Emil and the Detectives 1931

Emil and the Detectives

1931 · Germany · Directed by Gerhard Lamprecht · 75 min

FunnyTense Great first watch · Easy Family adventure

A boy robbed on his journey to Berlin recruits a fast-growing group of city children to follow the thief and recover the money.

What to expect

Lamprecht turns real Berlin streets into a child-sized network of surveillance, communication, and collective action. The screenplay’s speed and unsentimental humour make the city exciting without making adults the sole source of competence.

How to ease in

The objective stays simple: Emil must not lose sight of Grundeis. Enjoy how each new child adds a practical skill until pursuit becomes an improvised organisation.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes theft, drugging, child endangerment, pursuit, mild violence, and the social anxieties of late Weimar Germany.
Momo's Note May contain spoilers Who is Momo? →

A boy robbed on his journey to Berlin recruits a fast-growing group of city children to follow the thief and recover the money.

Emil arrives alone, but the city becomes readable once the children share information. I love how quickly friendship turns pavements, telephones, and bicycles into a public intelligence system.

Open the note ↓

Emil arrives alone, but the city becomes readable once the children share information. I love how quickly friendship turns pavements, telephones, and bicycles into a public intelligence system.

— Momo

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Credits & versions

Version map

Wikidata 75-minute listing75 min75 minutes reproduces the single duration stated by the source. The listing does not identify a cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration.Runtime reference · Checked 2026-08-22

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