The Return of "M"
The highlight of doing this story was interviewing Harold Nebenzal, a razor-sharp 93-year-old producer whose family has been in the movie business since silent film days. Harold's father Seymour Nebenzal produced "M," the 1931 German Expressionist classic directed by Fritz Lang and starring a young Peter Lorre. Twenty years later, Harold assisted his father in producing a remake set in Los Angeles. The film fell victim to the Red Scare of the 50s -- the director and writer were accused of being Communists -- and was never released. That was the end of the story for more than 60 years, until Nebenzal secured a release for the long-lost film which has met with a rapturous reception.
One interview highlight that didn't make it into the story: Harold Nebenzal remembers visiting the set of the original "M" as a child and watching Fritz Lang at work -- in 1930!
This story aired on KPCC's "The Frame" in 2015.