Lang's terrifying excursion into the dark underworld of a nightmare city where it is difficult to distinguish morally between the activities of organized crime and organized law enforcement. Caught in the middle and pursued by both law and the syndicate is a pathetic child murderer driven to his crime by loneliness and the despair of the city. Peter Lorre gives his immortal performance, and Lang's direction displays a mastery of nerve-splitting suspense perhaps unequalled in all cinema. Few films have so successfully fused atmosphere with plot, image and sound, and expressed gestures with those unexpressed but felt.