John McCallum Movies
Handsome Australian leading man John McCallum began appearing in films in 1935. Ten years later, McCallum moved to England, where for the next decade he essayed a wide variety of movie roles. His co-star in It Always Rains on Sunday was actress Googie Withers, whom he married in 1948. In 1955, McCallum and his wife resettled in Australia, where he acted in such films as Smiley (1956) before devoting his energies to screenwriting, producing, and, on one occasion (1971's The Nickel Queen), directing. John McCallum wrote his autobiography, Life with Googie, in 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
In this drama, a pub owner who lives in the Australian outback stakes a claim to an area where nickel is found. An American company buys her out on the condition that she not sell her shares in the company for a year, giving the company head a chance to make false reports and overvalue the company's shares. The pub owner lives it up with a gigolo for a while before settling down with a long-time admirer. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1956
The first of two films based on characters created by novelist Moore Raymond, this tells of a mischievous Australian boy (Colin Peterson), Smiley, who wants a bicycle, but the funds aren't available. He goes through numerous adventures in his quest for his "dream" vehicle, the most heart-pounding of which involves drug smugglers. In the end, Smiley finally gets his coveted bike. This slim narrative is bolstered by the appearance of several reliable character actors, notably Australian film stalwart Chips Rafferty and British stage legend Ralph Richardson (as a bush parson). Smiley was followed by an unnecessary sequel, Smiley Gets a Gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, John McCallum, (more)
- 1956
This Australian trilogy affects the Italian neorealist style. In the first story, a community of miners stage an elaborate funeral for a stranger. The second tale is set during an economic depression and follows a proud but impoverished laborer as he steals wood from an avaricious landowner to keep his mates from freezing during a winter storm. In the final story two young people decide to overcome their fears about money and security and get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John McCallum, Jerome Levy, (more)
- 1955
In this crime drama, two WW II veterans become fugitives from the police after one of them kills a man during a fight. A friendly reporter offers them sanctuary aboard her boat, but one of the two is so flighty he is almost psychotic. His erratic actions attract too much attention and during a fight with police he is killed causing his cohort to surrender. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Real-life husband and wife John McCallum and Googie Withers top the cast of Devil on Horseback. A racetrack drama, the film centers on the activities of natural-born jockey Moppy Parfitt (Jeremy Spencer). As he gains prominence on the track, Moppy becomes insufferably egotistical. His "win at all costs" policy ultimately results in the unecessary death of a horse. Much to the delight of horse owner Charles Roberts (McCallum) and trainer Mrs. Cadell (Withers), Moppy finally learns that there's something more to being a jockey than just talent. Prominently featured in the supporting cast is Liam Redmond as a bibulous ex-jockey named Scarlett O'Hara (sic!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Googie Withers, John McCallum, (more)
- 1954
Trouble in the Glen was one of several felicitous collaborations between Hollywood's Republic Pictures and England's Herbert Wilcox-Anna Neagle productions. Curiously, Ms. Neagle does not appear--just as well, since the film is dominated by Orson Welles. Introducing himself with a typically self-indulgent monologue, the porcine Mr. Welles plays a South American resident who returns to his ancestral home in Scotland to become "Laird of the Glen". He immediately alienates the local populace by closing down the highway that runs through his estate. Hoping to make peace between Welles and the locals is former US air force officer Forrest Tucker, who developed an affection for the community while being stationed there during WWII. Violence threatens to erupt when evicted tinker Victor McLaglen rounds up a gang of toughs to lay siege on Welles' castle. The scenes involving Tucker's polio-crippled daughter (Margaret McCourt) run the risk of sloppy sentiment, but are deftly handled by producer-director Wilcox. Margaret Lockwood costars as Welles' daughter, who adheres to Hollywood formula by falling in love with the handsome Tucker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, (more)
- 1953
