M
With David Wayne, Howard Da Silva, Luther Adler.
US, 1951, 35mm, black & white, 88 min.
Print source: Library of Congress
Unseen for too many years was Losey’s fascinating remake of Fritz Lang’s frightening vision of an insidious fascism tearing at the feverish heart of Weimar society. Substituting 1950s downtown Los Angeles for 1930s Berlin, Losey cast the often-eccentric supporting actor David Wayne in Peter Lorre’s role to give a distinctly American polish and spin on Lang’s dark cautionary tale. M’s original producer Seymour Nebenzal was behind the American remake, inspired by the dark parallels he—and many others—saw between the rise of Nazism and the creeping paranoia of the HUAC and Rosenberg era. Together with MacKenzie’s The Exiles and Siodmak’s Criss Cross, Losey’s M is among the great poignant documents of the soon-to-be extinguished Bunker Hill area, indelibly captured by the brilliant cinematography of maestro Ernest Laszlo. Assistant Director Aldrich clearly kept in mind the downtown locations that he would further explore, four years later, in his Los Angeles masterpiece Kiss Me Deadly.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Four Star Playhouse: The Squeeze, The Witness and The Hard Way
The Southerner
