David Wayne

I just saw 'M' today. It's really good! I knew that Fritz Lang was outraged that Seymour Nebenzal went ahead and made it without his input, but I think it was more because he didn't get any credit for having originated the idea than because there was anything wrong with it. In some ways I like it even better than Lang's 1932 original German version. It's a bit faster and tighter than the original (Lang liked very long movies).

Wayne is terrific as the killer. It's interesting how he's not really *hidden*, but somehow we never quite see his face until about halfway through the movie. It's like he's just slowly coming into focus; we can't really identify him because we never quite see his face in a clear angle. It's a very good performance. I guess before this he'd played lighter comedy roles, and of course I know him as Richard Queen, a rather stolid, deadpan character. But here he's a crumbling shell of a man. When he puts his head down and sobs because he can't conquer his demons, you almost feel sorry for him; or you would, if you could forget how horrible his crimes are.

It's only at the very end he speaks much, and he has quite a soft voice, with a gentle Southern accent. That's when he's making his confession. When he's being dragged away after he's been captured he screams and struggles like nobody else I've ever seen onscreen! It's just shockingly raw and real. Highly recommend this movie.

Flat, drab passion meanders across the screen!

The man could do anything... from an uncaring husband in Three Faces of Eve, to the Mad Hatter in Batman, to a leprechaun on Broadway... and everything in-between.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.