American opera and musical-comedy soprano Patrice Munsel plays the title role in this filmed biography of famed Australian diva Nellie Melba. The story begins on Nellie's father's cattle farm, where she grew up under her given name of Nelly Mitchell. While studying in Paris with the great Madame Marchesi (Martita Hunt), Nelly is advised to change her name to something more exotic. After attaining international success, Nellie returns to Australia to marry her erstwhile sweetheart (John McCallum), who eventually realizes that he can never find happiness so long as he is forced to share Mme. Melba with the rest of the world. Melba was directed by Lewis Milestone, who'd originally come to Australia to lens 20th Century-Fox's Kangaroo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrice Munsel, Robert Morley, (more)
- 1953
John Mills followed his successful Gentle Gunman with the tensioned-filled meller The Long Memory. Convicted for a murder he did not commit, Davidson (Mills) spends 12 long years in prison. Upon his release, he vows to get even with the three witnesses who perjured themselves and clenched his conviction. Returning to the scene of the crime, he begins gathering clues as to the whereabouts of the witnesses. That's when he discovers that the alleged murder victim is alive and well! John McCallum co-stars as Inspector Lowther, who has spent the past dozen years mulling over the Davidson case, wondering if the man was innocent after all. For the sake of plot convenience, it turns out that Lowther is married to one of the lying witnesses! The Long Memory was based on a novel by Howard Clewes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, John McCallum, (more)
- 1952
Derby Day is a typically British omnibus feature, delineating the fates of several different people during a single day at the racetrack. Peter Graves (not the American actor of the same name) plays a superficial movie star who has been won in a fan-magazine raffle by housemaid Suzanne Cloutier. Michael Wilding and Anna Neagle play a pair of disconsolates who have recently lost their respective mates in a plane crash. And Googie Withers and John McCallum (who were married in real life) portray a furtive couple whose horrible secret is revealed when they head to the window to collect their winnings. Though we count at least six principle characters in Derby Day, the film was released in the US as Four Against Fate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding, Sr., (more)
- 1952
A society woman (Margaret Lockwood) is accused of murdering her businessman husband (Orson Welles). Called to piece the clues together is Inspector Trent (Michael Wilding), on the verge of retiring from detection. He learns that the dead man was a louse, providing the wife with plenty of motive. But the truth comes out: The so-called murder was actually a carefully choreographed suicide. End of story? Not quite. Trent's Last Case was previously filmed as a part-talkie in 1929, with comedian Raymond Griffith in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding, Sr., (more)
- 1951
In this action-adventure film, a Swedish professor searches for his treacherous wife and his assistant after they steal his research and head for the frozen wastes of Lapland. The scientist is accompanied by a police inspector. During their journey, they are attacked by wolves. Fortunately native Laplanders use their trained eagles to help rescue the two. Later the wicked lovers end up killed in an avalanche. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Warner, Nadia Gray, (more)
- 1951
The Magic Box was the English film industry's contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Its all-star cast generously forsook their usual salaries for the privilege of paying tribute to that unsung pioneer of cinema, William Friese-Greene, here played by Robert Donat. Adapted by Eric Ambler from the controversial biography by Ray Allister, Magic Box contends that Friese-Greene was the true father of motion pictures, and not such upstarts as W. K. L. Dickson and Thomas Edison. Told in flashback, the film details Friese-Greene's tireless experiments with the "moving image," leading inexorably to a series of failures and disappoints, as others hog the credit for the protagonist's discoveries. The huge cast includes such British film luminaries as Joyce Grenfell, Miles Malleson, Michael Redgrave, Eric Portman, Emlyn Williams, Richard Attenborough, Peter Ustinov, Cecil Parker, Kay Walsh, and, best of all, Laurence Olivier as the confused bobby who witnesses Friese-Greene's first motion picture demonstration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Donat, Margaret Johnston, (more)
- 1951
