An early talkie

M (1931, German)
Director: Fritz Lang
The year is 1931, Germany. Malaysia was still a colony with its subjects still oblivious of self governance and politics. The first Malayan political party, Malayan Communist Party was only established in 1932. Germany, under many capable and creative filmmakers were already making moving talkies.
M is Lang's first talking movie and definitely one of early gems of the industry.

Symbolism - Balloon trapped denoting 

child trapped by murderer

It tells about the a serial child murderer, Beckhert, (Peter Lorre who is seen in many of Hitchcock's films later). It is told in a very smooth way elaborating many police procedural techniques which were quite alien at that time. Even in the 30s, one can see the meticulous manner of the German in solving problems.

M for Mörder  

The frequent police ambushes into pubs interfere with many businesses. The mob bosses and the police go against each other to lay their hands on the child murderer. The mobs use an ingenious way involving beggars to sniff out Beckhert.

The mobs succeed in apprehending the perpetrator to bring him to a kangaroo court, presided by the mob boss and juried by the public. In a non-typical fashion, for a movie at that time, when characters are either good or bad, here we are shown the other side of the wrong doer. He pleads for acquittal when he describes his sickness and inability to control his inner desires.

Peter Lorre A comedian turn villain 

As the era of silent movies were just being phased out, the style of acting (or overacting, over-expressiveness)  still continues. There are a few original ideas of film taking seen here, like the use of mirrors to tell stories and non conventional angles of camera like the ones often seen in Orson Welles' movies.
A true classic!

He did it? He did it not?

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
Director:Fritz Lang

Fritz Lang was already an established film-maker in the German movie scene, with his production of the most expensive and successful silent film 'Metropolis' in 1927. When Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, Josef Goebbels tried to rope him to produce anti-Semantic films and the increased hatred towards the Jews, he absconded to France then to the US. Even though his family was a Christian, his mother was born Jewish. This 1956 was Lang's last film.
Yet another is hanged for murder. Tom (Dana Andrews), an author and his future father in law, Spencer, a newspaper publisher both opponents of capital punishment, plan out a scheme to prove to the courts that they are sending too man to the electric chair based on circumstantial evidence.
When a nightclub is reported killed and the killer is at large, the duo seize their chance. They planted some evidence and led the police to arrest Tom. The scheme was a secret between these two men. Even, Tom's fiancée, Susan (Joan Fontaine) was in the dark about this. The plan was to tell the court the truth once the jury had liberated, all set with photos and all to show that it was all a set-up!
On the day when Spencer was bringing the relevant documents and pictures to the court, his car is hit by a on-coming truck. Spencer, the documents, pictures and Tom's release all burn to the ground.
Tom pleads innocence but without any proof, the jury passes a guilty verdict.

Plotting a scheme

No one believes Tom now, except for Susan. Just when all avenues seem to meet a dead-end, the bank safe deposit contents of Spencer showed some written evidence.
In the meantime, newer investigations revealed that the slain victim had a pseudonym.

But I did it for you, my love!

Just when preparations were in progress for Tom's pardon by the Governor of the state, during a cursory conversation with Susan, Tom mentioned the victim's original name when he was not supposed to know!
Put in a corner, Tom confesses that the victim was indeed was killed by him for they had married when they were teenagers and became clingy and refuse to divorce him for Tom to marry Susan!
The pardon is denied and Tom goes to the chair.
A film noir with a convoluted story from a man who essentially invented the genre - film noir. Nothing great but watchable. Some how, one has the feeling of not being drawn into the sorrows and dilemma of the characters.