M (M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder)

Fritz Lang's "M" premiered May 11, 1931 in Berlin.

The film has been released since in various versions and lengths,

all of which did not reflect the original. Both the British as well as the French

releases (issued 1932) were edited and even had then newly filmed shots and sequences

inserted, partially with different content and actors.

At that point Lang no longer had any say in the direction of these productions.

The re-issue of "M" in 1960 also differed greatly from the 1931 original. Cut down to

96 minutes ambient sounds were recorded and spliced into several scenes and sequences

that were supposed to be silent. Crucial pieces of research by Fritz Lang and Thea

Von Harbou covering the work of the criminalists were cut.

In the following decades several attempts were made to restore

this film back to its original version.

In 2001 the best available nitrate film elements were assembled for the first time

in the original form as Lang intended. Since only some 70% the original camera

negative has survived the remaining scenes and sequences had to be replaced from

various higher generation copies, in this case print elements. Still, despite intense

efforts, several shots could not be located at the time and many shots remained

interrupted in mid-sequence due to missing frames.

In addition, large parts of the film suffered from perforation damage and

printing errors that led to sometimes very problematic picture instabilities.

Many of these "jump cut" sequences that had missing frames could be restored in this

2011 restoration with the aid of an additional French duplicate negative made

from a re-discovered nitrate print. Also as part of this restoration for the first time

ever the massive instabilities were largely corrected. Along with the work in this

particular area intensive efforts have gone into the digital restoration both in picture

and sound. Another key issue was the restoration of the film's soundtrack true to

Fritz Lang's original concept. Parts of the picture were supposed to be completely

silent while others had merely brief elements of sound literally spliced in.

This restoration brings the total duration of Fritz Lang's classic to 111 minutes.

The censors office released the film prior to its premiere with a length of 117

minutes. However, after very careful consideration of all available facts it is

not absolutely certain that this version was ever screened. Several sequences and scenes

that are listed on the censor cards were neither mentioned in any of the reviews or

reports at the time of release nor were they named by Fritz Lang as missing.

The following restoration was made in 2011 by TLEFilms Film Restoration & Preservation.

Services with the cooperation of the CNC / Archive françaises du film in Bois D'arcy,

France. Support came from the Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin and PostFactory GmbH.

Just you wait, it won't be long.

The man in black will soon be here.

With his cleaver's blade so true.

He'll make mincemeat out of you!

You're out.

I told you to stop singing that awful song!

Didn't you hear me?

That same cursed song over and over!

Dear me, that's heavy.

What's the matter?

I told those kids to stop singing that awful song,

but they sing it all day long.

As if we haven't heard enough of that murderer already.

Leave them alone.

As long as we can hear them singing,

at least we know they're still there.

Yes, I guess you're right.

PUBLIC SCHOOL

10,000 MARKS REWARD - WHO IS THE MURDERER?

Little Kurt Klawitzky and his sister Klara have been missing since June 11th.

Evidence leads us to believe the children were victims of a crime

similar to that committed last fall against the Doering siblings.

What a pretty ball you have there.

What's your name?

Elsie Beckmann.

Didn't Elsie come with you?

- No. - She didn't come with us.

Pretty!

Thank you.

A thrilling new chapter, Mrs. Beckmann. Passionate and moving.

Just a moment, Mr. Gehrke.

Tell me, Mr. Gehrke.

Have you seen little Elsie?

No. Didn't she just come up the stairs?

No, she's not home yet.

She won't be long now. Goodbye.

Goodbye, Mr. Gehrke.

Extra! Extra!

No, I can't give change! Extra!

Makes you afraid to send your kids to school!

Who is the murderer?

Because the police did not publish my first letter,

I am writing now directly to the press!

Proceed with your investigations.

All will soon be confirmed.

But I'm not done yet!

10,000 MARKS REWARD.

- Christ, here we go again! - This is horrible!

The print's too small. We can't read it.

You in front, read it out loud!

- Let him read! - Hey! Quiet!

