M (1931 Film) - Production

Production

M is supposedly based on the real-life case of serial killer Peter Kürten, the "Vampire of Düsseldorf", whose crimes took place in the 1920s, although Lang denied that he drew from this case. "At the time I decided to use the subject matter of M there were many serial killers terrorizing Germany — Haarmann, Grossmann, Kürten, Denke," Lang told film historian Gero Gandert in a 1963 interview.

In 1930 when Lang placed an ad in the newspaper stating that his next film would be Mörder unter Uns (The Murderer is among Us) and was about a child murderer, he immediately began receiving threatening letters in the mail. He was also denied a studio space to shoot the film at Stakken studio. When Lang confronted the head of Stakken studio to find out why he was being denied access to the studio, the studio head informed Lang that he was a member of the Nazi party and that the party suspected that the film was meant to depict the Nazis. This assumption was based entirely on the film's original title and the Nazi party relented when informed of the film's plot. M was eventually shot in six weeks at a Stanken Zeppelinhalle studio just outside of Berlin. Lang also made the film for Nero Films instead of UFA or his own production company. It was produced by Nero studio head Seymour Nebenzal, who later produced Lang's The Testament of Doctor Mabuse. Other titles given to the film before "M" were Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (A city searches for a Murderer) and Dein Mörder sieht dich An (Your Killer Looks at You). While researching for the film Lang spent eight days inside a mental institution in Germany and met several real child murderers, including Peter Kürten. He later used several real criminals as extras in the film and eventually 25 cast members were arrested during the film's shooting.

Peter Lorre was cast in the lead role of Hans Becker, the mentally ill child murderer. During filming, Lorre acted in the film during the day while appearing onstage in Valentine Katayev's Squaring the Circle at night. Lorre's character whistles the tune "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1. However, Peter Lorre himself could not whistle – it is actually Lang who is heard. The film was one of the first to use a leitmotif, associating "In the Hall of the Mountain King" with the Lorre character. Later in the film, the mere sound of the song lets the audience know that he is nearby, off-screen. This association of a musical theme with a particular character or situation, a technique borrowed from opera, is now a film staple.

M was Lang's first sound film and Lang experimented with the new technology. As opposed to the more theatrical "talkies" being released at the same time, M has a dense and complex soundtrack that includes a narrator, sounds occurring off camera and motivating action and suspenseful moments of silence before sudden noise. Lang was also able to make less cuts in the films editing since sound effects could now be used to inform the narrative. Lang did not show any acts of violence or deaths of children on screen and later said by only suggesting violence he forced "each individual member of the audience to create the gruesome details of the murder according to his personal imagination."