Despite its lighthearted title, Lady Godiva Rides Again is a fairly potent indictment of the darker side of beauty contests. Waitress Marjorie (Pauline Stroud) enters one competition after another, hoping for fame and fortune. She manages to make the finals of a "Lady Godiva" contest, never suspecting that the outcome has been rigged. By accident, Marjorie wins First Prize, a huge sum of money and a movie contract. Alas, she hasn't the talent to parlay her win into a lasting career, and soon Marjorie is scrounging around for any "girlie show" job she can find. Only when reduced to performing nude in a French cabaret review is Marjorie rescued by her Australian boyfriend Larry Burns (John McCallum), who makes her promise to stop all this nonsense and settle down to domesticity. The well-chosen cast includes Dennis Price as a lascivious movie star and Stanley Holloway and Gladys Henson as the girl's nonplused parents. Featured in smaller roles are such future leading ladies as Kay Kendall, Diana Dors, Dagmar (later Dana) Wynter and, in an uncredited bit, Joan Collins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Price, John McCallum, (more)
- 1951
Real-life Mr. and Mrs. John McCallum and Googie Withers star in Travellers Joy. McCallum and Withers are cast as Reggie and Bumble Pelham, a divorced couple living hand-to-mouth in Stockholm. Before they can leave for their native England, Reggie and Bumble must first pay their hotel bill. To raise the necessary funds, they must pretend that they're still married. One suspects that the stage play upon which Travellers Joy was based was slightly more subtle than the film version. Whatever the case, door-slamming farce was really not the forte of either McCallum or Withers, and before long they returned to the heavy drama they did best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Googie Withers, John McCallum, (more)
- 1950
The alternate title to the British The Woman in Question is Five Angles on Murder. That pretty much sums up the tenor of this investigatory drama, wherein an enigmatic fortune teller (Jean Kent) is murdered. The police track down the five most likely suspects and start asking questions. Each suspect offers a different perspective on the murdered woman, and each provides a vital clue towards solving the killing. This "prismatic" technique was of course the foundation of Citizen Kane; while The Woman in Question is not in Kane's league, its gimmick holds the audience's attention whenever director Anthony Asquith allows the pace to lag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde, (more)
- 1949
The boy is Sam Walters (Patrick Holt). The girl is Susie Bates (future Avengers star Honor Blackman). The bike is one of several used by a British cycling club. Boy and girl have fun peddling about the countryside until the girl's pretty head is turned by David Howarth (John McCallum), a wealthy young man with a snazzy sportscar. When David joins the cyclers, Susie glows and Sam glowers. Set in Yorkshire, the film is pleasant to look at but difficult to understand (at least for those not accustomed to regional British accents). The presence of sex symbol Diana Dors in the cast enabled A Boy, a Girl and a Bike to secure good bookings in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John McCallum, Honor Blackman, (more)
Perhaps the finest American film from the famed European director Max Ophüls, the film stars Joan Fontaine as a young woman who falls in love with a concert pianist. Set in Vienna in 1900, the story is told in a complex flashback structure as the pianist, Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan), comes upon a letter written to him by Lisa Berndl (Fontaine), a girl who has been in love with him for years. Stefan is in the process of fleeing Vienna on the eve of fighting a duel. As he prepares himself for the nocturnal journey, the letter arrives. It begins, "By the time you read this letter, I may be dead." As Stefan sits back in his study to read this letter, it turns out to be a confession of unrequited love from Lisa. The story flashes backs to when Lisa was 14 years old and Stefan was her neighbor. After following Stefan with a girlish obsession, the romance gets much more serious, and they have a brief encounter. Stefan promises to come back to her after a concert tour, but he never does. Meanwhile, Lisa marries another man when she discovers that she is pregnant with Stefan's child. When she runs into Stefan years later, he doesn't remember her and tries to seduce her. After Stefan reads the letter, he wants to rush to her side, but now poor Lisa is dying from typhus. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, (more)
- 1948
Based on the play by Peter Blackmore, Miranda was the first of two British comedies starring Glynis Johns as a mischievous mermaid. Rescued from a watery grave by the finny-tailed Miranda (Johns), handsome doctor Paul Marten (Griffith Jones) agrees under durress to take his lovely rescuer to London. Hiding her scaly lower extremities with a blanket, Miranda pretends to be a patient in Paul's clinic, much to the discomfort of his jealous spouse Clare (Googie Withers). Along the way, two eligible bachelors (David Tomlinson and John McCallum) fall in love with Miranda-and are they in for a surprise! The irreplaceable Margaret Rutherford is a riot as Miranda's befuddled nurse. Incidentally, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns were reteamed in 1964 as Mr. and Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Googie Withers, (more)
