Emil and the Detectives Reviews

The sixth movie version of Erich Kastner's classic children's novel (of the other five, two versions were German, one each British, Japanese, and Brazilian) gets the full Disney treatment here. Bryan Russell plays the hapless Emil, a young boy who is robbed while on a bus ride to visit his aunt. Instead of going to the police, Emil enlists a group of kids who fancy themselves detectives to help him catch the pickpocket (Heinz Schubert). Director Peter Tewksbury uses the bombed-out buildings of Berlin to excellent advantage.