Films as a reflection of their time

 M By: Fritz Lang

The film M by Fritz Lang is a German suspenseful film released in 1931. It is about a serial killer who murders children in Berlin, and it is based on a real German serial killer from 1929 named Peter Kurten. When the police have a hard time catching him other criminals take matters into their own hands and attempt to find him themselves. It turns into a race between the police and the criminals on who finds him first so that they can serve their version of justice. M is about justice and the good and evil that comes with that. 

This film is a big reflection of the time it was filmed. It was a parallel to the case of Peter Kurten who was a serial killer during 1929 known as the “Vampire of Dusseldorf”. One parallel between the film and the real case is that the hunt for the Vampire of Düsseldorf had included the recruitment of a famous Berlin homicide detective Ernst Gennat, who Lang would base his unconventional detective Inspector Lohmann. Gennat, like Lohmann, was known for his detached, casual demeanor in interrogations and for cooling his feet off in ice buckets in his office. Another parallel is the way the detectives conducted their search and the procedures they went through. Lang spent a lot of time researching the way police business was conducted so they could get it accurate in the film. 

The film ends with a makeshift court that the people who caught the serial killer put together to punish him after the authorities were not able to capture him.  Although Inspector Lohmann breaks up the makeshift court and arrests the killer Hans Beckert on behalf of the legal system, the depiction of both the criminals and the serial murderer are questionable enough that its politics remain somewhat of an open discussion.

To some it is interpreted as a political statement in reference to Hitler and the Nazis. When they eventually took power in early 1933, rather than replacing the Republic, they suspended the Constitution, and this is where some people make a connection from nazi Germany to the makeshift court in M.

Gold Diggers of 1933

Gold Diggers of 1933 was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and it is about 4 actresses, who are the “gold diggers” in the film, who get cast in a Broadway show.  This Film was released during the Great Depression and there are many references to it throughout the film. This film is about a director who does not have the money to put on the show but a man who was cast for the show, comes from money and gives the director the money to complete the show. This is a reference to the time period because at the time films were evolving and becoming very popular but due to the great depression, unless you came from money, a lot of people could not afford to complete the films they were working towards. The film also shows the actresses borrowing milk and avoiding their landlords because they do not have enough money. 

Another part that was a reflection of the time period was the song “Remember Me Forgotten Man” that was about the veterans of World War I. There was concern for the number of World War I veterans queuing up at breadlines and soup kitchens.  Gold Diggers of 1933 was filmed around the time of the Bonus Army protest in Washington DC. In June 1932, approximately 20,000 vets camped out on the mall for six weeks, while lobbying Congress for early payment of bonus pensions that were promised to be paid in 1945.  They felt that the economic hardships they were enduring entitled them to the funds by the end of the current year.  The government feared rioting from the group, and decided to send in troops, led by Douglas McArthur and Dwight Eisenhower. 

Branham, Christina. “My Cinema Fix: Gold Diggers of 1933.” My History Fix, 23 Sept. 2016, http://myhistoryfix.com/entertainment/gold-diggers-1933/. 

“M: In Context.” The Cinessential, http://www.thecinessential.com/m-in-context.