Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: "Smoky" Callaway hasn't been a cowboy star in a decade but a recent decision to air some of his old movies on television has made him a celebrity again and the network wants him to make new films. There's just one problem, nobody knows where Smoky is. Desperate to cash in, advertisers Mike Frye and Deborah Patterson attempt to pass off cowboy "Stretch" Barnes as Smoky. The plan seems to go well until the real Smoky returns. Who's in it? The movie stars Fred MacMurray , Dorothy McGuire , Howard Keel , Jesse White and Natalie Schafer .  Review: My wife is feeling under the weather tonight and went to bed early. Since I had some time to myself, I decided to finally watch Callaway Went Thataway , which has been in my movie library for a few weeks. Overall, it ended up being a good film. The overall plot seemed like something that would be predictable but as it turned out, it was full of surprises. For one, Barnes (Keel) was an intriguing charact...

Synopsis: A World War II mine sweeper comes under the command of a by-the-book commander who quickly angers his fellow officers because of his obsessive and paranoid personality. When he freezes during a typhoon and puts his ship in danger, his first officer relieves him of command and faces mutiny charges as a result. Who's in it?  The movie stars Humphrey Bogart , Fred MacMurray , Van Johnson , Lee Marvin and Robert Francis. You can read my review of The Caine Mutiny here:  Movie Review: The Caine Mutiny (1954) (wizzley.com)

Synopsis : After years of traveling as a circuit judge, Jim Scott finally has a permanent post and is ready to settle down with the woman he loves. However, Scott, who refuses to wear a gun, is scheduled to sentence a killer to die and is facing intimidation tactics from the convicted man's powerful family. On top of it, the local sheriff is having an affair with his intended bride and proves to be less than reliable. Who's in it? The movie stars Fred MacMurray , Joan Weldon , John Ericson , Robert Middleton and Marie Windsor . Review : It had been a while since I had seen a Fred MacMurray movie so, when I came across this one a few days ago, I added it to my library. I had a chance to watch it this morning and found I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting. On the surface, this is a normal western, complete with gun-wearing bad guys and cowboy fist fights. However, as the movie progressed, I realized it was a lot more to it than just the stereotypical shoot-'em-up f...

We ended up taking the girls out to the movies last night (an annual tradition around their birthdays) and, after watching it, decided to go for a walk in downtown Beaver Dam. In addition to getting ice cream, we checked out some of the newly-painted murals that are scattered throughout town as well as looked at some of the window displays in the Fred MacMurray museum (he is originally from here). I used my cell phone to grab the pictures below.