"Emil and the Detectives" is the type of kids adventure stories that Walt Disney Studios made several of in the 1950s and 1960s. They were always fun and somewhat interesting, though no one ever thought any real harm would come to the heroes. Still they could keep kids on the edge of their seats at times.

This is a fun family film that youngsters especially should enjoy. Although older kids who are addicted to video games and non-stop action films will have to learn how to sit still to enjoy it.

The only actor of any note in this film is Walter Slezak, an Austrian-born character actor who played in dramas, thrillers and comedies. He will be most familiar for his roles in films about WW II when he usually played German officers or high-ranking officials.

Bryan Russell was a fine young actor, playing Emil in this film. But he made only one movie after this, and after a TV series in the mid-1960s, he quit acting.

An interesting aside in this film was its shooting locations in Germany. This was 1964, and it shows some of the rubble yet from World War II. I can attest to that fact, having served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1962 to October of 1964. I was stationed near Mainz, Germany, and that city still had partial blocks in rubble that had not yet been cleaned up and rebuilt.

While Walt Disney began his film-making dynasty with Mickey Mouse and animated films, Disney moved into real-life film later. He developed a mixed genre that incorporated some animation within live action film. A classic example of that was "Mary Poppins."

This is the third movie version of Eric Kastner's oft-filmed story I've seen in the last few years. Once again, Emil, in the form of Bryan Russell, is on his way to spend the summer with his grandmother and cousin in the big city of Berlin; again, the Man In The Bowler Hat steals the money he is carrying for grandma; again, he encounters local kids, who organize and eventually bring justice.

In this Disney version, a major subplot is added (or perhaps restored; I've never read Herr Kastner's story). The Man With The Bowler Hat is involved in a bank robbery ringled by Walter Slezak. There's a nice amount of the effectiveness of gangs of children versus gangs of adults (including the stodgy and thoughtless police), with the points going to the kids; adults refuse to take them seriously at their peril.

The movie is shot in a bright and clean world that emphasizes the benign nature of reality for children, while the bank robbers toil in the grim underworld, trying to tunnel to the bank. the score by Heinz Schreiter is full of woodwinds which constantly informs the audience of the harmless silliness of this particular cinematic universe -- a mistake, I think, but what's a composer to do?

In the end, this is another pleasant version of the story, adding little to it of moment, but giving it a contemporary, 1960s air. I think the best version I've seen remains the original version, released in German in 1931, in no small part because the world in that movie is not so sunny, but the children ignore that in favor of their own constructed world.

During the 1960s and 70s, Disney released a lot of live action films. They were clearly aimed at kids, as if you watch them as an adult, many of them are simply awful. While I wouldn't call "Emil and the Detectives" awful, it is tough going for adults because Disney clearly was thinking only of kids when it inserted all sorts of goofy sound effects and made a film featuring a large cast of kids...some of which weren't very good actors.

I have no idea how closely this story follows the original story by Erich Kästner. I do know, however, that his story was very popular and they made at least six film versions of the "Emil and the Detectives".

The story begins with Emil about to get on the bus for Berlin. His mother does something a bit foolish...she pins a letter with money in it inside his jacket...and then says loud enough for a nearby thug to hear, that he has the money and should give it to his grandmother when he arrives. Naturally, a scum-bag overhears it and ends up stealing the money. But Emil is a very determined kid...and follows the man. Along the way, he also gets help from another boy who has a group of friends he calls his 'detectives' and they go about following the man and his compatriots. Why? Because in this weird world, the police don't listen to children when they report crimes!

So what's good about the film? Well, it actually was filmed mostly in Berlin and it's nice to see the city. It's also interesting to see that some of the town is STILL in ruins almost 20 years after the war. But it also seemed very odd that almost no one had a German accent!

Overall, a mixed bag that I'd rate a 6 or perhaps 7 for kids and a 4 for adults. If your kids want to watch it, it's harmless entertainment, albeit a bit dark in places. But if you are an adult, you might want to have a book or handheld video game handy so you want pay attention to this instead of the film as the kids watch this one.