John Calvert - Hollywood

During John Calvert’s time in Hollywood he worked as both an actor/writer/director/producer and as a magician.  John got his start as a hand double (uncredited) for Clark Gable in the 1941 film Honky Tonk.  He went on to appear in several other films, including starring in Gold Fever, Dark Venture, and three "Falcon" films. John managed to perform magic in several of his films. His magic shows were so popular that celebrities, including Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and Danny Kaye, were often his “volunteers” in the shows. 

Here are some of John’s more significant roles.

Shown are lobby cards from John’s fifth film (second credited), The Mark of the Whistler, where he co-starred with Richard Dix. John played Eddie Donnelly, who seeks revenge on the man who framed his father for theft and got him sent to prison.

Shown are two lobby cards from Youth on Trial. John played Jud Lowry, the father of a juvenile delinquent, in this low budget film.

Shown are four lobby cards from Lawless Empire.  John played Blaze Howard (uncredited) in this installment of the Durango Kid franchise. This time the Durango Kid helped a small-town minister drive off land raiders. Lawless Empire was also known as The Taming of Helldorado.

Shown are a poster and lobby card from The Return of the Durango Kid, where John played Lee Kirby, the owner of the Crystal Palace saloon and the leader of an outlaw gang in Silver City, Texas.  Unfortunately for Kirby and his gang, their illegal activities are soon opposed by the masked hero, The Durango Kid, played by Charles Starrett.

Shown are three Devil's Cargo lobby cards and a press book. John starred in the reboot of The Falcon series as Michael 'The Falcon' Watling. Devil’s Cargo, also known as The Unwritten Law, was the first of the three Falcon films that John starred in. In Devil’s Cargo, a man named Delgado comes to Michael’s apartment and confesses to murdering his wife’s lover. He gives The Falcon a key to a locker in a bowling alley. It turns out that the locker has a bomb in it. Full of twists and turns, Devil’s Cargo is a fun film. For fans of John, one of the best parts of this movie is watching him perform magic in the beginning while he and Delgado are waiting for the police to arrive.

Shown are a lobby card and several publicity stills from Appointment with Murder.  In John's second turn as the Falcon, he is hired by an insurance company to recover two paintings. It doesn’t take long before he is plunged into a world of double-crosses and big-time art fraud.

Shown are a 1-sheet poster and several publicity stills for Search for Danger.  In John's third and final installment as the Falcon, he investigates the embezzlement of $100,000 from a night club with the requisite twists, turns, and murder along the way.

One of my favorite scenes from this movie is when the Falcon is waiting at a night club bar for the owners to see him. John told me that the script called for him to order a whisky, drink it down, and then he would be escorted to the office. John asked the director if he could order a Coke instead, because, as John put it, "If my poor mama saw me on screen drinking alcohol, she would have a heart attack and die right there."  The director agreed, and the Falcon orders a Coke and tells the bartender to “spike it with a straw”.  Then the waitress comes to get him to escort him to the office before he can drink the Coke. The Falcon then picks the drink up by the straw and hands it back to the bartender. John showed me how he did that trick with the Coke, and I still have the glass with the straw in it that he used to show me in my collection.

Now this story goes from interesting to way cool. John told me that shortly after the movie premiered, an executive from the Coca-Cola company approached him and told him how much he enjoyed the Coke scene at the bar. Shortly after that, Coca-Cola became a life-long sponsor of John’s magic shows.  How cool is that?!

Shown are a press book, two half-sheet posters, a set of lobby cards, and a few publicity stills from Gold Fever, which is the first movie that John produced. John stars as John Bonar, who gives a grub stake to an old prospector, Nugget Jack. Nugget Jack makes Bonar his partner. It turns out that Nugget has a hidden gold mine that is worth a fortune. Of course there are some bad guys who want the mine and try to kill Nugget and Bonar. They fail, which isn’t surprising since John wrote the script and produced and starred in the movie.  Be sure to check out Gold Fever when you have a chance.

Shown are a half-sheet poster, a press book (front and back), and several publicity stills from Dark Venture. This was the last of John’s movies and is also known as Beyond the Sahara. John wrote, produced, and starred in Dark Venture, where he plays John Kenyon. The movie starts with a reporter flying to Africa to interview an elderly John Kenyon about his search for the legendary elephant graveyard. As Kenyon tells his story, the movie goes into flashback mode. As the story unfolds, Kenyon searches for the elephant graveyard, faces many challenges, and at the end of the story he and his love interest, Pamela, barely escape with their lives as the elephant graveyard is destroyed by a volcano.  Switching back to Kenyon and the reporter, the reporter comments that despite the many hardships, he never found his treasure. Kenyon disagrees, and about this time his wife comes in to serve refreshments.  Of course his wife is an elderly Pamela.

Dark Venture is my favorite of John’s movies, but it is also associated with one of my biggest regrets.  The first time John and Tammy came to visit, I was giving them a tour of my collection. John noticed my VHS copy of Dark Venture and asked if we could watch it. As soon as I said yes, Tammy excused herself, saying she was going to go talk to my wife. I put the tape in, and John and I sat down to watch the movie. It didn’t take long before John had me stopping and starting the tape as he would tell me stories about the scenes. I realized that I was getting the live director's commentary and thought to myself that I should ask John if I could set up my video camera to record us watching the movie.  Unfortunately I didn’t ask. I told Tammy that story several years later and she also wished that I had asked. Oh well…

For completeness, here are John's other roles that currently are not represented in my collection.

1941 - Honky Tonk
Hand double for Clark Gable (uncredited). John was originally hired to teach Clark the card moves, but was extended and became his hand double.

1943 - Bombardier
Calvert the Magician (uncredited)

1944 - Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Thief (uncredited)

1944 - Are These Our Parents?
The Great Gaspar - Magician

 1945 - Ten Cents a Dance
Breezy Walker

Shown is a press photo for The Silver Chalice where Jack Palance performs as Simon the Magician for Helena (played by Virginia Mayo). John told me that Jack wanted him to direct him for the magic sequences of the 1954 film. Director Victor Saville wasn't happy about it, especially as John's role as Director expanded to scenes without any magic, and that is why John is not credited on the film.

John also told me that The Silver Chalice was Paul Newman's first movie roll.  He had been in several television series and was making the transition to movies. According to John, Paul had been mis-cast in the movie and was very depressed. John put his arm around Paul and told him, "Don't worry kid, you've got the right stuff and will make it in this business". I think we can agree that John hit that nail right on the head!