Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Coming to Los Angeles in the 1940s after serving in World War II, Fred Otash first joined the Los Angeles Police Department but after clashes with his new boss, quit to become a private detective. Using his connections with the police and relationships he built with many of Hollywood's elite, Otash first worked for a gossip magazine before becoming a sought-after fixer, someone who could keep celebrity indiscretions out of the press and protect both their careers and the studios investing money in them. This biography tells his story along with stories about Hollywood's dark side.   Review: I had a bit of a Hollywood history theme the last time I checked out books from the library and, as part of that, ended up selecting The Fixer simply because it sounded interesting. While I didn't know who Fred Otash was before reading the book, I was familiar with the concept of Hollywood "fixers" and what they did for the studios and figured it would be entertainin...

Synopsis: After being raised by parents who stole from her and becoming a widow at 24, Hollywood star Mary Astor was involved in relationships with multiple men, including playwright George S. Kaufman, while she was married to Dr. Franklyn Thorpe and wrote about her affairs in her diary. In 1936, after agreeing to give Thorpe both a divorce and custody of their daughter, Marylyn because he possessed her diary and threatened to use it to derail her career, Astor took her ex-husband to court to contest the custody arrangement, putting Hollywood on high alert as the case threatened to expose the details of her private journal, including the famous stars she slept with. This non-fiction book gives a play-by-play detail of the trial, the events leading up to it and the aftermath. Review: As a classic movie fan, I am familiar with Mary Astor's work and knew enough about her history to be familiar with her infamous "Purple Diaries," named after the color ink she used to write...

Synopsis: From the time she was a little girl, Wong Liu Tsong wanted to be an actress and gets an opportunity to do so as a teenage when she is discovered while working as a movie extra. Going by the stage name Anna May Wong, she quickly rises to international fame. However, her Chinese American heritage and skin color continue to provide an obstacle to her dreams of being a leading lady who isn't typecast by racist Hollywood while her chosen profession creates a rift between her and her father. Review: To be perfectly honest, I had a lot of doubts about The Brightest Star when I reserved a copy of it through my local library. While I am, as I've mentioned in the past, a fan of old movies and Hollywood history, I wasn't sure what to expect from a book that is based on the life of a real celebrity but told in a way that even the author describes as fiction. Still, I gave it a shot while hiding indoors from the cold this weekend and it turned out to be a book I couldn'...

Synopsis: First cast as a 15-year-old teenager in a film role that would earn her the nickname of "the Sweater Girl," Lana Turner became a Hollywood sex symbol and went on to a film and television career that lasted from the 1930s until the 1980s. Behind the scenes, however, Turner's life wasn't so glamorous, filled with failed and abusive romances, including to Johnny Stompanato, a mobster working for crime boss Mickey Cohen, a relationship that eventually ended with Stompanato dead on her bedroom floor and her teenage daughter, Cheryl, willingly taking the blame for the stabbing.  This non-fiction book presents an account of Turner's life, how it reached that pivotal point and the impact of the scandal on her career and mother/daughter relationship. Review:   A a classic movie fan, I was well-aware of both Lana Turner's film work and the scandal that nearly completely derailed her career. So, when I came across A Murder in Hollywood at the library, I deci...

Synopsis: In 1929, legendary director Alfred Hitchcock released the film Blackmail , both as a silent film and a "talkie." While it wasn't his first movie, many believe the film is the first one to show his visionary style. This documentary both discusses the making of Blackmail and compares the movie to Hitchcock's later and better-known classics. Review: I had a list of movies to choose from this morning but picked Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail because it was the one with the shortest runtime and I needed to shovel snow before heading into the office. Overall, it turned out to be a good choice. I've seen a large number of Hitchcock films but not all of them and Blackmail remains one of the films that is still on that "must watch" list. The movie made me want to watch it even more. The "making of" portion of the film was intriguing. At the time Hitchcock made the movie, Talkies were still relatively new, and the film industry ...

Synopsis: Getting his start in burlesque, Lou Costello quickly rose to world-wide fame by partnering with Bud Abbott to form Abbott & Costello. However, his personal life was plagued by tragedy, financial issues and health problems. Review: I came across this book at the library last week and, being a big Abbott & Costello fan, I decided to check it out.  Since the book was written by his daughter, with the help of Raymond Strait, I did have some concerns about the book being a bit too slanted. But, after reading it, I did find it was an interesting well-balanced account of a man who was talented and had a big heart, especially when it came to his family but, at the same time, had his flaws too. I think the thing that really surprised me about this book was the way it managed to create a wide range of emotions while I was reading it. Some of the stories were humorous, such as the stories about him sneaking off with movie props while the films were still being made and l...