Read Erich Kästner's 1928 novel about young Emil Tischbein and the Berlin boys he enlists to catch a thief, and you'll come away feeling warm if slightly incredulous at the strong moral compass of all the kids and most of the adults. Gerhard Lamprecht's early (1931) "talkie", with a screenplay by Billy Wilder, has darker undertones, much admired by the obsessive 19-year-old Benjamin Britten.read more
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:37AM on December 5, 2013