The Inspector – 1962 | 112 mins | Drama | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Uneven romantic melodrama based on Jan de Hartog’s ‘The Inspector’ about a Dutch police inspector who saves a Jewish girl immediately after the war from an ex-Nazi white slaver and attempts to smuggle her to Palestine. Handsomely photographed against authentic European backgrounds, the story veers from romance to mystery and Holocaust drama with no one element dominating. Consequently, the final result is colourful, rambling and sometimes exciting. The indistinguishable Stephen Boyd is miscast in the lead role but there’s memorable turns from an impressive supporting cast including Leo McKern’s crotchety barge owner, Hugh Griffith’s eccentric smuggler and the oh-so-British Robert Stephens.

In 1946, 21-year-old Lisa Held (Dolores Hart), a survivor of the concentration camp at Auschwitz, falls into the hands of ex-Nazi Thorens (Marius Goring), who promises to smuggle her into Palestine; actually he is a white slaver who plans to ship her to South America. Dutch police Inspector Peter Jongman (Stephen Boyd), guilt-ridden by his failure to save his fiancée from the Nazis, leaves behind his partner Sgt. Wolters (Donald Pleasence) and follows Thorens to London. Despite being outside his jurisdiction, Jongman confronts Thorens and in the ensuing scuffle the ex-Nazi is accidentally killed.

Jongman then decides to atone for the past by seeing that Lisa reaches Palestine. They return to Holland and Jongman reports-in to his superiors to discover that Thorens was found dead in his flat and that Peter is wanted back in London for questioning. Instead, Peter decides to honour his vow to Lisa and arranges for god-fearing Dutch barge owner Captain Brandt (Leo McKern) to smuggle them both to Tangiers.

There, an eccentric smuggler, Van der Pink (Hugh Griffith), offers passage to Palestine in exchange for $5000 or Peter working aboard a smuggling vessel for 12 months. Instead Peter attempts to strike a deal with rival smuggler Browne (Neil McCallum), but when the medical examination uncovers that Lisa had been the victim of Nazi surgical experimentation, he attempts to persuade her to be a witness at the Nuremberg Trials. Peter returns to Van der Pink and agrees to captain a smuggling boat to Palestine. Meanwhile, British officer, Dickens (Robert Stephen), urges Jongman to surrender himself to British authorities or risk being arrested and extradited should he attempt illegal entry into Palestine.