M stands for Mörder (Murderer), as a serial child-killer is hunted in Weimar Berlin by the cops ... and by the city’s criminal gangs, who detest the inconvenient police activity. Lang’s moody indictment of mob mentality was filmed as armed Nazi squads beat down opposition in the streets less than two years before Nazism took over. Nazism's opponents were busy fighting each other.

This was Fritz Lang’s first ‘talking picture’, and there is minimal dialogue. Lang's M is a trailblazer of no less than three genres: the serial killer movie, the police procedural, and noir film. It excels in all three.

To inspired effect, cinematographer Fritz Arno Wagner creeps the camera through streets and into dives - a veritable low-down view of society.

The UK licence for M expires one day after this performance, so this might be the last chance for some time that many of us get to see this masterpiece of 1930s cinema on the big screen. Don't miss it!

Join Ryde Film Club on the door and get admission for £5 instead of £7 (visitors). (Annual membership of RFC costs £10.)