In West Germany, Ten-year old Emil Tischbein (Bryan Russell) travels by bus to Berlin, carrying an envelope containing 400 marks that his mother has sent him to deliver to his grandmother. While on the bus, Emil is hypnotized by a shady man (Heinz Schubert) who pickpockets then envelope. Emil wakes up in time to spot the thief and follows him through the streets of Berlin unable to get any assistance from the police who write off his claims as flights of fantasy. A local boy named Gustav (Roger Mobley) offers his services as a Private Detective, and obtaining a clue from the thief, the two rendezvous with other detectives at their headquarters (a flat belonging to one of the boy detectives). As the Detectives track down the thief, they find themselves stumbling on a much larger caper in the works.
Emil and the Detectives is the fourth Official adaptation of the children's book of the same name by Erich Kastner. First published in 1929, the book became Kastner's first major success with its English translation in 1931 being released to equal success. The book's first Weimer Republic adaptation in 1931 is known mainly for being one of the earlier works by Billy Wilder before Wilder moved to the United States for his successful Hollywood crossover. The Book was officially adapted twice more (once in Britain and again in West Germany) with two unofficial adaptations in Japan and Brazil. Emil and the Detectives marks Disney's second time adapting one of Kastner's works with the 1961 adaptation of Lottie and Lisa resulting in the critical and commercial hit The Parent Trap. Disney probably sought to replicate the success by adapting one of Kastner's other works the decision to go with a widely known work (at the time) like Emil and the Detectives. Unfortunately, the 1964 adaptation of Emil and the Detectives is a decidedly lesser effort for Disney.
The plot is pretty standard children's fare with country boy Emil being entrusted with delivering money for his grandmother only for the money to be stolen by a crook and Emil must enlist the help of citywise boys to help reclaim his stolen money and bring the thief to justice. At it's core it's a straightforward moral of not trusting strangers (especially since in the original novel Emil falls asleep because of a drugged chocolate given to him by the thief) but it's not unworkable for a film to have some charm and heart. Unfortunately the 1964 version of Emil and the Detectives is overly slow in its pacing and broad in its humor. The movie makes the thief in this adaptation very "mime-ish" for lack of a better word with a very broad borderline pantomime approach that along with a directorial style and musical delivery that's overly self-aware with tired usages of whistle stairs, kettle drum stings for bumping into things, and a general feeling of pandering to the audience in overselling every gag. Admittedly it's not unbearable as I've seen stuff like Million Dollar Duck that went past the point of tolerance into levels of obnoxiousness, but when compared to something like That Darn Cat or The Moon-Spinners that had similar types of plots but actually respected their audience Emil and the Detectives just comes off as rather lacking. Even Roger Mobley's take on Gustav with his Detectives feels like Mobley's been directed to ape Bobby Driscoll's take on Peter Pan with a lot of similarities in tone and deliver to how Peter Pan and the Lost Boys interacted.
Emil and the Detectives is broad and silly, but without engaging central performances or tight pacing it becomes a rather tiresome viewing. Maybe young children might enjoy it, but that's assuming they don't get bored by the slow pacing.
Emil and the Detectives is the fourth Official adaptation of the children's book of the same name by Erich Kastner. First published in 1929, the book became Kastner's first major success with its English translation in 1931 being released to equal success. The book's first Weimer Republic adaptation in 1931 is known mainly for being one of the earlier works by Billy Wilder before Wilder moved to the United States for his successful Hollywood crossover. The Book was officially adapted twice more (once in Britain and again in West Germany) with two unofficial adaptations in Japan and Brazil. Emil and the Detectives marks Disney's second time adapting one of Kastner's works with the 1961 adaptation of Lottie and Lisa resulting in the critical and commercial hit The Parent Trap. Disney probably sought to replicate the success by adapting one of Kastner's other works the decision to go with a widely known work (at the time) like Emil and the Detectives. Unfortunately, the 1964 adaptation of Emil and the Detectives is a decidedly lesser effort for Disney.
The plot is pretty standard children's fare with country boy Emil being entrusted with delivering money for his grandmother only for the money to be stolen by a crook and Emil must enlist the help of citywise boys to help reclaim his stolen money and bring the thief to justice. At it's core it's a straightforward moral of not trusting strangers (especially since in the original novel Emil falls asleep because of a drugged chocolate given to him by the thief) but it's not unworkable for a film to have some charm and heart. Unfortunately the 1964 version of Emil and the Detectives is overly slow in its pacing and broad in its humor. The movie makes the thief in this adaptation very "mime-ish" for lack of a better word with a very broad borderline pantomime approach that along with a directorial style and musical delivery that's overly self-aware with tired usages of whistle stairs, kettle drum stings for bumping into things, and a general feeling of pandering to the audience in overselling every gag. Admittedly it's not unbearable as I've seen stuff like Million Dollar Duck that went past the point of tolerance into levels of obnoxiousness, but when compared to something like That Darn Cat or The Moon-Spinners that had similar types of plots but actually respected their audience Emil and the Detectives just comes off as rather lacking. Even Roger Mobley's take on Gustav with his Detectives feels like Mobley's been directed to ape Bobby Driscoll's take on Peter Pan with a lot of similarities in tone and deliver to how Peter Pan and the Lost Boys interacted.
Emil and the Detectives is broad and silly, but without engaging central performances or tight pacing it becomes a rather tiresome viewing. Maybe young children might enjoy it, but that's assuming they don't get bored by the slow pacing.