- 1948
The leaves of the Calendar begin to fall rapidly when avaricious Wenda (Greta Gynt) jilts newly-impoverished horse owner Garry (John McCallum). Wenda then weds Willie (Raymond Lovell), the brother of Garry's former horse-trainer Molly (Sonia Holm). While drowning his sorrows in liquor, Garry joins in on a scheme to steal his own prize horse just before a big race, thereby increasing the odds in another big race. Successfully robbing himself, Garry recoups his fortune and marries Molly, leaving Wenda and Willie back at the starting gate. Calendar is based on a play by mystery specialist Edgar Wallace, which was previously filmed as Bachelor's Folly in 1932. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Gynt, John McCallum, (more)
- 1947
Set in the early 20th century, The Loves of Joanna Godden stars Googie Withers in the title role. The heir to a prosperous farm in the Romney Marshes, the headstrong Joanna shocks and outrages her tradition-bound neighbors by running the farm herself, refusing to enter into an arranged marriage with neighboring farmer Arthur Alee (John McCallum). She also "defies nature" by performing then-revolutionary crossbreeding experiments with her stock. All this she does to provide a steady income for her beloved, convent-educated younger sister Ellen (Jean Kent). Joanna is therefore understandably put out when Ellen turns out to be an ungrateful strumpet, who herself sets her cap for the wealthy Alee. It is only through this plot twist, coupled with Joanna's own unhappy romantic affairs, that Joanna and Alee discover that they truly love each other after all. Based on a novel by Sheila Kaye-Smith, The Loves of Joanna Godden is decked out with an impressive musical score by Vaughan Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Googie Withers, Jean Kent, (more)
- 1947
Based on a novel by J. S. Fletcher, The Root of All Evil casts Phyllis Calvert as a grimly ambitious woman scorned. Jilted by wealthy Albert Grice (Hubert Gregg), farmer's daughter Jeckie Farnish (Calvert) vows to accumulate enough money so as to never again be dependent on any man's attentions. Suing Grice for breach of promise, Jeckie parlays her generous settlement into a sizeable fortune. She increases her riches by linking up with philandering mining-engineer Charles Mortimer (Michael Rennie). Though she and Mortimer accrue millions from oil wells, it simply isn't enough: the hard-hearted Jeckie has decided that she craves true romance after all. The moral of Root of All Evil is obvious from the first scene onward: it is up to Phyllis Calvert and her talented co-stars to wade through a sea of cliches and come up with something worth watching. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Calvert, John McCallum, (more)
- 1947
After the war, British films began avoiding the heiresses and lordships that had dominated the drama field and began pursuing "realism" -- which often was just as artificial as the earlier white-telephone pictures. John McCallum plays Tommy Swann, a product of the working class who tries to better himself by becoming a criminal. Escaping from prison, Swann hides out in the East London home of his former mistress Rose (Googie Withers), who has since married George Sandigate (Edward Chapman). The film is told from Swann's point-of-view, and a dismal view that is. Nor does Rose seem any happier with her drab lot in life. Swann's return does nothing but further their misery, tearing Rose' family apart and sending Swann back into the arms of the law. Considered a tension-laden slice of life in 1949, It Always Rains on Sunday seems a bit contrived today, though it does full justice to the Arthur La Bern novel on which it is based -- especially when the film leaves the environs of the house and zeroes in on its colorful roster of bit actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Googie Withers, Edward Chapman, (more)
Bush Christmas can be described as an Australian western, albeit with a juvenile slant (indeed, it was produced on behalf of J. Arthur Rank's Children's Cinema Club). Set in the mountains of New South Wales, the story concerns a family of Australian kids who are heading homeward for the Christmas holidays. En route, they unwittingly provide the information which enables a band of thieves to steal their father's horses. Deciding to set things right on their own, the children head into the Blue Mountains to track down the thieves, relying on Aborginal survival skills to keep themselves going. The nominal star is the popular Chips Rafferty, playing a misleading likeable horse rustler. Though initially released in England in June of 1947, Bush Christmas has since become a TV Yuletide perennial throughout the English-speaking world. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chips Rafferty, John Fernside, (more)
