Emil and the Detectives

I have to admit this is the first film version I have seen of this classic children's adventure story. Country boy Emil is sent to stay with his grandma in London for a while. He carries £6 worth of his mother's hard-earned money as he boards a train to take him to Charing Cross. He is left alone in on of the rail compartments with a stranger who has been telling all sorts of weird stories of what London has in store for a boy visiting London. George Hayes gives a mesmerizing and creepy performance as the stranger in the bowler hat. His characterization is a good example of the ideal children's adventure villain. He is polite and precise but with a sinister smile that should have warned Emil not to trust him. In London Emil is joined by a chummy horde of boys all eager to help track down the man in the bowler hat. This movie gives some indication of how English lads of the 1930s behaved and of their interests in play. I noted the presence of push scooters that are now back in fashion as the most convenient way to get to school by many. Allan Gray's music is a superb accompaniment to the action with it's various themes of mysterioso and whimsy and adventure-gallop at the appropriate moments of this movie.