Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by millionaire General Sherwood to quietly resolve a series of personal debts owed by his daughter, Carmen, to a bookseller by the name of Arthur Geiger, though Sherwood's other daughter, Vivian, believes her father actually wants Marlowe to locate the missing Sean Regan, Sherwood's protege. The case becomes more complicated when Geiger is murdered with Carmen in the room and someone uses it as a reason to blackmail the Sherwood family. Who's in it? The movie stars Humphrey Bogart , Lauren Bacall , Martha Vickers , John Ridgely and Elisha Cook Jr . Review: I've had The Big Sleep in my movie library for a few months but each time I've considered watching it, I ended up deciding on something else. I finally changed that this morning and was left with a positive, albeit somewhat mixed, opinion of the film. I'll start out by saying there were a lot of things I liked about this movie. Bogart and Bac...

The weather finally cooperated enough for me to get out for a walk at lunch with my camera today and, even though it was a bit cool and cloudy, I did end up seeing quite a bit, including another deer hanging out in the middle of the park (I ended up changing my route so I wouldn't scare it).  Here are some of the photos: __________________________________________________ Lunchtime Walk Photos 8/14/2017 Lunchtime Walk Photos 5/15/2019 Lunchtime Walk Photos (9/10/2024)

Synopsis: Red Jones wants to marry his girlfriend, Ann, but she rejects his proposal because of his bumbling ways have made it impossible for him to hold a job. Determined to change her opinion of him, Red attempts to get a job as a salesman for the Fuller Brush Company, where Ann works as a secretary. However, his romantic rival, Keenan Willack, does his best to sabotage the effort, including giving Red the address of Gordon Trist, the boss who recently fired him. Despite the odds, Red manages to sell ten brushes to Trist's wife but when he returns to collect the money, becomes the primary suspect in Trist's murder. Who's in it? The movie stars Red Skelton , Janet Blair , Don McGuire , Hillary Brooke and Adele Jergens. Review: After being left a bit traumatized from Lady Bug Lady Bug yesterday, I decided I needed to lighten the mood with this morning's movie and ended up watching The Fuller Brush Man , which was recently added to my library. Long story, short, it ...

Synopsis: When an alarm rings at a secluded smalltown elementary school, signaling an impending nuclear attack, the staff members are unable to determine if it is real and the principal, Mr. Calkins, decides to follow procedure and have the teachers take the kids home to be with their families. The uncertainty about what is about to happen takes a toll on both the children and the adults as they realize they may not see tomorrow. Who's in it? The movie stars Jane Connell , William Daniels , Kathryn Hays , Jane Hoffman and Nancy Marchand. Review: I came across Lady Bug Lady Bug a few days ago and thought the description sounded interesting enough to add it to my movie library. I don't say this about a lot of movies, but after watching it this morning, I might possibly be scarred for life. I grew up during the tail-end of the Cold War and while there was always that fear of a nuclear holocaust and there were even still well-marked fallout shelters in some public buildings, m...

It was kind of windy out this morning, but there's a chance of storms later, so I braved it and went for a walk with my camera. I am definitely out of practice with my photography and the limited sunlight wasn't helping much but I did get a few photos that weren't as bad as the others. Here they are:

Either it wasn't overly busy in our backyard last night or it's time to replace my trail camera batteries because while it was fairly nice out, I only had a few photos and most of those were before midnight. Anyway, here are some of the opossum photos I did get:

The weather has been spotty the past few days but seemed decent enough last night to put out one of my cameras. It wasn't as busy as other nights in the backyard, but I still managed to get some photos:

Synopsis: After his wife, Grace, loses their baby during childbirth, a mournful Henry Shanway gets drunk at a Boston tavern. When he is told his yellow Ford is parked illegally, B-girl Vivian Heldon offers to help him move it only to later leave him on the side of the road miles out of town when he sobers up enough to realize she is using his car to drive to the Cape. Six months later, the stolen car and Vivian's skeletal remains are both found, resulting in Shanway being arrested for murder. However, while most people, including Grace, believe he is guilty, Police Lieutenant Peter Morales has doubts and continues to investigate. Who's in it? The movie stars Ricardo Montalban , Sally Forrest , Elsa Lanchester , Bruce Bennett and Marshall Thompson . Review: I've had Mystery Street saved to my movie library for a few months but every time I intended to watch it, I would find another movie instead. I finally changed that this morning and, overall, it turned out to be an i...

Synopsis: When their friend Danny loses his job and faces jailtime over $200 in missing money, Sach and Duke attempt to help him by entering one of Sach's photos in a newspaper contest. They learn the contest is already over, but the city editor offers them an opportunity to earn the money by photographing New York gangster Frankie Arbo and learning more about his criminal activities.  Who's in it? The movie stars Huntz Hall , Stanley Clements , Adele Jergens , Thomas Browne Henry and Queenie Smith . Review: I came across Fighting Trouble about a week ago and added it to my library knowing it was one of the later Bowery Boys movies, post Leo Gorcey , and was interested in seeing how the film was. Overall, I think I'd describe it as not being one of my favorites but also an OK comedy. I think, even by the later films that still had Gorcey, the whole Bowery Boys description was there for name recognition only. Hall was clearly the breakout star with Gorcey falling into mo...

