Meet Mr. Callaghan

Last updated

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
Meet Mr. Callaghan by Gerald Verner
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 and Adrienne Corri. [1] [2] The screenplay was by Brock Williams, based on the 1952 play of the same name, adapted for the stage by Gerald Verner from Peter Cheyney's 1938 novel The Urgent Hangman .

Contents

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

Filming took place at Nettleford Studios in September 1953. [5] [6]

It was the second film from Belinda Lee. [7]

Critical reception

The 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." [8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Sort of street-level Thin Man is effective thick ear, short on charm." [9]

TV Guide wrote, "Mystery programmer has a couple of good moments, but little else." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belinda Lee</span> English actress (1935–1961)

Belinda Lee was an English actress.

<i>The Limping Man</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Cy Endfield

The Limping Man is a 1953 British second feature ('B') film noir directed by Cy Endfield and starring Lloyd Bridges, Moira Lister and Leslie Phillips. The film was made at Merton Park Studios and was written by Ian Stuart Black and Reginald Long based on Anthony Verney's novel Death on the Tideway. Endfield directed it under the pseudonym Charles de Lautour due to his blacklisting in Hollywood. Location shooting took place around London including The Mayflower pub in Rotherhithe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Cheyney</span> British writer

Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse-Cheyney was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951. Cheyney is perhaps best known for his short stories and novels about agent/detective Lemmy Caution, which, starting in 1953, were adapted into a series of French movies, all starring Eddie Constantine. Another popular creation was the private detective Slim Callaghan who also appeared in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence De Marney</span> British actor (1908–1971)

Terence Arthur De Marney was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick De Marney</span> British actor (1906–1978)

Derrick Raoul Edouard Alfred De Marney was an English stage and film actor and producer, of French and Irish ancestry.

Who Done It? is a 1956 British slapstick black and white comedy crime film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Benny Hill, Belinda Lee, David Kossoff, Garry Marsh, and George Margo. It was wrtten by T. E. B. Clarke.

<i>Value for Money</i> 1955 British comedy film by Ken Annakin

Value for Money is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring John Gregson, Diana Dors, Susan Stephen and Derek Farr. It is based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Derrick Boothroyd.

<i>As Long as Theyre Happy</i> 1955 British film by J. Lee Thompson

As Long as They're Happy is a 1955 British musical comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Jack Buchanan, Susan Stephen and Diana Dors. It was written by Alan Melville based on the 1953 play of the same name by Vernon Sylvaine. It was shot in Eastmancolor at Pinewood Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Michael Stringer.

<i>Blood Orange</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Terence Fisher

Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. The screenplay was by Jan Read. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.

<i>Murder by Proxy</i> 1954 British film by Terence Fisher

Murder by Proxy is a 1954 British 'B' film noir crime drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Dane Clark, Belinda Lee and Betty Ann Davies. The film was based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Helen Nielsen. It was produced by Hammer Films, and released in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

<i>The Secret Place</i> (film) 1957 British film by Clive Donner

The Secret Place is a 1957 British crime film that was the directorial debut of Clive Donner. It stars Belinda Lee, Ronald Lewis, and David McCallum.

<i>The Feminine Touch</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Pat Jackson

The Feminine Touch is a 1956 colour British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring George Baker, Belinda Lee and Delphi Lawrence. It was the last feature film to be filmed in three-strip Technicolor.

<i>Make Me an Offer</i> 1954 British film by Cyril Frankel

Make Me an Offer is a 1954 Eastmancolor British comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Peter Finch, Adrienne Corri, Rosalie Crutchley and Finlay Currie. It is based on the 1952 novel of the same title by Wolf Mankowitz. It was distributed by British Lion Films.

Gerald Verner (1897–1980) was a writer of thrillers, writing more than 120 novels translated into over 35 languages. Many of these were adapted into radio serials, stage plays and films.

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

Dangerous Curves is a 1939 thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It was the second novel featuring his private detective character Slim Callaghan, following The Urgent Hangman (1938). Callaghan is hired by Mrs. Riverton to find her missing stepson, who she openly admits she despises.

<i>Dangerous Curves</i> (play) 1953 play

Dangerous Curves is a 1953 thriller play by the British writer Gerald Verner. It is adapted from the 1939 novel of the same title by Peter Cheyney featuring the private detective Slim Callaghan. It followed the success of Verner's 1952 stage play Meet Mr. Callaghan. It premiered at the Garrick Theatre in London's West End, where the previous play had been staged, and ran for 53 performances between 14 April and 11 June 1953. The cast included Terence De Marney as Callaghan, Shaw Taylor, Stephen Dartnell and Paul Whitsun-Jones.

<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

Uneasy Terms is a 1946 crime thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It was the seventh and last in his series featuring the London-based private detective Slim Callaghan, a British version of the hardboiled heroes of American writing.

Slim Callaghan is a fictional London-based private detective created by the writer Peter Cheyney. Like another of Cheyney's characters, the FBI agent Lemmy Caution, he was constructed as a British response to the more hardboiled detectives of American fiction such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.

<i>Meet Mr. Callaghan</i> (play) 1952 play

Meet Mr. Callaghan is a 1952 crime thriller play by the British writer Gerald Verner. It was adapted from the novel The Urgent Hangman by Peter Cheyney featuring the private detective Slim Callaghan. It premiered at the Kings Theatre in Southsea before transferring to the Garrick Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 340 performances between 27 May 1952 and 4 April 1953. The cast included Terence De Marney as Callaghan, Larry Burns, Jack Allen, Trevor Reid, John Longden, Lisa Daniels, Harriette Johns and Simone Silva. In 1953 Verner wrote another stage play featuring Callaghan, Dangerous Curves based on Cheyney's novel of the same title.

References

  1. "Meet Mr. Callaghan". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. "Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954)". Archived from the original on 13 January 2009.
  3. "Meet Mr Callaghan".
  4. Hesse, Beatrix (2 August 2015). The English Crime Play in the Twentieth Century. Springer. ISBN   9781137463043 via Google Books.
  5. "GLAMOR PLUS!". Truth . No. 2789. Brisbane. 6 September 1953. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  6. Nepean, Edith (28 November 1953). "Round the British Studios". Picture Show. Vol. 61, no. 1600. London. p. 11.
  7. Vagg, Stephen (7 September 2020). "A Tale of Two Blondes: Diana Dors and Belinda Lee". Filmink.
  8. "MEET MR. CALLAGHAN". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 21, no. 240. London. 1 January 1954. p. 122.
  9. Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 346. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  10. "Meet Mr. Callaghan".