandango at Home

Some movies that have similar genres and were produced around the same time as M include The Petrified Forest, Blackmail, The World Gone Mad, Scarface, The Bridge of Sighs, While the City Sleeps.

M was released in theaters on January 1, 1940.