Peter Lorre in the Fritz Lang German film classic "M" (1931)

This was a stroke of genius. Casting Peter Lorre as the killer in Fritz Lang’s “M” might not have seemed such a gamble to later directors who accepted Lorre’s unique ability to play villains, but in 1931 Peter Lorre was virtually a film unknown. True, he had been acting onstage to sizable acclaim for some time in Berlin, but the idea of him as a twisted murderer would have still seemed fairly odd. Especially considering that in person Lorre was a diminutive personage, kind, humorous and soft-spoken.

However, he also had the uncanny ability to combine his vulnerability with menace in the villains he played. Acclaimed director Fritz Lang used this to advantage in “M,” which both shocked and fascinated people when released. The gruesome storyline of a child-killer was enough to cause a stir in itself, but it was the singular portrayal of the murderer, Hans Beckert, that captured many people. To their unsettled surprise, the audience found themselves almost feeling sorry for the murderer during his final speech at the film’s end. Director Fritz Lang even helped this along because he actually had Lorre beat up for real before shooting this famous scene. Consequently, Lorre’s hysteria was probably pretty genuine, and when he pleads and weeps onscreen the audience instinctively feels for him because they can see the abused innocent behind the film.

Fritz Lang undoubtedly sensed this duality of the Beckert character, or at least recognized it afterward because he later intimated that the film would never have worked without Lorre. Today “M” is considered an iconic piece of major film history for its captured images of pre-war Germany and early psychological probing of the serial killer as well as being the work of a legendary director and the heady film debut of an equally legendary actor.

Sources
Youngkin, Stephen D. “The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre.” University Press of Kentucky: 2005.