Emil und die Detektive (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1931)

The first screen adaptation of Erich Kästner's children's adventure best-seller, the popularity of which extended far beyond Germany, Emil and the Detectives is somewhat of a historical curio due to the novel's setting in the years of the Great Depression and subsequent filming in the last days of the Weimar Republic. Added to this is the presence of Billy Wilder as scriptwriter before his flight to Hollywood and the end result is very odd indeed. The basic framework is a precursor of the Famous Five genre, with a plucky young boy and his cohorts bringing down an adult villain who has robbed him, but the Berlin setting with its low-lifes, unusual for the children's literature of the time, and the strong influence of expressionism in the photography, particularly in a tripped-out sequence where the hero is drugged by the crook, confound expectations constantly.

6/10