"The terror in our town has found a new victim."

Louder! We can't hear a word!

"Certain evidence leads us to believe

that this is the same murderer

who has already claimed eight victims from among our city's children.

We must emphasise once again

that it is, now more than ever, every mother and father's sacred duty

to alert their children to this ever present danger

and to the friendly guise it is likely to assume.

A little candy, a toy, or an apple

"can suffice to lure a child to his or her doom."

Very true!

Keep reading.

"Anxiety among the general public is heightened

by the police's failure to apprehend a suspect.

But the police are faced with the almost impossible task

of catching a criminal who left not the slightest clue behind.

Who is the murderer?

What does he look like?

Where is he hiding?

No one knows him, yet he is among us.

"Anybody sitting next to you could be the murderer."

Yes, that's very true.

- Why look at me when you say that? - You know very well.

What do I know very well?

Think about it. It'll come to you.

What are you saying?

I saw you follow that little girl from the fourth floor up the stairs.

You're crazy, you dirty swine!

Who's the swine? Me, or a man who chases little girls?

You bastard! You swine!

Murderer!

Gentlemen!

I'll see you in court!

I'll have you locked up!

Slanderer! Trying to ruin my reputation!

Damn slanderer! Besmirching a man's good name!

And the police fall for it!

A search warrant!

How awful! What a disgrace!

Searching a man's house based on an anonymous letter!

Mr. Jäger, please calm down. We're only doing our job.

As if it weren't enough that we're in constant fear for our kids!

You see? That's why the police must follow up every lead.

Any man on the street could be the murderer.

Can you please tell me what time it is?

Yes, my child.

Now you must hurry home. Where do you live?

What's it to you where the kid lives?

Excuse me?

What do you want with that kid?

Absolutely nothing!

What do you want with me?

I'll show you what I want!

Let me go! This is an outrage!

- What's going on? - This is an outrage!

- What does Four-Eyes want? - Don't get so excited.

- First chatting up children... - Punch him in the face!

Then acting like a big shot!

Will you let me go! I didn't even speak to the child!

- Get her alone, eh? - And kill her like the others, right?

- He's the murderer! - Hold him!

Call the police!

- Never around when you need 'em! - Officer!

Make way, gentlemen. Let us through.

Sure, you can catch pickpockets! Why don't you catch the murderer instead!

What? Is he the murderer?

Break it up! Come on, move along!

- The murderer! - The monster!

Get him!

Tackle him!

MURDERER WRITES TO THE PRESS.

Because the police did not publish my first letter,

I am writing now directly to the press!

Proceed with your investigations.

All will soon be confirmed.

But I'm not done yet!

This is a terrible scandal!

Imagine the effect such a note will have on the public, Commissioner!

This is simply irresponsible!

Mr. Secretary, we cannot stop the murderer

from writing to whomever he wishes!

This severely pathological man probably takes great pleasure

in seeing his crimes covered in the press.

We immediately got in touch with the newspaper

and had them send us the original letter.

The lab's working on it right now.

Of course, you can't get good fingerprints from a postcard

that's passed through so many hands.

Nevertheless, we will leave no stone unturned.

We'll painstakingly compare the results against our archives

in hopes of finding something that can be used to solve this case.

Then we'll send the letter to our graphologist.

"The aforementioned diamond-shaped and swelling sweeps,

clearly seen in the word 'soon', third line from the bottom..."

- You got that? - Yes.

"Attest to the strongly pathological sexuality of this sex offender."

Full stop.

The partially disrupted and uneven style of his other letters

is, in its interpretation,

a form of acting

which may manifest externally as indolence or even lethargy.

The writing as a whole displays

elusive yet unmistakable signs

of madness.

Yes, of course, Commissioner.

I have no doubt you're doing your job, and your men as well.

But we need results!

Results!

Mr. Secretary, my men haven't gotten 12 hours' sleep in an entire week!

My riot squads don't get a moment's peace.

They report for duty almost more fatigued than when they were dismissed.