Having watched a number of times that iconic scene when Gene Kelly brilliantly dances through deep puddles in the pouring rain, I was so disappointed with the opening sequence featuring the three stars exactly like the poster above. Not saving it for the big number. But, yes, it is the big number and just flog it. A great movie if you like this kind of thing, but not for me. David Thomson says it was "the greatest of the MGM musicals" so I wont watch any others.
Released in 1931, M was Fritz Lang's first film with sound. But is the lighting that makes this such an iconic movie. Ground breaking techniques seem to highlight the blacks and whites at expense of the greys. It often takes on a 3D like quality. There are shots from on high that still feel the same claustrophobia that permeates the story. It's as if there is no daylight in the daytime. Although he is hardly seen, the film belongs to the youngish stage actor Peter Lorre in his first movie. I say young as I only remember him from much later movies. As the serial killer Hans Beckert David Thomson describes him as "a man terrified of himself". But it is the panic, the paranoia and the chase that I will remember. "M is a masterpiece of prison's mood in everyday life".
This is not one of David Thomson's one thousand films to see, and I'm not sure why. Perhaps because he includes director William Friedkin's The French Connection. I wish I had seen this in the cinema, it would have looked marvellous on the biggest screen. The visuals and locations are wonderful. Contrasting with that intimate long counterfeiting sequence. Lots of car chases including that part through the dry river bed of the LA river. There is some good eighties music of the period. There is a superb review by Cindy Davis at pajiba.com - "20 Facts about To Live and Die in LA".
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