THE FLOATING DUTCHMAN (1952)

A body is found floating in the water off the docks; he has no ID on him, but the police figure out it is probably a Dutch jeweler named Vandermeer who was known to deal in stolen property. A card from Victor Skinner's nightclub is found on the body with the name of a fence named Otto written on the back. Inspector Cathie sees a chance to pin something on Skinner, a notorious underworld figure, so he sends his agent Alex James to the nightclub with a made-up criminal background to infiltrate Skinner's circle. As Alex slowly wins Skinner's trust, he gets to know Rose, an employee, and her brother Philip, a musician in the club band who drinks too much (and therefore lets some things slip that he shouldn't). It turns that Skinner and his henchman, a nasty piece of work called Snowy (for Snow White, as he's a bit on the albino side), run a burglary ring; waiters overhear when their high-toned patrons will be out of their homes and tell members of Skinner's gang  who break in and steal jewels which they sell to Otto the fence. A triangle develops between Alex and Rose and Snowy, which complicates things as the cops come closing in. The critical take on this crime thriller is that it's rather drab and slow, but I found it about par for the course for a British B-film of the era, and I give it extra points for good performances by Dermot Walsh as Alex, Guy Verney as the twitchy Snow White, and especially Sydney Tafler as Skinner. Based on a novel by Nicolas Bentley who was apparently better known as a cartoonist and illustrator. At one point, Skinner calls Alex a “narc,” which is one of the earliest uses of that phrase that I know of. Pictured are Derek Blomfield (as Philip) and Tafler. [You Tube]