I had to do it! To save them from the horrors they were to face growing up!

kapelusznik18

***SPOILERS*** Excellent English language re-make of the 1931 German Fritz Lang crime classic "M" about a child murderer who's caught and tried by his own kind-criminals-for crimes that even they find beyond the pale. Martin Harrow, David Wayne, has been suffering from mantel illness since he was a child and now fully grown up, at age 35, those horrors of his childhood have come to manifest themselves to him as an a adult. Picking up school girls and offering them candy and ice cream Harrow ends up murdering them and mysteriously keeping their shoes as trophies of his crimes. With an all out dragnet by the L.A police to catch the child murderer it's the mob headed by crime kingpin Charlie Marshall, Martin Gabel, who puts out a contract on him; Not to whack him or rub him out but capture him and put him on trail from the crimes that he committed.

Marshall feels in him bringing the child killer to justice it will take the heat of him and his crime syndicate by the LAPD headed by Chief Carney, Howard De Silva, and his hot handed assistant Lt. Becker, Steve Brodie, who seem to be totally helpless in capturing him. With the mob mobilizing all its resources they finally track Harrow down with his latest but still live victim 10 year old girl Janine Perreau at the deserted Bradbury Building in downtown L.A. Caught and brought to this mob run taxi garage Harrow is to learn his fate as Marshall's mouthpiece or high priced, with bottles of gin & scotch, shyster Daniel Langley, Luther Adler, acting as his public or mob picked defender.

****SPOILERS**** Langley despite his severe alcoholism makes a brilliant defense of the what looked like doomed to die Harrow about his mantel illness that has controlled his actions during his six month murder spree. This is not what Marshall wanted in being put, together with his goons, in the same boat as Harrow who he feels he's an upright and law abiding citizen in comparison. With the helpless, from being beaten up by the mob, Harrow looking on his trial turns out to be not just against him but the person who had him captured and put on trial for murder the mob boss Charlie Marshall! With the police suddenly showing up and about to arrest,from his mob captors, Harrow Marshall lose it and with Langley exposing him and his mob's actions blows him away with the startled police being eyewitness to the murder looking on! Check out Marshall's top enforcer who does all the dirty work and heavy lifting, like breaking heads arms & legs, for him Pottsy played by a gorilla like Raymond Burr before he shed over 100 pounds and played a slimmed down looking Perry Mason on TV.

score 8/10

kapelusznik18 6 April 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3216692/