After his first stabs at breaking into Hollywood yielded less than ideal results, Altman returned home to Kansas City and began working for the Calvin Company, a local production outfit that made industrial films for a host of well-known clients - ironically, housed in a building that had been built by Altman's grandfather. Over the next six years, Altman would write, direct, edit, scout, and gofer for dozens of films touting everything from International Harvester to Goodyear to General Mills. This was his film school, lending him the technical training he'd carry into his own films. The few films that are available to view today are of little interest beyond that fact - to quote Frank Barhydt, Altman's boss at the time, the Calvin films are "dull enough to halt a herd of charging rhinos."
