In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
Direction
Lang's sound design revolution—whistled leitmotif still chilling
Acting
Lorre's breakdown monologue: cinema's first sympathetic monster
Cinematography
German Expressionism meets proto-noir shadows
Director
Fritz Lang
Peter Lorre
Hans Beckert
Ellen Widmann
Frau Beckmann
Inge Landgut
Elsie Beckmann
Otto Wernicke
Inspector Karl Lohmann
Theodor Loos
Inspector Groeber
Gustaf Gründgens
Schränker
Fritz Odemar
The Cheater
Paul Kemp
Pickpocket with Six Watches
Theo Lingen
Bauernfänger
Rudolf Blümner
Becker's 'Attorney'
Georg John
Blind Panhandler
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur
Police Chief
Gerhard Bienert
Criminal Secretary
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Lang filmed multiple language versions simultaneously; the German cut is the only surviving one.
Released weeks before a real child killer was executed in Düsseldorf—audiences assumed it was based on the case.
DE
