John Eldredge

By Mister X

John Eldredge was born August 30, 1904 in San Francisco, California and died September 23, 1961. He has been defined by Hollywood as “The Man without Qualities.” The Filmgoer’s Companion has said of Mr. Eldredge: “A fine actor, capable of holding the focus of a scene but usually called on just to fill in the background. He embodied perfectly a kin of general-purpose Americanness, usually urban and presumably college-educated; too indefinite to be called a stereotype, but that could be poured into several different kinds of stereotypes: the society snob, the weakling brother or bland schemer, the no-nonsense professional.”

Mr. Eldredge has over 170 film and television credits starting from The Man with Two Faces in 1934 to Mister Ed in 1961. He appeared in almost nothing but formula B films. His only starring role was in the 1950 Republic film Lonely Heart Bandits directed by one of the stable of The Adventures of Superman directors, George Blair.

John Eldredge and George Reeves have a much earlier connection in film. Warner Brothers gave contract player George Reeves an early opportunity in the fifty-eight minute 1940 film, Always a Bride, with Rosemary Lane, John Eldredge, Virginia Brissac and Francis Pierlot. Reeves does a terrific job in carrying the film where a well to do Alice Bond is tired of her dull finance and throws him over in favor of Reeves. As would be in future Superman episodes, Reeves gets the upper hand on Marshall (Eldredge) Winkler, and eventually win the approval of Alice’s parents by winning a mayoral race.

Of the many things that made The Adventures of Superman such a superior production, one of the most important, and perhaps the least obvious, were the actors themselves.

George Reeves and the “regulars” were all first class actors. The guest roles were filled by very capable actors, skilled in their craft. The 1950’s was a tough era to be a television actor, the Screen Actors Guild hadn’t really asserted itself as yet, the motion picture studios were trimming their lists of contract players, work was hard to come by, and didn’t pay very much.

These market conditions made it possible for TAOS to hire top flight talent at a very low pay scale. As a result, TAOS was blessed with a plethora of really good supporting actors.

Of all the villains who matched wits with Superman, none brought more grace to the role than John Eldredge. Eldredge eschewed the comic style of Herb Vigran and Ben Welden, two of the most visible Superman villains. Always nattily clad, with a neat little mustache, Eldredge was always the suave foe, whether as Walter Canby, Burt Burnside, Jonas Rockwell, or Mister X (love that name!).

Of course, in the case of the characters played by Eldredge, charm and intellect were sometimes mutually exclusive. They saw Clark Kent shot at point blank range on two separate occasions without injury, Kent using counterfeit plates and silver dollars as lame excuses, which were accepted by Burnside and Rockwell.

Walter Canby even watched a film showing Kent running into an alley and emerging as Superman, without ever realizing the obvious, that Clark Kent was Superman.

Mental shortcoming aside, Eldredge’s presence lent dignity and elevated the productions he participated in. He was Superman’s pre-eminent foe, and for these reasons we induct John Eldredge to the George Reeves Hall of Fame.

Mister X and Carl Glass