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What a joy. This has been needed and wanted for so long and at last the need has been fulfilled. At last we have a definitive DVD of the life and adventures of John Calvert. And just in time for Christmas.
It has been produced with love by John’s nephew Fred Calvert, a professional writer, director and producer whose credits include work on
Sesame Street. Associate Producer Steven Bakos worked against the clock with the Editor to obtain a viewable copy of the show in time for this review.
Opening music is from George Gershwin’s familiar “Rhapsody in Blue,” backing for the famous Cigarette Act： as much a lesson for magicians as is the Cardini act. The presentation is beautifully edited from several different performances so John and Tammy change costumes and settings during the act： this technique is used effectively throughout the film.
We are taken back to John’s childhood in the village of New Trenton, Indiana, early in the twentieth century. Next the action moves to Cincinnati and we are introduced to Howard Thurston. In a sequence shot in the Calverts’ home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, John discourses on becoming a magician： “It’s only play-acting” he says with authority as he recounts the egg trick that almost had him expelled from Sunday School. We race from 1911 to 1940, through the First World War, the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. Calvert’s life has spanned almost a
century and we are with him all the way.
Now we are on the bus! We join John and Tammy in their huge motor home, on the road for more performances. On the way John discusses Siegfried and Roy, and Lance Burton. There’s full coverage of the famous Dancing Handkerchief： John has told the Editor that Tammy does all the work. This time a volunteer provides the handkerchief and John steals his watch. On arrival and setting up for the show John joins stage hands rigging the scenery and in rehearsal. Stage Manager Bruce Chadwick says John is “very strong backstage – but diplomatic as well.”
There is a lot of magic performance in this movie. Every movement is a study in perfection. John’s long lifetime of experience is shown in each gesture. Calvert the movie star is featured with generous excerpts from his films including “The Falcon” series. There are reminiscences of stars like Errol Flynn, Red Skelton, Clark Gable, Jack Palance and Paul Newman.
Tammy, surely the world’s best assistant, is seen in action with the “Nest of Boxes,” “Flying Organ” and other levitations, the Blindfold Sharpshooting
and variations on the “Paper Balls Over the Head.” She was 18 years old when they met in Singapore in1960. They are deeply in love. She says
“When he wants to do something he does it. I go along with it – most of the time!”
John says： “In performance you have to be humble and convey to the audience that you are enjoying what you are doing.” We are introduced to John’s African movie project “The Curse of the Elephants Graveyard;” the drama of his plane crash; using fireworks to fight off pirates in the Formosa Straits; shipwreck and blindfold flying.
The ships include the “Sea Fox” and “Magic Castle” one and two. Calvert says sailing is therapy. We are with Tammy and John in rehearsal and performance in New York and the lethal Buzz Saw is shown in detail.
Asked about becoming a magician, John’s irrepressible sense of humour makes it clear. “Young people visit the beach and fill their mouths with pebbles like marbles. They then learn to speak with them in place. Sometimes they lose a marble. And when they have lost all of their marbles they are ready to become a magician.”
Quotes in the film include “A marvellous life” and “The most interesting man I’ve ever met.” And truly biographer Bill Rauscher is right when he describes John as a real-life Indiana Jones.
This superb professional production is a wonderful Christmas gift for you, for me and for magic. A priceless record of an era and a giant
