O Inspetor

Dolores Hart heads a cast of mostly British players in The Inspector, a film about a Dutch Jewish refugee determined to get to Palestine. Her's is a tightly controlled performance of a woman for whom every kind of emotion has been drained out of her. But she wants more than life itself to live in a Jewish homeland, a place where she doesn't feel like an unwanted guest.

Stephen Boyd plays a Dutch police inspector who covers up the fact that she killed a white slaver looking to pimp out her sexual services. Boyd and Hart are kept under a loose surveillance by British intelligence as many try to help them in their quest.

As we know the politics of oil kept the British who occupied Palestine tilting toward the Arabs. But for many, humanity dictated otherwise.

A nice cast was put together in support of Boyd and Hart and standing out are Leo McKern as a gruff Dutch barge captain, Donald Pleasence as a surveilling policeman and Hugh Griffith as a gunrunner.

For the leads this is some of the best work they do in their interrupted careers, Boyd by an early death and Hart by retiring from acting to go into a convent where she still is a mother/prioress.

Exodus was an epic tale of the founding of Israel. The Inspector reduces the story to an inspiring singularity.

I saw this movie many years ago, when I was in my teens, and then again when I was in my 20s. I haven't found it since. It was very moving to me at the time, partly because I really loved Delores Hart and Stephen Boyd. Alas, Steven Boyd died young, and never got the credit he was due as an actor while he was alive. And - alas again - Delores Hart's career was quite short because she left Hollywood at a young age and entered the convent.

This is an unusual love story between a Dutch detective/police officer, and a young Jewish woman who is more or less stranded in Holland after the war. The detective is emotionally moved by the plight of this young women, and decides to help her get to Palestine. The rest of the movie revolves around their difficult and event-filled journey.

Both Hart and Boyd are wonderful in their roles, and Hart's plight, and Boyd's emotional response and caring for her, are very moving. I believe that Boyd's character represents the European, non-Jews who went out of their way to help Jews during, and after WW II. But his feelings of caring for her, and his response to her particular story (I won't go into detail here about her tragic circumstances) go beyond guilt and just wanting to help. He is very drawn to her, and eventually, she is to him as well.

Anyway, well worth seeing this emotional and atmospheric film. the film is from a book by the writer Jan de Hartog, and it is a very original, unusual story.

Lisa is a powerful drama about a German concentration camp refugee, played by Dolores Hart, trying to get to Israel to begin a new life after the war, and the Dutch Police Inspector, played by Stephen Boyd, who decides to help her. The story is gripping and intense and the performances are superb. Both Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart turn in one of the finest performances of their careers and so does the all-star supporting cast, including Donald Pleasance and Hugh Griffith. Wonderful film for a rainy day afternoon.

I know very little about Director Philip Dunne, though HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY warrants instant respect. Sadly, THE INSPECTOR (also known as LISA) rates nowhere near as good, even if it boasts a truly stellar cast, with supporting actors of such high quality as Hugh Griffith, Donald Pleasence, Leo McKern, Harry Andrews.

Of course, Stephen Boyd and Dolores Hart are the good looking leads who occupy the screen most of the time, both delivering quite satisfactorily - Boyd is particularly appealing as a Dutch police inspector who wants to take to Palestine a young Jewish woman who had suffered all manner of torture in German concentration camps during WWII.

It stands to reason, however, that a Dutch policeman can only have the power of the law behind him in the Netherlands, and he is warned about that by the authorities of various other countries, notably the United Kingdom's.

The couple's adventures seem more cute than real, with a dog on a barge playing an eye-catching part.

Unfortunately, I watched a rather fuzzy VHS copy but I do not think that cinematography is exceptional in any way.

Uneven script by Nelson Gidding. Ultimately a film that I feel will not stay on my memory for long. 7/10 for the great supporting cast.

This is a haunting, yet little-known film, beautifully acted, that shows the after-effects of Nazi concentration camp sterilization and torture on a young Jewish girl, as she tries to escape to Palestine after the war. The budding romance between the principal actors adds an extra poignancy to the tale, as they are separated in the dramatic and unforgettable ending. I only wish this film were on video, so that a new audience of young people could learn and benefit from its story.