The Inspector

CinemaSerf7/10

Jun 23, 2022

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Philip Dunne has assembled quite a decent cast for this post-war thriller. "Lisa" (Dolores Hart) wants to get to Palestine - then under the British Mandate - and so enlists the help of a Dutch police officer "Jongman" (Stephen Boyd) who helps her navigate the tricky journey. The travelogue narrative is fairly straightforward, peppered with strong contributions from an on-form Leo McKern as barge captain "Brandt"; Hugh Griffith, Donald Pleasance and Marius Goring (though not, perhaps, Harry Andrews so much as the oddly cast "Ayoob"). Boyd is much better than usual too; his part has more for him to get his teeth into as his character starts to really care for his troubled companion. The film, though, really belongs to Hart. She encapsulates well the sense of trauma and loss experienced by her holocaust surviving character. Her mania when stuck in the bilges of the barge to avoid capture is palpable, as are many of the perilous scenarios she must face as her attempt at repatriation gathers pace. Talking of pace, the film moves along well with a sparing amount of dialogue that allows us to feel like we, too, have some skin in her game.