ComedyCrime

Emil and the Detectives

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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.

Release Date : 1935-02-05

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Richard Wainwright Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

John Williams

Character Name : Emil

Original Name : John Williams

Gender : Male

George Hayes

Character Name : The Man in The Boeler Hat

Original Name : George Hayes

Gender : Male

Mary Glynne

Character Name : Mrs. Blake

Original Name : Mary Glynne

Gender : Female

Clare Greet

Character Name : Grandma

Original Name : Clare Greet

Gender : Female

George Merritt

Character Name : PC

Original Name : George Merritt

Gender : Male

Marion Foster

Character Name : Polly

Original Name : Marion Foster

Gender : Male

Donald Pittman

Character Name : Gussy

Original Name : Donald Pittman

Gender : Male

John Singer

Character Name : Thesday

Original Name : John Singer

Gender : Male

Derek Blomfield

Character Name : Jerry

Original Name : Derek Blomfield

Gender : Male

Robert Rietti

Character Name : Professor

Original Name : Robert Rietti

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-12-02

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