Feature1935·70m·5.5

Emil and the Detectives

ComedyCrime

Erich Kästner’s beloved novel has been adapted for film or television six times since its publication in 1929; this 1935 British version was the first in English. Believed lost for decades, it was recently rediscovered by the BFI and has now been restored. The film moves the action from Berlin to London, where Emil goes to stay with his grandmother and cousin. Thereafter, the tale of Emil’s adventures with a gang of streetwise London children faithfully follows the original plot.

Play now

Cast

John Williams

Emil

George Hayes

The Man in The Boeler Hat

Mary Glynne

Mrs. Blake

Clare Greet

Grandma

George Merritt

PC

Marion Foster

Polly

Donald Pittman

Gussy

John Singer

Thesday

Derek Blomfield

Jerry

Robert Rietti

Professor

Details

Status
Released
Original language
English
Languages
English
Budget
Revenue
Age rating
Quality
4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production
Richard Wainwright Productions

Crew

Director

Milton Rosmer

Writers

Erich Kästner, Margaret Carter, Frank Launder, Billy Wilder

George Stretton

Director of Photography

Cyril Heck

Editor

Mutz Greenbaum

Director of Photography

Allan Gray

Original Music Composer

Reviews

CinemaSerf

12/2/2024

6.0

John Williams is "Emil", a young lad who is the victim of a robbery whilst travelling on a train to visit his grandmother. Suspicious of the "Man in the Bowler Hat" (George Hayes) it falls to him and group of London street urchins to recover this quite substantial amount of cash. Some British cinema-goers may recall the Children's Film Foundation films, and this comes across very much as they do. Essentially for children, this adventure gives a collection of youngsters the chance to have some fun on screen and for the Saturday morning audience to join in. The oddly placed audio effects spoil it rather, but it is still a well produced little effort with a solid cast, a little scripted humour and Williams and Clare Greet as his grannie manage to keep this moving along quite well. Not really for the grown ups, but as an example of what kept us all amused almost a century ago, it is still worth a gander