Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: A recently disfigured ex-violinist is wanted for murder and "haunts" a Paris opera house while taking extreme measures to help a young singer he has become obsessed with. Who's in it? The movie stars Claude Rains , Susanna Foster, Edgar Barrier , Nelson Eddy and Jane Farrar. Review: I recently watched another movie that had Claude Rains in it and thought to myself "it's been ages since I watched Phantom of the Opera ." So, when I had some free time early this morning before heading into the office, I decided to give it a re-watch.  The movie is as good as I remembered. For the record, I do still prefer the 1925 Lon Chaney silent film version slightly more because Chaney's version of the Phantom was quite a bit creepier. However, this movie is a very close second. A big part of the reason for this is Rains' overall performance, creating a Phantom character that was about as unlikeable as you could make a movie villain. He murdered people,...

Synopsis: Tom Canty is the son of an abusive and criminal father and has spent his whole life in poverty while Edward Tudor is the son of King Henry VIII and the prince of Wales. When the two boys cross paths and realize they look exactly alike, they switch clothes as a prank, only to have the resulting case of mistaken identity result in Edward being thrown off the palace grounds. When Tom tries to correct the situation, nobody believes him except for the Earl of Hertford, who uses the information to blackmail Tom, who is about to be crowned King of England, to do his bidding while arranging for the real Edward's murder. Who's in it? The movie stars Billy and Robert J. Mauch, Errol Flynn , Claude Rains, Barton MacLane and Alan Hale . Review: I didn't intend on watching a movie this morning because I hadn't picked one out ahead of time and only had a limited amount of time to choose. However, I happened to come across The Prince and the Pauper and figured it would ...