The story has been filmed several times. An early German version from 1931 featured a screenplay by the young Billy Wilder, with uncredited writing work by Emeric Pressburger and starring Rolf Wenkhaus as Emil. The film proved to be a commercial success and is widely considered to be the best film adaptation. There were subsequent versions filmed in 1935 (United Kingdom, remake of 1931 film), 1954 (West Germany, again a remake of the 1931 film), 1964 (United States, produced by Walt Disney Productions), Emiler Goenda Bahini (Bangladesh, 1980) and 2001 (Germany). There was also a 1952 British television series which condensed the story into three 35-minute episodes.