 Swiftly banned by Paris police chief Jean Chiappe, it was unavailable for fifty years.The earliest sound movie now acknowledged by most film historians as a masterpiece is Nero-Film's "M", directed by Fritz Lang, which premiered May 11, 1931.As described by Roger Ebert, "Many early talkies felt they had to talk all the time, but Lang allows his camera to prowl through the streets and dives, providing a rat's-eye view."