''The Urgent Hangman'' is a 1938

thriller novel Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Su ...

by the British writer

Peter Cheyney Reginald Evelyn Peter Southouse-Cheyney (22 February 1896 – 26 June 1951) 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 Ca ...

. It introduced the fictional London-based

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

Slim Callaghan 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 Amer ...

, the first in a series of seven novels as well as two short story collections.

Adaptations

In 1952 it was adapted for the stage by

Gerald Verner 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. Biography Verner was born John Robert Stuart Pringle i ...

as ''Meet Mr. Callaghan'' and ran for 340 performances at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's West End. The play was in turn adapted for the 1954 film ''

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

'' directed by Charles Saunders and starring

Derrick De Marney Derrick Raoul Edouard Alfred De Marney (21 September 1906 – 18 February 1978) was an English stage and film actor and producer, of French and Irish ancestry. Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of ...

and

Adrienne Corri Adrienne Corri (born Adrienne Riccoboni; 13 November 1931 – 13 March 2016) was a Scottish actress. Early life She was born Adrienne Riccoboni in Glasgow in November 1931, the daughter of an English mother (Olive Smethurst) and an Italian f ...

.Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. p. 82. .

References

Bibliography

*Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. p. 300. . . 1938 British novels Novels by Peter Cheyney British thriller novels British novels adapted into plays British novels adapted into films Novels set in London William Collins, Sons books {{1930s-thriller-novel-stub