Sede de Escândalo

Five Star Final (1931)

*** (out of 4)

An editor (Edward G. Robinson) at a sleazy newspaper makes a mistake by bringing a 20-year-old murder case back to the headlines. Earlier this year I watched the remake One Fatal Hour with Bogart, which pretty much followed this film word for word but this one here is slightly better due to the rich performance from Robinson and a powerful ending attacking the media. Some racy Pre-Code dialogue centered around a gay reporter is pretty eye catching as is the pre-Frankenstein performance by Boris Karloff as a drunken reporter.

This largely forgotten film stars Edward G. Robinson and was one of the Best Picture Oscar nominees in 1931-1932. Robinson plays the editor of a newspaper whose publisher instructs Robinson to come up with a story that will increase circulation. Robinson's solution is to track down a woman who killed the father of her child twenty years before when he refused to marry her, but she was acquitted, largely because of her child. She has since married, and her daughter is on the eve of her own marriage and has no idea of her mother's past. Robinson's "what ever happened to" idea is a success, but at a horrible cost to the family involved.

Not on DVD or VHS, the film uses some techniques that were rather odd for Warner Bros at the time, considering that their urban dramas usually were very fast-paced. To begin with, the film makes a big production of introducing Robinson to the audience, having the other players talk about him at length, and even showing a shot of just his hands as he washes up before he makes his big entrance. Then - the whole movie proceeds to switch its dramatic center more to the family that Robinson's newspaper is writing a scandal piece on and its tragic effect on them.

Robinson and Boris Karloff - in an odd turn as an alcoholic reporter just prior to his star-making role in Frankenstein - have acting in the age of sound down to a fine art. However, the actors playing the roles of the family targeted by Robinson's scandal sheet seem to be hold-overs from the silent era, the best known being silent star H.B. Warner. Their speech is somewhat slow and over-dramatic, and their gestures exaggerated, but not ridiculously so. This might have been to contrast them with the hard-boiled occupants of the newsroom, but it makes the film look like it has two entirely different directors.

Have for some time regarded Edward G. Robinson very highly as an actor, he was often a scene stealer in support and he had more than enough presence when he was a lead. Seeing Boris Karloff in a prolific year for him and Aline MacMahon in her first film added to the interest. As well as that it was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who also directed 'Random Harvest' (a particularly wonderful film of his). Any film that explores the dark side of journalism should be applauded.

'Five Star Final' managed to be a very well done and powerful film. Well made, very well written and strongly acted, on the most part regarding the acting with a couple of exceptions. Anybody that loves Robinson, Karloff and LeRoy will be more than delighted. The subject is a bold one and well worth addressing, it was very relevant at the time and is also very relevant now. Even more so now and even worse than back then, scarily so.

The film is not perfect by all means. Some of the acting is patchy. Nancy is a dull character and Frances Starr has very little warmth and presence in the part. Ona Munson's character annoyed me to no end and Munson overdoes it.

Occasionally 'Five Star Final' is a little corny, but thankfully those moments are hardly any.

It is stylishly filmed and has a good amount of atmosphere and grit. The decision to not use music was a good one, meaning that in my view the dialogue and subject resonates more without worrying about potential intrusiveness. There are some clever use of sound effects, the sound of machines being almost eerie. LeRoy really allows the drama to remain gripping throughout the entire film and the film is leanly and intelligently scripted.

Moreover, the story is very absorbing. Personally don't think it has dated at all and absolutely agree with everybody that says that its theme is still relevant today (as said already one could say that it is more so today and to a degree that is enough to shock, can't believe that there are people still that believe everything they believe in the press). What is shown here, meaning the dark side of journalism, is very disarming and honest with the film being quite uncompromising which helps make it all the more powerful.

Robinson is truly excellent in the lead role and nothing short of magnetic. Matched more than ideally by shifty Karloff, an extremely impressive debuting MacMahon and heartfelt HB Warner. Marian Marsh also gives a brave performance and is very moving in her final scene which is agreed one of the dramatic highlights.

To conclude, very well done. 8/10

The story holds true just as much today as it did when it was made. Powerful newspapers will stop at nothing, it seems, in the name of circulation. Scandal sells. The best scene in the whole movie is when Jenny confronts each of the three protagonists with the question, "Why did you kill my mother?". Randall, realizing what he has caused to happen, attempts to kill the story, then turns in his resignation. (Or maybe he realized just how much power he held in his hands and wanted no more of it.) This movie shows that the pen, indeed, is mightier than the sword.

This Oscar-nominated film (Best Picture) shows the dark side of journalism as a paper delves into the past of a woman (Frances Starr) who was impregnated by her boss and acquitted of his murder.

Edward G. Robinson (Little Caesar) is a newspaper editor that is interested in boosting circulation and is not concerned with the lives he destroys in the process. He goes after Nancy Voorhees (Starr), who is now Nancy (Voorhees) Townsend and is not concerned that she has not told her daughter (the doll-faced Marian Marsh), who is now about to me married, about her past.

Robinson was absolutely brilliant in the role and ably assisted by Boris Karloff and Oscar-nominated actress (Dragon Seed) Aline MacMahon in her first film.

A classic showing the seedy side of journalism.