Emil and the detectives a film by gerhard lamprecht when young emil is sent to berlin by his mother, the money he is carrying to give to his granny 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 erich 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, the red shoes. One of the first german sound films, emil and the detectives provides a fascinating glimpse of berlin before nazism and the second world cinema war special features emil and the detectives milton rosmer, 1935, 60 mins once considered to be a lost film, this rare british adaptation, set on the streets of london, has been newly transferred from the only surviving film elements fully illustrated booklet with original promotional material, contemporary reviews, and new essays by bryony dixon, caren willig and children's laureate michael rosen germany 1931 black and white german language, with english subtitles 69 minutes dolby digital mono audio 320kbps dvd9 original aspect ratio 1.331 region 2 dvd running time 75 minutes region region 2 subtitles english release date 15 07 2013