Fritz Lang's "M" is one of the undisputed film classics, a German crime drama released in 1931 that was a landmark of the genre. It featured a slew of innovations, including long tracking shots, sound design figuring heavily into the storytelling, and the use of a musical leitmotif - the killer is identified because he habitually whistles Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King." "M" is full of grotesque figures, and is a great example of German Expressionism, and can be viewed as a proto- film noir and detective film. Lang considered it his favorite of all the features he made, and was not happy when the film was remade by Columbia Pictures in 1951.
I knew about the existence of the Joseph Losey version of "M," but I only saw it very recently. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't something as strong as this. Losey's "M" is not as good as Lang's "M" for a long list of reasons, but it is very good for a '50s film noir. While it borrows many elements from the original "M," including a shot-for-shot recreation of the scenes with Elsie's mother (Karen Morley), it also has its own style and its own ideas. Losey benefitted from filming much of "M" on location in Los Angeles, setting major sequences in recognizable locations, and updating certain elements to accommodate the story's transplantation from Berlin to Los Angeles. He pointedly includes non-white actors in many scenes, including the opening montage of girls who are being stalked by the killer, Martin Harrow (David Wayne).
The third act has a standout action sequence that involves a group of underworld figures invading the Bradbury Building to find the killer, who is trapped there. It's like a mini heist movie within the movie, one that makes great use of the space and the building's unique architecture. It also serves to help distinguish the actions of the criminals in the film from the police. In Losey's version of "M," the underworld boss is a local kingpin named Charlie Marshall (Martin Gable), who uses his own organization to search for the "baby killer" and tries to manipulate the situation for his own benefit. There's much more emphasis placed on him in the narrative, along with an alcoholic lawyer named Langley (Luther Adler) in Marshall's employ. This shifts some of the emphasis away from the killer, characterized as a pitiful, mentally ill man who kills out of uncontrollable compulsion, and more on the forces of vice and addiction that have corrupted Marshall and Langley.
This change is easily the most regrettable, as it softens a lot of the satirical elements and social commentary that Lang was so fond of in the original. Gone also is much of the psychological examination of the killer. David Wayne is no Peter Lorre, far less threatening and more hapless. He spends a long stretch of time accidentally locked in a room with a little girl (Janine Perreau), but the girl hardly seems to be in any danger from him. The most sinister scenes of his insanity are the ones where he's entirely absent, and other people are uncovering the evidence of his crimes. The 1951 "M" plays out more like a procedural, and less like the German Expressionist nightmare the original was. Still, for a procedural, the Losey version is very watchable and enjoyable in its own right.
Losey is an interesting director, and may be up for a "Great Directors" post in the future. His best known work was later in his career, after he was blacklisted in Hollywood for being a Communist and moved to Europe. "M" was one of his last American films, and reportedly boycotted in some places due to Losey's politics and the controversial subject matter. Though any anti-McCarthyism themes are not overt, it's hard not to imagine Losey sympathizing with the poor, insane, Martin Harrow, who faces a mob ready to tear him to pieces in the film's final scenes.
As for Fritz Lang, he would remark that the 1951 "M" gave him the best reviews of his career.
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