Synopsis: Struggling to find his way in life after being wrongly imprisoned for murder, Mike teams up with his friend, Dandy, and kidnaps actress Laurel Stevens on the night her new movie The Kidnapped Bride premieres. They have one major problem, however, once the word of the kidnapping gets out, everyone, including the police, think it's just a publicity stunt. Realizing her career will be ruined if people don't believe she was really kidnapped, Laurel tries to help the pair. Adding another complication is she is beginning to fall for Mike and doesn't want to see him go to prison again. Who's in it? The movie stars Jane Russell , Ralph Meeker , Keenan Wynn , Fred Clark and Una Merkel . Review: I added The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown to my movie library a few days ago, mostly because I haven't seen a lot of Jane Russell movies and wanted to give her a try. From the description, I wasn't really expecting much more than a goofball comedy. However, it ended up bein...

Synopsis: Chicago private detectives Abe Allard and CS Duffy are given the opportunity to pad their pocketbook when the wealthy Geo McMahon hires them to find a piece of art stolen from his private collection. The theft seems odd from the beginning, a sketch from a relatively unknown artist that wasn't anywhere near as valuable as the other pieces in the collection. The case becomes even stranger when similar pieces are also stolen and Abe's daughter, Matilda, comes across a message board suggesting the stolen artwork contains clues to a hidden treasure. Review: I am going to be honest and say I had some doubts about Where Art Thou when I got it through my library last week. While I did enjoy the previous two Abe & Duff books, I've always been a bigger fan of murder mysteries and the thought of them investigating a basic art theft sounded a bit dull. However, after reading it, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few things I really found I liked ab...

Synopsis: Hardened criminal Johnny Cabot is recruited by bank robber Fred Dorella for his latest heist. Cabot's job is to hold Nancy Wilson hostage in her home while Dorella demands $70,000 from her husband, Ken, the bank's vice president and to kill Nancy if he doesn't receive a phone call confirming the bank robbery's success. As the minutes wind down, Borella discovers an unexpected complication - Ken has been having an affair, plans on leaving his wife and Nancy's death would make it easier for him to marry his mistress. The movie also has the alternative title Door-to-Door Maniac . Who's in it? The movie stars Johnny Cash , Donald Woods , Cay Forester , Vic Tayback , Pamela Mason and Ron Howard . Review: While I do consider myself a Johnny Cash fan, I had completely forgotten the legendary country singer also had an acting career until I came across Five Minutes to Live on one of my movie channels. I was intrigued enough to watch it this morning and wa...

I wasn't sure if it would be worth the time putting one of my trail cameras out last night because I knew we were supposed to get a heavy rain. However, I had to take something out to the garbage bin yesterday evening and since I was already outside, figured I'd at least put one by the house. As expected, there wasn't a ton of activity because of the weather and the rain tripped the camera quite a bit more often than critters did but I did still wind up with a few photos:

My zucchini is well past the starter plant stage, but this Wisconsin weather just isn't going to work for me to put it outdoors, at least not as long as the temps are dropping to the thirties at night. So, I brought some planters and a bag of dirt to the office with me this morning and guess I'll just grow it indoors for a while. Perhaps by the end of the week I can finally take them outside, especially since I may need to do the same with my tomatoes soon.

  I spotted Lucia's Morning Melts Breakfast Pizzas a few weeks ago but decided not to get them because I thought they were a bit too expensive. However, I saw they were on sale yesterday and picked up a couple to give them a try, including the Americano Breakfast Pizza I made this morning. Unfortunately, even on sale for $4.99 each, I don't think they were worth the money. One thing I did like about this product was the ability to make it in the microwave rather than needing to dig out my pizza oven or preheat my kitchen oven. And, unlike some other microwaveable pizzas, this one did come out of the microwave with a crunchy crust. The biggest complaint I had (and my wife shared this) was all I could taste was the crust. The toppings were a bit lacking, and I didn't think it had a whole lot of flavor.  At best, even at my most generous, I couldn't say this was any better than any other frozen breakfast pizza I've purchased. In fact, there were two brands in the same ...

The weather cooperated last night, though it was cold once again, so I put out one of the trail cameras behind the house to see what critters came to visit. It was a fairly busy night, with plenty of variety, including one of the occasional visits we get from the neighborhood raccoons. Here is a selection:

  Everyone had Friday off from work and school, so we took a family trip down to Madison and on the way back, stopped by Costco. I saw Rana Southwest-Style Linguine near their meat section and thought it looked interesting enough to give it a try. Overall, I wasn't disappointed. Fortunately, my kids decided they wanted something else because there really wasn't enough in the packaging to make much more than a meal for two.  However, as far as convenience goes, it was one of the easier meals for two I've ever made. All I had to do was open the package, combine the ingredients in the container provided and cook in the microwave for eight minutes. I started this after my wife got out of the shower and it was done by the time she got dressed. I thought the linguine had a unique flavor. The andouille sausage gave it a bold taste without being too spicy and certain filled the kitchen with its aroma as I was cooking it. There was also plenty of chicken and vegetables to go with th...

We had a gap in the rain today and I finally got around to filling the bird feeders, so I decided to put the trail camera out on the patio table again. As expected, the neighborhoods made sure to visit and get more than their share from the feeder, giving me some great photos of them: