Meet Mr. Callaghan

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Meet Mr. Callaghan
Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954 film).jpg
British quad poster
Directed by Charles Saunders
Screenplay by Brock Williams
Based on The Urgent Hangman by Peter Cheyney
Produced by Guido Coen
Derrick De Marney
W.A. Smith
Starring Derrick De Marney
Adrienne Corri
Delphi Lawrence
Belinda Lee
Cinematography Harry Waxman
Edited byJack Slade
Music by Eric Spear
Production
company
Pinnacle Productions
Distributed by Eros Films
Release date
  • June 1954 (1954-06)(UK)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Meet Mr. Callaghan is a 1954 British crime drama film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Derrick De Marney. [1] Based on the 1938 novel The Urgent Hangman by Peter Cheyney, which Cheyney had then turned into a play.

Contents

Co-producer and star Derrick De Marney had directed the stage version of Meet Mr. Callaghan at the Garrick Theatre in 1952, which starred Derrick's brother Terence as Cheyney's private eye Slim Callaghan. Derrick played this role in the film. [2] [3]

The play was notable for the theme music and score by Eric Spear which became a best-selling record for Les Paul. [4]

Plot

Down at heel private detective Slim Callaghan is hired by young socialite Cynthis Meraulton to investigate other family members after her rich stepfather changes his will in her favour. She suspects he will be killed and the new will destroyed. When her stepfather is subsequently murdered, suspicion falls on Cynthis.

Cast

Production

Peter Cheyney's novel The Urgent Hangman was published in 1938. It was the first in a series of novels by Cheyney featured private investigator Slim Callaghan, others including Dangerous Curves (1939), You Can't Keep the Change (1940), It Couldn't Matter Less (1941), Sorry You've Been Troubled (1942), They Never Say When (1944) and Uneasy Terms (1946). Uneasy Terms was turned into a 1948 film.

The Urgent Hangman was adapted by Gerald Verner into a play Meet Mr Callaghan which premiered at the Garrick Theatre in 1952. The role of Slim Callaghan was played by Terence De Marney and the production was directed by De Marney's brother Derrick. [5] [6] The play was very successful, with 340 performances. [7] It inspired a hit song.

Terence De Marney played Callaghan in another Gerald Verne theatrical adaptation of a Callaghan story, Dangerous Curves, which premiered at the Garrick in April 1953. [8] [7]

In the film version of Meet Mr Callaghan, the role of Slim Callaghan was played by Derrick De Marney, not Terence. Filming took place at Nettleford Studios in September 1953. [9] [10]

It was the second film from Belinda Lee. [11]

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said the "transference" from stage to screen "has been made without much imagination. The involved plot is helped along by a few barbed lines but Derrick de Marney fails to make a sympathetic hero out of a private detective who stoops to robbery, blackmail and bribery in his investigations." [12]

TV Guide wrote, "Mystery programmer has a couple of good moments, but little else": [13] whereas MysteryFile noted, "The detective work is very good, and the complicated plot holds together, but it's the overall sense of good humor that really carries the day — not laugh out loud funny, but the mood is light enough to smile almost constantly." [14]

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<i>Dangerous Curves</i> (novel) 1939 thriller novel by Peter Cheyney

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<i>The Urgent Hangman</i> 1938 thriller novel by Peter Cheyney

The Urgent Hangman is a 1938 thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It introduced the fictional London-based private detective Slim Callaghan, the first in a series of seven novels as well as two short story collections.

<i>Uneasy Terms</i> (novel) 1946 novel

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<i>Sorry Youve Been Troubled</i> (novel) 1942 novel

Sorry You've Been Troubled is a 1942 thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It was the fifth book in his series featuring the hardboiled London-based private detective Slim Callaghan. It was published in the United States under the alternative title of Farewell to the Admiral.

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<i>It Couldnt Matter Less</i> 1941 novel

It Couldn't Matter Less is a 1941 thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It is the fourth in a series of novels featuring the London-based private detective Slim Callaghan who enjoyed a series of dangerous adventures similar in style to the hardboiled American detectives created by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. It was published in the United States as Set-Up for Murder.

<i>Slim Callaghan Intervenes</i> German television series

Slim Callaghan Intervenes is a 1964 West German crime television series broadcast on ZDF in eight episodes. The programme was based on the series of novels by British writer Peter Cheyney featuring the London-based private detective Slim Callaghan. In the television adaptation Callaghan is operating his own agency in Munich. He is played by Viktor de Kowa while Eva Pflug featured as his loyal secretary Steffie.

<i>More Whiskey for Callaghan</i> 1955 film

More Whiskey for Callaghan is a 1955 French thriller film directed by Willy Rozier and starring Tony Wright, Magali Vendeuil and Robert Berri. It is an adaptation of the 1941 novel It Couldn't Matter Less by British writer Peter Cheyney featuring the private detective Slim Callaghan. It was the second film featuring English actor Wright as Callaghan following Your Turn, Callaghan.

<i>Your Turn, Callaghan</i> 1955 film

Your Turn, Callaghan is a 1955 French thriller film directed by Willy Rozier and starring Tony Wright, Tony Wright, Lysiane Rey and Colette Ripert. It is an adaptation of the 1942 novel Sorry You've Been Troubled by British writer Peter Cheyney featuring the private detective Slim Callaghan. It was the first in a trilogy of films featuring English actor Wright as Callaghan, followed by More Whiskey for Callaghan.

References

  1. "Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  2. "Meet Mr Callaghan".
  3. Hesse, Beatrix (2 August 2015). The English Crime Play in the Twentieth Century. Springer. ISBN   9781137463043 via Google Books.
    1. 5, Billboard
  4. ""TIMON OF ATHENS" AT OLD VIC". The Manchester Guardian. Manchester (UK). 26 May 1952. p. 5.
  5. Review of 1952 stage production at Variety
  6. 1 2 Lachman, Marvin (2014). The villainous stage : crime plays on Broadway and in the West End. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-9534-4. OCLC   903807427.
  7. Review of Dangerous Curves stage production at Variety
  8. "GLAMOR PLUS!". Truth . No. 2789. Brisbane. 6 September 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  9. Nepean, Edith (28 November 1953). "Round the British Studios". Picture Show. Vol. 61, no. 1600. London. p. 11.
  10. Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.
  11. "MEET MR. CALLAGHAN". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 21, no. 240. London. 1 January 1954. p. 122.
  12. "Meet Mr. Callaghan".
  13. "» Movie Review: MEET MR. CALLAGHAN (1954)".