Uneasy Terms Movie Review

Two Slim Callaghan movies were made between 1948 and 1954, this one and Meet Mr. Callaghan, based on The Urgent Hangman starring Derrick de Marney as Slim, Delphi Lawrence as Effie, and Trevor Reid as Inspector Gringall. The first film starred Michael Rennie as Slim, Joy Shelton as Effie, and Barry Jones as Inspector Gringall. Peter Cheyney's original novels attempt to transplant most of the characteristics of the hard-boiled American detective into a smooth-talking British equivalent. Rennie's Slim is disrespectful, shifty, and a bit of a skirt chaser, but he does get results. Moira Lister gives another trademarked acid performance as Corinne, one of three sisters who hire Slim and his sidekick Windy (Paul Carpenter) to figure out who killed their stepfather; Faith Brook and Patricia Goddard are Viola and Patricia, the other sisters. Effie does research from the office and fends off Windy's advances, Gringall issues daily bulletins about how many laws Slim and Windy are breaking, and Nigel Patrick does an intriguingly twisted job as one of the murder suspects. A dozen years later, Rennie played Harry Lime on The Third Man television series, but he still seemed a lot like Slim Callaghan. He's not a serious threat to Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, but if you can't find The Day the Earth Stood Still on the video shelf, Rennie's cool, dapper approach to Uneasy Terms makes this entry a fairly easy way to spend 91 minutes.

1948 91m/B GB Michael Rennie, Moira Lister, Faith Brook, Joy Shelton, Patricia Goddard, Barry Jones, Nigel Patrick, Paul Carpenter, Marie Ney, Sydney Tafler, J.H. Roberts, John Robinson; D: Vernon Sewell; W: Peter Cheyney; C: Ernest Palmer. VHS