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Emil and the Detectives

1935 · 70 min

A charming, brisk adventure with a plucky kid and a lively gang, offering mild suspense and old-fashioned warmth.

Overview
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.

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Rent in the UK
  • BFI Player
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • warmstrength 2 of 3
  • lightstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 1 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • friendship
  • justice
  • coming-of-age
  • family
  • crime
Places
  • big city
  • road trip
Era
period
Audience
family
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language none
  • Violence none
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror0
Humour5
Realism7
Romance0
Tension4
Darkness2
Complexity3
Emotional weight4

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent
  • BFI Player

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy, crime
Directed by
Milton Rosmer
Written by
Billy Wilder
Starring
John Williams, George Hayes, Mary Glynne, Clare Greet, George Merritt, Marion Foster, Donald Pittman, John Singer
Music
Allan Gray
Cinematography
Mutz Greenbaum, George Stretton
Runtime
70 min
Country
United Kingdom
Languages
English

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