fanan450 I watched this movie and I must say it's good , I like it and I Injoyed , because I used to watch many old classic movies from this era which had slow pace from the beginning to the end . but there is one thing I did not understand to this day , this movie on Top Rated Movies #79 ! , why ? for God sake why ? in my opinion it doesn't deserve this rate (8.4) !! , this movie is good to watch if you have nothing to do and you were bored, but it's not the best , there is many movies better and deserve to be on the top list , i think it's overrated by people and critics , and I don't know why ! 6/10

allstarrunner I just watched this movie for the first time about 90 years after it first came out! It is still a great movie! The tension it builds throughout and the use of music to set the tone and even move the plot along are brilliant! I can understand why this movie was used as a recipe for future movies. I think what I like best about the movie is the moral questions that are raised at the end and the decision of the director to leave it up to us to decide. So good! Trust me, you need to watch this film - even if you're one of those people who don't like to watch old films or international films (which I used to be) - there is amazing cinema out there to enjoy if you will expand your horizons. This is one of them you need to watch (I also recommend "The General" as a great silent film movie).

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . but M is carefully crafted to show that there's even less Virtue to be found among police and government officials. Director Fritz Lang's provocative thesis is that all it takes is one evil man--say a failed painter or an Emmy-losing game show host--to corrupt and curse an entire nation. Lang's M presents Peter Lorre as a crazed child killer who elicits the intrusive Big Brother German Fascist Efficiency that would soon send Gestapo thugs fanning out across Europe for building-to-building Terroristic searches resulting in Anne Frank and millions of other moms, pops, and kiddies being tattooed, recorded in ledger books, stripped, gassed, and burned. All basic Human Rights are suspended in the face of M, as happened in Real Life within a few years of its premier. As Mark Twain's historical tome SAINT JOAN best illustrates, the "Maid of Orlean's" top general turned out to be a notorious child killer just like M, cursing France to be conquered at least a dozen times by England, Russia, Germany, Algeria, and Vietnam. Most people know that the Chicago Police Hob-Nobbed with the infamous child killer John Wayne Gacy as a prelude to the Troubles facing the U.S. Today. Every American, therefore, should view M ASAP.

Scott LeBrun Peter Lorre is absolutely unforgettable playing that most despicable of criminals, the murderer of children. The police of Berlin are having a very tough time identifying him as the culprit, but ultimately he is found out. Not by the police, but by the city's criminal underworld. They determine to mete out their own brand of vigilante justice. Not so much for altruistic motives, but because the increased police action is hurting their way of life.This early sound effort for both Germany and the highly regarded filmmaker Fritz Lang is a classic example of that form of cinema known as "Expressionism". It's stunningly shot and directed, counteracting its police procedural aspects with a matter of fact depiction of the machinations of this underworld. There's no music score, but then the script (by Thea von Harbou and director Lang, based on an article by Egon Jacobson) gets by just fine without one. Director Lang is still able to generate sufficient tension without that kind of assistance.A film of this kind wouldn't quite be to all tastes, as some people might feel that there is more talk (and the script *is* dialogue heavy) than action. But there is also plenty of wonderful black & white imagery on display, and a riveting climax where these gangland bosses give Lorre their own version of a trial.Although one shouldn't feel pity for such a beast - and Lang doesn't try to make the viewer feel that way - the killer is turned into a vivid, compelling character by Lorre. He desperately tries to make the case that he's not in control of his own actions, and is simply compelled to murder. He may not be pitiable, but he *is* pathetic.86 years later, the theme is still extremely relevant, and the fact that the story was at the time contemporary and not a traditional Gothic or anything like that gives it real immediacy. The setting may have been Depression era Germany, but much of the dialogue could easily be heard today.Nine out of 10.