Travis Simpkins

Saturday, July 27, 2019

M (1931): Fritz Lang and Peter Lorre

Written by Fritz Lang and his wife, the child murderer in M (1931) was supposedly a composite of several different serial killers that had terrorized Germany in the early 20th Century. Although Lang was already a veteran director, with a dozen Silent Films to his credit, M was his first talkie and the technical experimentation needed for the new medium required much improvisation on his part. The chilling, atmospheric quality of the film's cinematography is unparalleled. Peter Lorre is absolutely riveting as the killer, and the tense anxiety felt throughout is gloriously disturbing. M is a cinematic masterpiece, and even Lang himself considered it to be his finest film.

Citizens in Germany are on edge, mindful of their children's whereabouts, after a string of child abductions and murders committed by a deranged man (Peter Lorre)...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The killer lures the children with candy and presents, then kills them in a gruesome fashion...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The whole City is alert, especially the Police, who have greatly increased their presence in the streets. The larger quantity of Police around has put a damper on the business dealings of the Criminal Underworld element in the City. Their business is being hurt, and their actions examined and hindered. They will not stand for it...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang

It is decided amongst the criminal group, that they must catch and dispose of the child murderer themselves, delivering their own brand of justice, so that they might return to business as usual...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The murderer is a marked man, about to receive what he has coming to him. He is understandably terrified...

M. 1931. Fritz Lang: Peter Lorre

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston

Director John Huston had the unique opportunity to work with his father, veteran actor Walter Huston in 1948 with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It was, perhaps, the best work either of them ever did. Add to that, Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt, rounding out the cast to form a masterpiece that works on so many levels. Themes of greed, conscience and redemption are constant. Plus, it has one of the most frequently quoted lines of the era, "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!"

Two men (Bogart and Holt) are living an unemployed, downtrodden existence in Mexico, seemingly void of opportunity. This changes when they meet Walter Huston's character, an old prospector willing to take another gamble. With modest money to invest, the three men set out into the mountains to prospect for gold...