Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Mary Linden, a receptionist at a paper milling company, is secretly in love with salesman James Duneen. When her boss, John Ritter, is forced to retire for health reasons, she uses her influence to help Duneen earn a promotion to company president and stays by his side as his indispensable private secretary. However, despite everything she does for him, Duneen doesn't share her romantic feelings and even forces her to hire one of his lovers as her assistant. Things come to a head when Duneen becomes engaged to Ritter's daughter and his jealous fiancée forces Mary to quit. Who's in it? The movie stars Mary Astor , Robert Ames, Ricardo Cortez , Catherine Dale Owen and Kitty Kelly . Review: I added Behind Office Doors to my library after reading a Mary Astor biography and deciding I should try to watch more of her films. Based on the description, I wasn't sure if it was a movie I would enjoy and, after watching the first few minutes this morning, was still u...

Synopsis: When inventor Boyd Milburn discovers his wife, Peggy, standing over the dead body of a man who tried to rape her, he decides to take the blame for the murder to protect their daughter, Dorothy. Paroled after 15 years, he returns home to discover Peggy living a dream life, paid for with his inventions.  When Dorothy, now a grown woman who believes her father died, gets engaged to Paul Wallis, Peggy disapproves and threatens to disinherit her daughter, forcing Boyd to intervene and threaten to expose the truth if she doesn't let the wedding happen. However, things take a dark turn when Paul is falsely accused of killing the judge that sentenced Boyd, forcing the ex-con to decide what steps he is willing to take to once again protect his daughter. Who's in it? The movie stars Henry B. Walthall, Grace Valentine, Nancy Welford, Ricardo Cortez and Jack Curtis. Review: I came across about a half dozen movies last night that looked interesting and since I do have a limite...

Synopsis: Nancy and Jimmy, a young couple working as medical assistants, witness a group of men murdering Judge Roger Shaw. When another man, recently released convict and musician John Ellman, is falsely accused of the murder, Nancy convinces Jimmy it is too dangerous for them to come forward and by the time she changes her mind, Ellman has already been convicted and executed. Seeking to right the wrong, their employer, Dr. Beaumont, brings Ellman back to life with a mechanical heart he has been developing. Ellman is alive but in an almost zombie-like state with no memory of what happened. However, a supernatural instinct lets him know who framed him and he begins to seek revenge. Who's in it? The movie stars Boris Karloff , Edmund Gwenn ,  Marguerite Churchill , Warren Hull and Ricardo Cortez . Review: As a general rule, I've found you can rarely go wrong with a Boris Karloff movie so, when I went in search of a film to watch this morning and saw The Walking Dead was ava...

Synopsis: As he prepares to be executed for murder, Nick Ross confesses to a group of witnesses and claims to have been working for a benefactor. However, before he can give that man's name, he is killed by a poisoned dart. District Attorney Roger Phillips immediately locks down the room and, after searching the witnesses, arrests the elderly Lanning, who knew Ross from when he was a boy. The arrest is merely a ruse to give Phillips an opportunity to figure out who the real murderer is with help from his news reporter girlfriend, Geri Reynolds. Who's in it? The movie stars Ricardo Cortez , Joan Woodbury , George Pembroke , Pat Gleason and Iris Adrian. Review: It was very cold out this morning and while trying to get the motivation to face the frigid temps and go to the office, I found a movie to watch on Amazon Prime. I Killed That Man sounded like an interesting locked room mystery, so I gave it a try and wasn't disappointed. There were a couple things I really liked ab...

Synopsis: Believing his granddaughter Wilma's many suitors are only after her inheritence, Peter Laxter summons attorney Perry Mason to his mansion in the middle of the night both write her out of his will an ensure his grandsons' inheritence is contingent on his long-time caretaker remaining employed and being allowed to keep his beloved cat. When Laxter dies in a mysterious fire, Mason agrees to investigate on behalf of the cat and ultimately ends up defending Wilma's boyfriend against three sets of murder charges. Who's in it? The movie stars Ricardo Cortez , Jane Bryan , June Travis , Garry Owen and Craig Reynolds. Review: I had this movie saved in my library for a few weeks but did not get around to watching it until yesterday, when I was waiting for my family to get ready for trick-or-treating. Other than the misleading title (the cat isn't black), it ended up being a good movie. The film is based on the book The Case of the Caretaker's Cat , which I...

Synopsis:  The beautiful Jenny Wren invites the rich married men she had affairs with to an impromtu party at a California ranch so she can blackmail them. When she is murdered later that evening, the men become the primary suspects but the clues point to a young man who killed himself when she turned down his advances. Who's in it?  The movie stars  Karen Morley ,  Ricardo Cortez ,  Anita Louise ,  Mary Duncan  and  Pauline Frederick. Review:  I came across this movie last night, while killing time until my wife and daughter got home from the ice rink. It looked interesting and the hour run time was short enough to let me watch it before work, so I decided to add it to my library. After watching it this morning, I was satisfied with my decision. The mystery was much more complicated than I originally expected it to be. While her party guests had plenty of motive to murder her, the fact she was seeing the man who killed himself (or at least s...