JOHN
CALVERT
In 1955 I was walking down the main street of Long Beach , California,
a sailor on a weekend
pass looking for something to do. Then I saw a
theatre marquee
advertising
"John Calvert, The
Falcon Of The Movies,
Presents Fantasmagoria!" and I knew what I was
going
to do.
His
show and his showmanship were superb! He did his famous
hypnotic
routine with volunteers from the audience (I was among the
volunteers), then he vanished and produced ping pong balls from
the
mouths of these same volunteers, all done with tremendous response
from the audience. He picked the pockets
of people on stage and
removed
their watches. After that he
produced endless lit cigarettes from thin air.
Just a few months after seeing his show in Long Beach, my ship was
reassigned to Yokuska, Japan. One day I saw a sailing yacht being
towed into the harbor by a Navy tugboat. It was Calvert aboard Edsel
Ford's former yacht. He repaid the Navy by performing at
the EM
(Enlisted Men's) Club in Yokuska. When I was among the volunteers to
come
on stage, he said, "You sure get around." I replied, "So do you."
Calvert was born in New Trenton, Indiana on August 5, 1911. In 1919 his
father took him to see the great Howard Thurston. For two hours the
young
John sat and watched Thurston's miracles in awe and thus began his
desire
to be a magician.
Calvert's biography is a fascinating read (see the front cover above).
Calvert
has been a stuntman, an aviator (a friend of Howard Hughes), an escape
artist
and a movie star.
Among his movies were "Devil's Cargo," "Gold
Fever,"
"Bombardier," "Youth On Trial," "Port
Of Escape," "Captain Zero," "Are These
Our Parents," and he doubled for Clark
Gable in "Honky Tonk" because Gable
was a klutz at fancy card handling.
Whatever Calvert does is enhanced by his extremely magnetic personality,
his
showmanship and his handsome appearance on and off the stage.
I saw John perform at the Magic Castle in his
mid 90's and he was sensational!
