Oh, are we playing Twenty Questions? My turn!
This is the pleasure of exploring the corners of the cinematic world: Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954) was a surprisingly good whodunit which we had never heard of, and, in fact, the worst part about it might be the title. Callaghan runs Callaghan Investigative Services, located in London and all but bankrupt, when the beautiful Cynthis Meraulton walks in. The Meraultons are notorious for the wealth of the patriarch, August, as well as his mean temper. There are four nephews, who engage in personal and financial dissolution of various forms, and Cynthis herself, adopted and now engaged to be married to the best of the lot, William. None of them like August. Rumor has it that the patriarch’s Last Will used to divide the fortune equally between the nephews and Cynthis, but that he had written a new Will, which he carried with him in a pocket watch, and that it would increase the anger of the nephews – but all that is frantic speculation, as the fortune would be the salvation of the nephews.
Cynthis, sent by her fiancee to Callaghan on the wings of reputation, says her fiancee worries that the patriarch will be knocked off and she’ll be framed for it. She doesn’t take it seriously herself, but, well, he is the fiancee, so she hires Callaghan to “take care of everything.”
Within minutes of her exit from his office, Callaghan learns August was shot to death a couple of hours earlier, and Cynthis’ timing at his office is, at least, suspicious. But he’s been hired to do a job, and do it he will.
Along the way we run into a smooth but angry police detective, bent on revenge on Callaghan for previous suspected ill-dealing; Callaghan’s double-dealing secretary, who, failing to entice him into marriage, wants him imprisoned; the four nephews, their associates and trespasses; the mercurial but beautiful Cynthis, who is supposed to be hidden away; and the facts of the matter, all of which menace Callaghan’s performance of his job, not to mention his payday. His skating through this minefield of dangerous people, even as low-key as it may be, makes for an interesting and fun little tale of deception, manipulation, and murder, and if the ending is perhaps a little too predictable, it’s still fun to see Callaghan is not clad in impenetrable armor, but must hold a hanky to his gunshot wound.
This isn’t all perfect. While we get to see some of the inner turmoil of the characters, it’s not enough for modern tastes, so it sometimes seems a little flat. As mentioned, the title is virtually nonsensical, although the producers might have been hoping to birth a series out of this. And neither of us much cared for the soundtrack, which was far too sprightly and upbeat for what is basically a dark exploration of sordid greed and deception.
But the complexity, which is grounded in the believable motivations of the various characters, makes the movie come alive, as does the fine acting. While it may not quite rise to the level of recommended, it’s definitely a movie that had us talking about our pleasure and surprise in watching it. If you like whodunit’s, take this one in.
