During World War II, he served in the United States Air Force; post-war, he became a photographer for Life magazine.

[5] Kalser produced several short films through Marathon during the 1950s and 1960s, the most prominent of which was the Oscar-winning Crashing the Water Barrier.

[1] Crashing the Water Barrier was a one-reeler documentary on British speedboat racer Donald Campbell's successful effort to break a speed record.

[7] In 1966, Kalser admitted that Crashing the Water Barrier was produced by Marathon as an advertisement for an oil company.

[5] After the success of Crashing the Water Barrier, Kalser continued to produce short native advertising films.