Review of Meet Mr. Callaghan

Some reviewers have a high opinion of 'Meet Mr. Callaghan' but I found the film ordinary. It does move fast and the plot is (over) complicated but one found the main character himself not that interesting. Derrick De Marney as Callaghan tries to be laconic and world weary but for me it doesn't come off. He's no Marlowe or Spade and his voice becomes monotonously dull after a while. I did like Larry Burns as the comical sidekick Darky and Adrienne Corri (fourth billed but only appearing in one scene two thirds of the way through) as the fiery Mayola. Michael Balfour appears all too briefly as 'Coffee Stallkeeper', Before the movie it had been performed as a stage play with Callaghan being played by Derrick's brother Terence. It would have been interesting to see how Terence would have handled the role in the film but we got Derrick instead.