Emil and the Detectives (1931) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by Sidibus ★★★

  English Version below ...

  Emil und die Detektive (1931)

  Parole Emil!

  Emil Tischbein darf die Ferien bei seiner Grossmutter in Berlin verbringen. Auf der Zugfahrt lernt er Herrn Grundeis kennen. Bei seiner Ankunft in Berlin ist jedoch sein ganzes Geld gestohlen. Gut, dass Emil Gustav mit der Hupe und dessen Freunde kennen lernt. Gemeinsam mit den Jungs und seiner Cousine Pony Hütchen heftet er sich an die Fersen des Diebes.

  Einer der allerersten Kinder-Tonfilme. Kaum zwei Jahre nach Erscheinen von Erich Kästners Klassiker.

  Gleich in der Anfangsequenz hab ich die alte Mühle von Werder an der Havel erkannt. War dort erst kürzlich auf Besuch. Witzig...

  Gustav mit der Hupe, der fliegende Hirsch mit dem Tretroller Mustang ... die Detektive sind…

• Review by Rick Burin ★★★★

  This early talkie take on the classic kids' book, made in Germany from a script by Billy Wilder and Emeric Pressburger, is both remarkably accomplished and true to the spirit of its source. Stylish, airy and with some great location shooting, it's also a kiddie companion to the adolescent People on Sunday, that gobsmacking slice of summer escapism that had come a year earlier.

  The story sees mischievous, resourceful Emil (Rolf Wenkhaus) being put on the train to Berlin by his mum. In his pocket is the 140 marks he must give to his grandmother: a fortune to their impoverished family. Enter the most suspicious-looking man in the world (creepy Fritz Rasp), who drugs Emil with a poisoned sweet -…

• Review by Krautsalat ★★★★

  Fast paced early talkie written by Billy Wilder. There's a pretty freaky dream sequence and the villain looks like Hitler.

• Review by OlivierBL ★★★★ 2

  Y'a pas d'enfant qui essaie de se tuer dans celui-là! Un excellent Lamprecht et l'un des premiers films sur le CV de "Billie" Wilder, qui l'a scénarisé.

  Emil se fait voler son cash dans le train pis y'a à peu près 3000 kids qui l'aident à retrouver le voleur. C'est vraiment cute, mais je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de me demander combien de ces enfants allaient se faire élever dans la haine de l'autre et tuer/se faire tuer au cours des années qui allaient suivre...

• Review by Malcolm ★★★

  I readtheclassic children’s novel at school. We were also shown the ‘60s Disney version, about which the only thing I remember is being annoyed by the actors’ pronunciation of Emil’s name. This charming German version, an early talkie with a screenplay co-written by Billy Wilder and Emeric Pressburger, is notable for some creative filmmaking, particularly during the strikingly avant-garde dream sequence.

  Fun takeaways: I guess that back then, a parent was satisfied with their kid brushing his teeth twice a week, offering cigarettes to children was socially acceptable and a gentleman would dress in his pyjamas before removing his bowler hat.

  Sadly but unsurprisingly, it seems that most of the young actors from this movie met their ends a decade or so later in World War II.

  1931 ranked

• Review by darrenj ★★★½

  LSC 2015-16: Week 27: Pre-Hitler German Week

  Enjoyable early talkie featuring some great special effects. Must be a very early example of a children's film, too?

  Loved the intro, with Emil and his friends dressing up the statue in the park to look like the local policeman. And the hallucinatory sequence in the train after Emil has been drugged by the thief is extraordinary. Also, the way the kids got together to track him down and the great array of characters they had. Flying Stag, who would only speak like an Indian chief, was particularly good, even if he was only on screen for a short time.

  All this and Pony Hütchen! Great fun all round.

• Review by Zedda Zogenau ★★★★

  Parole Emil!
  Mit dieser noch immer besten Verfilmung des Klassikers von Erich Kästner landeten die UFA und der Regisseur Gerhard Lamprecht (1897-1974) einen Welterfolg. Als Ergänzung sollte man unbedingt den wunderbar gelungenen Fernsehfilm KÄSTNER UND DER KLEINE DIENSTAG über die Dreharbeiten des Klassikers ansehen

• Review by dirtylaundri ★★★★

  Well-made adaptation of the novel, with expert casting ... although, as pitch-perfect Fritz Rasp is as Grundeis, the only thing in here that's really disturbing is the effortless, natural emergence out of nowhere not of a mob, but of a well-oiled, hierarchical structured combat unit. In fact, the well-oiledness and the hierarchical structure is a perfectly sufficient reason for the boys to join the cause. Let's be part of the machine, no further agitation necessary.

• Review by splatty ★★★★

  Movie Challenge 2020: 104 Years in 52 Weeks: Movie #32 out of 104

  There are some scenes in this kids-movie, that are really creepy as hell, especially this extremely surreal sequence on the train in the beginning. This must have scared the shit out of a young audience.

  #52years20

• Review by PUNQ ★★★

  A really good childrens movie with legendary German movie villain Fritz Rasp as the thief who steals Emil's money. That sets up kids from all over the place to hunt for the thief to try and catch him. I especially loved the way the established Rasp as the bad guy on the train with all the trick photography to let everyone know he was a real sleezebag.

• Review by Anna Pirozhinskaya 2

  Смотрела для учебы. Немецкий экспрессионизм того времени присутствует даже в фильмах для детей.

  alternative poster:
  imgur.com/a/zzvvAVY

• Review by Autist ohne Eigenschaften ★★★★

  A bunch of Asperger kids go crazy smoking the peace pipe and chasing a Hitler look-alike around 1930's Berlin. The plot, written by Billy Wilder, is occasionally even better than Kästner's original novel. Why are today's children's films all so stiff and pseudo-mature?

  PS: The deeper meaning is, of course, political: Kästner's utopian ideal was that the mostly irrational and violent collectives of modern mass society, which Fritz Lang portrays in his movies, could behave as orderly and peacefully as these children do. In what kind of political system this ideal might be fulfilled is anyone's guess. But the decision making of Emil's friends seems more authoritarian than democratic to me.