He also took drama lessons with Paul Bildt and appeared as a stage actor under the name of "Gerhard Otto" in some minor productions.

Lamprecht also worked together with illustrator Heinrich Zille on a series of social realist[2] films which depicted the authentic everyday life in Berlin.

In 1931, he directed the internationally acclaimed[3] Emil and the Detectives, an adaption of Erich Kästner's children's book with a screenplay by Billy Wilder.

[1] One of his most important works during that time was perhaps Madame Bovary (1937), a well-regarded adaption of Gustave Flaubert's book with Pola Negri in the title role.

Somewhere in Berlin was a huge triumph and Lamprecht remained in demand as a director, although his later films are often considered of somewhat lesser quality.

The ten-book-volume Katalogisierung der deutschen Stummfilme aus den Jahren 1903–1931 was published in 1970 and is still considered an important work for German film studies.