David Wayne

Howard Da Silva

Martin Gabel

Luther Adler

Steve Brodie

Raymond Burr

Glenn Anders

Norman Lloyd

Walter Burke

John Miljan

Roy Engel

Janine Perreau

Leonard Bremen

Benny Burt

Bernard Szold

Robin Fletcher

Karen Morley

Jim Backus

Jorja Curtright

Frances Karath

Abdullah Abbas

Fred Aldrich

Don Anderson

Al Bain

Benjie Bancroft

George Barrows

Ivan Bell

Madge Blake

Willie Bloom

Ewing Miles Brown

Boyd Cabeen

James J. Casino

Michael Cirillo

Bing Conley

Jane Crowley

Russell Custer

Bill Welsh

Ernest Laszlo

Joseph Losey

Edward Mann

Michel Michelet

Leo Katcher

Norman Reilly Raine

Waldo Salt

Edward R. Robinson

Ben Hersh

Ted Larsen

Leon Becker

Don Weis

Mac Dalgleish

John Hubley

Bert Shefter

Fritz Lang

Harold Nebenzal

Thea von Harbou

Jack R. Berne

Robert H. Justman

Robert Aldrich

Seymour Nebenzal

Martin Obzina

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Superior Pictures

Columbia Pictures

United States of America

English

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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