Emil and the Detectives

Classic 1931 adaptation of Eric Kastner’s much-loved children’s book.

When young Emil is sent to Berlin by his mother, the money he is carrying to give to his grandmother is stolen by a sinister man on the train. Once in Berlin, Emil follows the thief and enlists the help of a gang of youngsters – ‘the detectives’ – to help retrieve the stolen money.

This classic 1931 German adaptation of Eric Kastner’s much-loved children’s book was written by Kastner himself in collaboration with the legendary Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard, The Apartment) and an uncredited Emeric Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death, Red Shoes). Emil and the Detectives was one of the first German sound films, and provides a fascinating glimpse of Berlin before Nazism and the Second World War.

Special features

  • Emil and the Detectives (Milton Rosmer, 1935, 60 mins): Rare 1935 British adaptation, set on the streets of London, newly transferred from the only surviving film element.
  • Fully illustrated booklet with original reviews and new essays by Michael Rosen, Bryony Dixon and Caren Willig.

Product information

    • Certificate

      Exempt

    • Colour

      Black/white

    • Sound

      Sound

    • Running time

      69mins

    • Languages

      German

    • Subtitles

      English

    • Original aspect ratio

      1.33:1

    • DVD region

      • 2 Europe (except Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus), Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories

    • Blu-ray region

      • B - Includes most European and Middle-Eastern countries, all of Africa, Australia and New Zealand

    • Catalogue number

      BFIV981

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