Emil and the Detectives (1964)

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:

Peter Tewksbury

Writers:

AJ Carothers, Erich Kästner (novel) (as Berthold Bürger)

Stars:

Walter Slezak, Bryan Russell, Roger Mobley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Slezak	...	Baron
Bryan Russell	...	Emil Tischbein (as Bryan Russel)
Roger Mobley	...	Gustav
Heinz Schubert	...	Grundeis
Peter Ehrlich	...	Müller
Cindy Cassell	...	Pony (as Cindy Cassel)
Elsa Wagner	...	Nana
Eva Ingeborg Scholz	...	Frau Tischbein (as Eva-Ingeborg Scholz)
Wolfgang Völz	...	Wachtmeister Stucke
Franz Nicklisch	...	Desk Sergeant
Brian Richardson	...	Professor
Robert Swann	...	Hermann
David Petrychka	...	Dienstag
Ann Noland	...	Frieda
Ron Johnson	...	Rudolf

Storyline

When Emil travels by bus to Berlin to visit his grandmother and his cousin, his money is stolen by a crook who specializes in digging tunnels. Emil must get the money back as it is for his grandmother. While following the thief, Emil runs into Gustav, an enterprising young boy who gathers up all his friends to help Emil find the money. Emil's cousin also gets involved and they get into more trouble than they bargained for when Emil's pickpocket turns out to be mixed up with a couple of notorious bank robbers.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | boy | tunnel | pickpocket | bus | 

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Taglines:

Drama! Laughter! Adventure! Action! Fun!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Drama | Crime

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Emilio y los detectives

Filming Locations:

Alsfeld, Hesse, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy Wilder apparently contributed to the screenplay.

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Goofs

When Gustav phones Dienstag, Dienstag's sister Frieda, who Dienstag has locked out of the room, is reaching in through a window and has picked the handset off the ringing phone when Dienstag seizes her hand at 0:38:05, but an insert shot at 0:38:07 shows the handset is still setting on the phone which is still ringing.

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Quotes

Emil Tischbein: He wears a checkered suit with a big silver chain across the front, and he wiggles his ears.

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Connections

References Seduction by the Sea (1963)

User Reviews

They gutted the book.

One of the most dreadful adaptations of a book I've seen in a long time. Disney took the delightful and touching 1929 novel by Erich Kästner and turned it into something utterly ridiculous. In the first half-minute I knew something was going to be off when they revealed straight away who the robber was for certain, thus destroying any sense of mystery and tension the book had. Moreover they made the Grundeis character so grossly unbelievable as a person, it was hardly watchable. And the detectives...all the charm and comradery of the group of boys who help Emil in the book was lost in this film. In the film, they were basically hired for a tenner.