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      Five Came Back

      1939 1h 15m Adventure Drama List
      Reviews 63% Audience Score 100+ Ratings In this 1939 drama, nine passengers from all walks of life and a crew of three take off from Los Angeles, bound for Panama City, but a sudden storm blows them off course and causes the plane to crash in the Amazon jungle. As the weeks pass, and the danger of death at the hands of violent natives grows, ex-prostitute Peggy (Lucille Ball), pilot Bill Brooks (Chester Morris), Detective Crimp (John Carradine), and their fellow passengers struggle to repair the plane -- but only five can escape. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...watchable yet mostly forgettable... Rated: 2.5/4 Sep 24, 2021 Full Review Christopher Lloyd The Film Yap A prototypical B-movie adventure/thriller that rises above the shortcomings of its production values. Rated: 4/5 Apr 22, 2019 Full Review Christopher Lloyd Sarasota Herald-Tribune In many ways, the film can be seen as a precursor to the modern disaster flicks that had their heyday in the 1970s, and then another one in the '90s. Rated: 4/5 Sep 6, 2010 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Snappily paced. Rated: B- Apr 26, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member This is very tight, underplayed film. At 79 minutes it is a perfect length. Every performance is excellent, but modern audience may be in for surprise seeing Lucille Ball in a dramatic part. This performance moved her from ‘B' films to ‘A' levels and deservingly so. The film was photographed by cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, and written by Jerry Cady, Dalton Trumbo, and Nathanael West. Viewers have to understand that this film was made only 5 or 6 years after the start of commercial air travel. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review kevin w A plane goes down in the Amazonian jungles, headhunter country. Can the assortment of survivors learn to work as a team to get out? And do their experiences together change them at all? John Farrow directs this beaut of a B-film (and its remake in 1956!), and template for later disaster films, with an eye to getting to the gist in a hurry. Good stuff. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Five Came Back was a highly successful B-grade film that helped launch Lucille Ball's career. The title describes the plot and you can pretty much guess who is coming back long before the actual decision is made. Dalton Trumbo wrote the screenplay and some of it does seem political, but it's a politics that is strangely quaint by today's standards. The film is worth seeing on a rainy day, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get a copy. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Five Came Back was a low-budget black-and-white disaster film that was snappily paced and the narrative by Dalto Trumbo, Jerome Cady and Nathanael West was tight. It's based on a story by Richard Carroll. The public richly supported it at the box office. The plot has by now become all too familiar about a passenger airplane crash in hostile territory and how the cliché characters handle their misfortune, but back in the day it was still fresh. There's also the beautiful moody noirish photography of the jungle by Nicholas Musuraca that adds to the chilling atmosphere. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member What seem a rather predictable B-flick comes up with some good twists in the final 30 minutes. First impressions aren't always accurate. A joy to see the venerable C. Aubrey sharing the screen with a young & serious Lucy. Solid cast and editing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Quite good little survival film about a plane crash in the Amazon. The cast of survivors includes Lucille Ball and John Carradine, which certainly helps. The film was also co-written by excellent Dalton Trumbo before he would be blacklisted 8 years later for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the communist witch hunts. The film was likely a very original film at the time, but this story has been copied many times and done just as well or better, so the film hasn't aged well in that respect. Still, it's a well made and exciting film that clearly influenced many future disaster films. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Photos

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      Five Came Back

      Five Came Back (1939) Five Came Back (1939) View more photos

      Movie Info

      Synopsis In this 1939 drama, nine passengers from all walks of life and a crew of three take off from Los Angeles, bound for Panama City, but a sudden storm blows them off course and causes the plane to crash in the Amazon jungle. As the weeks pass, and the danger of death at the hands of violent natives grows, ex-prostitute Peggy (Lucille Ball), pilot Bill Brooks (Chester Morris), Detective Crimp (John Carradine), and their fellow passengers struggle to repair the plane -- but only five can escape.
      Director
      John Farrow
      Screenwriter
      Richard Carroll, Jerome Cady, Dalton Trumbo, Nathanael West
      Production Co
      RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
      Genre
      Adventure, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Sep 30, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 15m