Emil and the Detectives

First saw this in a movie theater when I was 11 years old and just saw it again this week on Turner Classic Movies. It made a big impression on me when I was a kid and I'm pleased the experience stood up. Understand that this is completely a kids movie. The characters are very broad and actually quite cartoonish (though the same could be said for Quentin Tarantino movies). Gender stereotypes are consistent with the period. The plot is wildly implausible, like many children's books, but who cares?

So what did I like about it so much? All the main actors had charisma to spare and the minor actors were quirky and more than a little unusual. Bryan Russell and Walter Slezak are particular favorites. Though I hardly understood World War II as a child I now appreciate seeing Berlin less than 20 years after that war ended. And the attitudes towards Germany at this time. The photography is vividly colorful and flattering to Berlin. The bouncy score is happy-making and infectious. Mostly, I loved the sense of ebullient, delirious adventure and camaraderie among the detectives. Really echoes my idea of the limitless adventure of childhood at its best. Bravo!

A respectable and watchable film.

I do feel 'Emil and the Detectives' could've been bigger and better, there's a load of good ingredients there. With that said, it is still a film that has its pluses. One is how it looks, with cool shots of 1960s Berlin. Another is the humour which is pretty solid.

The cast is where it gets underwhelming, not in terms of the actors but just in regards to the characters and their respective developments. Heinz Schubert, Walter Slezak and Peter Ehrlich are suitable choices to portray Grundeis, The Baron and Müller. However, they never really get out of second gear. I personally wanted more from the trio.

Then you have the child actors, for which there are many - probably too many as none of them, aside from Emil (Bryan Russell) and Gustav (Roger Mobley), get much development or even serious screen time.

As for the premise, it's entertaining. Like with what I've already noted, it's all just a bit safe and mild. It definitely could've been greater. I still had a fun enough time with this, though.

Enjoy a step back in time to West Berlin, Germany, during the early 1960s when Germany was divided and skrinks were invading.

Real scenery, real buildings, real vehicles -- it's not an imagining in a fantasy land, it's what actually did exist at one time and some of it still does today. (Note the tall hexagon-shaped building and old church in the background when Gustav and Emil meet; it's the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church located at Lietzenburgerstrasse 39, 10789 Berlin)

1960s style, fashion, costumes -- each character's outfit defines them and adds to the charm of the story; whether it's an actual character in the script or a nameless passerby in the background, the styles and colors are captivating.

Story narrator, opening credits, film effects, editing -- enjoyable features that add to the story and help it move along; even during the slower-moving moments of the film, I'm still intrigued by the scenery, the background, the music, the writing, or other subtle elements that could be edited away but it wouldn't necessarily make the film better, just shorter.

Young detectives, innocent loyal do-gooders, solving problems together in a more adult manner than adults in modern films.

Score, background music, sound effects -- I don't have to watch every second to know what's going on because the sounds and music tell the story too; while it's not a musical, the music is essential to the movie.

Dry humor, no swearing, witty insightful writing with good moral lessons and silly words that should get used more, like 'skrink' and 'skrunky'.

Stunts, physical work -- not high-impact but highly enjoyable.

Cartoonish villains that aren't animated and don't cause serious harm to anyone as much as they try -- similar to the Apple Dumpling Gang or the bad guys in That Darn Cat; other good titles would be the Apple Streusel Gang or That Darn Skrink.

Worst thing about movie: I didn't know it existed the first 41 years of my life.

Thanks to TCM and their Disney Vault series for making these movies available without commercials, and with captions too!

This is the third movie version of Eric Kastner's oft-filmed story I've seen in the last few years. Once again, Emil, in the form of Bryan Russell, is on his way to spend the summer with his grandmother and cousin in the big city of Berlin; again, the Man In The Bowler Hat steals the money he is carrying for grandma; again, he encounters local kids, who organize and eventually bring justice.

In this Disney version, a major subplot is added (or perhaps restored; I've never read Herr Kastner's story). The Man With The Bowler Hat is involved in a bank robbery ringled by Walter Slezak. There's a nice amount of the effectiveness of gangs of children versus gangs of adults (including the stodgy and thoughtless police), with the points going to the kids; adults refuse to take them seriously at their peril.

The movie is shot in a bright and clean world that emphasizes the benign nature of reality for children, while the bank robbers toil in the grim underworld, trying to tunnel to the bank. the score by Heinz Schreiter is full of woodwinds which constantly informs the audience of the harmless silliness of this particular cinematic universe -- a mistake, I think, but what's a composer to do?

In the end, this is another pleasant version of the story, adding little to it of moment, but giving it a contemporary, 1960s air. I think the best version I've seen remains the original version, released in German in 1931, in no small part because the world in that movie is not so sunny, but the children ignore that in favor of their own constructed world.

Back when I was in school taking high school Spanish, this book in a Spanish translation was a text used in my course. We read it for about a third of the semester. Of course it was called Emilio Y Los Detectivos.

So of course I had to go see Emil and the Detectives when it was out in the theater and I found it to be a very good Disney production of the story. To make it cinematically viable parts of the story were emphasized and others were not.

Walter Slezak looked like he was having a great old time playing the master criminal who just can't get good help. Young Bryan Russell is on a train to Berlin to visit his grandmother and he had a sum of money which unfortunately attracts the attention of Heinz Schubert one of two lugnuts who are Slezak's henchmen. Slezak, Schubert, and Peter Ehrlich are planning a bank robbery, a tunnel job. Slezak is understandably upset that Schubert would risk arrest for a petty theft and thereby put the bank job in jeopardy.

But it's no petty theft to Russell who falls in with a gang of Berlin street urchins headed by Roger Mobley. Since this is a Disney film, I think you can guess the rest of it. The kids deal with the crooks in their own unique way.

I remember it was a fun movie and I did so enjoy Walter Slezak in the role of the master criminal done in by kids. I do so hope TCM runs this at some point.