Five Star Final

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Five Star Final

Released Sep 26, 1931

1h 29m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

To increase newsstand sales, New York Evening Gazette managing editor Joseph Randall (Edward G. Robinson) is pushed to revive a 20-year-old murder case involving Nancy Voorhees (Frances Starr), who shot the father of her child for his infidelity. Nancy is now married and happily planning the marriage of her daughter, Jenny (Marian Marsh). Randall sends unscrupulous reporter T. Vernon Isopod (Boris Karloff) inside to get the scoop, but publishing the story has disastrous consequences.

Variety Staff

Variety

Edward G. Robinson means a lot to this entertainment.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Mervyn LeRoy directed, doing a lot better with the newspaper chatter than with the long stretches of melodrama.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Mordaunt Hall

New York Times

This production races along without a desultory instant.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 24, 2006

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TV Guide

This is an offbeat but fascinating film which pillories the transgressions of the muckraking tabloids so popular in the 1920s.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 31, 2012

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A blistering indictment of tabloid journalism and built around one of Edward G. Robinson's most compelling performances.

Rated: 5/5

Apr 28, 2011

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Mervyn LeRoy's expose of greedy tabloid journalism was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but is not as compelling as the similarly-themed The Front Page, though Edward G. Robinson is good.

Rated: C+

Feb 21, 2008

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ChrisCSH H

Five star final moves along at a blistering pace, a little slow at the start, but once it gets going into the second and into the third act, it really comes along very well and turns out to be a Intriguing story, exposing The consequences of what can happen from sleazy tabloid writers and the length they will go to make a buck.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/25

Full Review

Mark B

Once you get past the speech patterns -- did people ever really talk like this, outside of the movies? I wonder... - it's not a bad story. Robinson waits for the entire film before he finally gets to chew the scenery, and it's worth it. (#452 in my "watch all Best Picture Nominees" bucket list)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/24

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acsdoug D

I'm usually not a big fan of movies about newspapers and I liked this one quite a bit. Yes, some of the dialogue and the acting appear dated, but the story is interesting and the production is well done.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Louisa E

This wasn't too bad. I like Edward G. Robinson's acting style. The last part was so impactful to me and the performance of H.B. Warner. I wish we had more backstory on the Townsend's to make it a bit more powerful but it the theme came over loud and clear. Still a problem to this day. 7.2/10.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Any film that explores the dark side of journalism should be applauded. It was a very well done and powerful film. Well made, well written, and strongly acted. Anybody that loves Robinson, Karloff, and LeRoy will be happy. This was a relevant subject at the time and is relevant now. Some acting is patchy. Nancy is a dull character and Starr has very little warmth. Occasionally it's a little corny but those moments are seldom. It's stylishly filmed and has good atmosphere and grit. The decision not to use music was good and there was some clever use of sound effects, the sound of machines being almost eerie. LeRoy allows the drama to remain gripping throughout the film and the film is leanly and intelligently scripted. Moreover the story is absorbing. What is shown here is very disarming and honest with the film being quite uncompromising which helps make it more powerful.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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steve d

It still works really well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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Mervyn LeRoy

Director

Edward G. Robinson

Randall

H.B. Warner

Michael Townsend

Marian Marsh

Jenny Townsend

Anthony Bushell

Phillip Weeks

George E. Stone

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Synopsis

To increase newsstand sales, New York Evening Gazette managing editor Joseph Randall (Edward G. Robinson) is pushed to revive a 20-year-old murder case involving Nancy Voorhees (Frances Starr), who shot the father of her child for his infidelity. Nancy is now married and happily planning the marriage of her daughter, Jenny (Marian Marsh). Randall sends unscrupulous reporter T. Vernon Isopod (Boris Karloff) inside to get the scoop, but publishing the story has disastrous consequences.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Screenwriter: Byron Morgan
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: First National Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 26, 1931, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 29m

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