Lang considered M to be his favorite of his own films because of the social criticism in the film. In 1937, he told a reporter that he made the film "to warn mothers about neglecting children".[36] The film has appeared on multiple lists as one of the greatest films ever made. It was voted the best German film of all time with 306 votes in a 1994 poll of 324 film journalists, film critics, filmmakers, and cineastes organized by the Association of German Cinémathèques.[51] It is included in Empire's 100 Best Films of World Cinema in 2010.[52] It is listed in the film reference book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which says: "Establishing conventions still being used by serial killer movies, Lang and scenarist Thea von Harbou intercut the pathetic life of the murderer with the frenzy of the police investigation into the outrageous crimes, and pay attention to issues of press coverage of the killings, vigilante action, and the political pressure that comes down from the politicians and hinders as much as encourages the police."[53] In 2018, it was voted the thirteenth greatest foreign-language film of all time in BBC's poll of 209 critics in 43 countries.[54] The film is also referenced in the song "In Germany Before the War" by American songwriter Randy Newman in his 1977 album Little Criminals.[55]
A scene from the movie was used in the 1940 Nazi propaganda movie The Eternal Jew.[56]
Remakes and adaptations
A Hollywood remake of the same title was released in 1951, shifting the action from Berlin to Los Angeles. Nero Films head Seymour Nebenzal and his son Harold produced the film for Columbia Pictures. Lang had once told a reporter: "People ask me why I do not remake M in English. I have no reason to do that. I said all I had to say about that subject in the picture. Now, I have other things to say."[22] The remake was directed by Joseph Losey and starred David Wayne in Lorre's role. Losey stated that he had seen M in the early 1930s and watched it again shortly before shooting the remake, but that he "never referred to it. I only consciously repeated one shot. There may have been unconscious repetitions in terms of the atmosphere, of certain sequences."[22] Lang later said that when the remake was released, he "had the best reviews of [his] life".[24]
In 2003, M was adapted for radio by Peter Straughan and broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 2 February, later re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 8 October 2016.[57] Directed by Toby Swift, this drama won the Prix Italia for Adapted Drama in 2004.[58]
Writer Jon J. Muth adapted the screenplay into a four-part comic book series in 1990, which was reissued as a graphic novel in 2008.[59]
In 2015, Joseph D. Kucan adapted the screenplay into a theatrical stageplay entitled A Summons from the Tinker to Assemble the Membership in Secret at the Usual Place for production by the Las Vegas-based theatre company A Public Fit. The play is environmental in nature, transforming its audience into the members of the criminal underground who have captured - and will judge - the elusive serial child murderer. The play is primarily a courtroom drama, presented with no fourth wall, and utilizes flashback sequences to tell the story of the man's detection, capture and confession. A brief segment of the play is dedicated to improvised audience debate and deliberation.[60]
In 2019, a six-episode Austrian-German TV-series was released titled "M — A City Hunts a Murderer".[61]
