in A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950) and was second male lead in I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) with Susan Hayward, and Meet Me After the Show (1951) with Betty Grable. He went to Ventura to star in a Western Rogue River (1951). He was promoted to co-star for With a Song in My Heart (1952) with Hayward and Way of a Gaucho (1952) with Gene Tierney, directed by Jacques Tourneur. Calhoun was promoted to star in the Westerns The Silver Whip (1953) with Dale Robertson and Robert Wagner, and Powder River (1953) with Corinne Calvet. He was in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) as the love interest of Betty Grable, then was back to second male leads in River of No Return (1954) as the boyfriend of Marilyn Monroe who loses her to Robert Mitchum. Both films were big hits. Calhoun then left Fox. 1954–1956: Freelancing and Universal Studios Calhoun starred in a Western, The Yellow Tomahawk (1954). He went to Columbia for A Bullet Is Waiting (1954) Calhoun went to Universal for whom he made a Western, Four Guns to the Border (1954). He stayed there to star in the musical Ain't Misbehavin' (1955). In 1955, Calhoun and Julie Adams co-starred in the film The Looters. He then co-starred with Jeff Chandler in The Spoilers (1955). While filming The Spoilers, Calhoun's conviction history became public when his mugshot appeared on the May 1955 cover of Confidential magazine. When the news came out he received an offer to play "The Champion" on Climax! and RKO asked him to be in The Treasure of Pancho Villa (1955). Ultimately the disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his "bad boy" image. In 1956, he appeared on the TV show Zane Grey Theatre. At Universal he was in Red Sundown (1956) and Raw Edge (1956). He wrote the story for the film Shotgun (1955) made by Allied Artists and tried to star in it, but Universal would not loan him. He also wrote the novels The Man From Padera (1979) and Cerrado (1980). In late 1956, he arranged to pull out of his contract with Universal and said his fee was $75,000 per film. 1957–1959: Producer and The Texan In 1957, Calhoun formed Rorvic Productions, a production company with his partner, Victor Orsatti. He helped produce and starred in Flight to Hong Kong (1956), The