Emil and the Detectives (1931)

Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.

Director:

Gerhard Lamprecht

Writers:

Erich Kästner (from the novel by), Billy Wilder (screenplay) (as Billie Wilder)

Stars:

Rolf Wenkhaus, Käthe Haack, Fritz Rasp

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rolf Wenkhaus	...	Emil Tischbein
Käthe Haack	...	Frau Tischbein, Emils Mutter
Fritz Rasp	...	Grundeis
Rudolf Biebrach	...	Wachtmeister Jeschke
Olga Engl	...	Großmama
Inge Landgut	...	Pony Hütchen
Hans Joachim Schaufuß	...	Gustav mit der Hupe (as Hans Schaufuß)
Hans Richter	...	Fliegender Hirsch
Hans Löhr	...	Dienstag
Ernst-Eberhard Reling	...	Gerold
Waldemar Kupczyk	...	Mittenzwei
Martin Rickelt	...	Bellboy (as Martin Baumann)
Gerhard Dammann
Rudolf Lettinger
Margarete Sachse

Storyline

Emil goes to Berlin to see his grandmother with a large amount of money and is offered sweets by a strange man that make him sleep. He wakes up at his stop with no money. It is up to him and a group of children to save the day.

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Plot Keywords:

germany | boy | family relationships | thief | train | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Drama | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Many of the boy actors from this movie died as soldiers in World War II.

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Goofs

When the train carrying Emil from the fictional "Neustadt" to Berlin stops at the intermediate station where all the passengers except Emil and Grundeis, the man with the bowler hat, leave the compartment, its engine is a 2-6-0 Deutsche Reichsbahn Class 38, formerly a Prussian P 8 passenger engine. When the train leaves that station, it is suddenly a DR Class 17, formerly a Prussian 4-6-0 S 10 express train locomotive. When the train enters Berlin's Zoo Station, it has reverted back to a 38/P 8.

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Connections

Version of Emil und die Detektive (1954)

User Reviews

The man with the stiff hat

After the children's book "Emil und die Detektive" was published in 1928 this first screen version was made in 1931 under the supervision of the author Erich Kästner himself.

The story seems simple: young Emil gets to visit his granny in Berlin and is given 140 marks by his mother for his grandma. On the train to Berlin the 140 marks are stolen by a man with a stiff hat while Emil sleeps. Arriving in Berlin he tries to follow the thief and receives help from a well organized and nice "gang" of Berlin street "detectives" in his age. A happy end seems possible.

While the movie contains a very entertaining story itself, an even more interesting detail of this movie is in its backdrop: an authentic Berlin of 1931 with open cabs, cars driving next to coaches, wide streets with lots of space for cyclists and so on. I always wondered when viewing older city maps what street life was like in the twenties of the last century when the streets were not as crowded as today, when the speed difference between pedestrians, cyclists, cars and coaches was still comparable in human measures.

The camera work, special effects (Emils dream on the train) and movie music are distinctly thirty-ish which made this movie even more interesting to me. All in all a very enjoyable movie for kids and adults alike.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

26 December 1931 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Emil and the Detectives

Filming Locations:

Werder upon Havel, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1