The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953)

After coming to America, Fritz Lang exerted considerable influence over film noir--it's not hard to see how its themes and concerns might have presented an American counterpart to Lang's interests in M.
This scene sums up the atmosphere of corruption and duplicity that permeates film noir--and reminds us that, while noir often seems to present central female figures as the source of moral corruption, it also exposes the violence to women in male-dominated social groups--in this instance in a way that is shocking because it's casual as much as because it's so brutal.

From Siegfried (The Nibelungen) - Fritz Lang, 1922

The celebrated scene in which Siegfried slays the dragon. Bathing in its blood, he becomes invincible--except for one tiny patch on his shoulderblade where the blood did not reach. It is there that he is ultimately struck by a spear and killed.