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Five Star Final

Play trailer Poster for Five Star Final 1931 1h 29m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 80% 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.

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Five Star Final

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 03/26/2009
Edward G. Robinson means a lot to this entertainment. Go to Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 06/24/2006
Mervyn LeRoy directed, doing a lot better with the newspaper chatter than with the long stretches of melodrama. Go to Full Review Mordaunt Hall New York Times 06/24/2006
4/5
This production races along without a desultory instant. Go to Full Review TV Guide 01/31/2012
3/4
This is an offbeat but fascinating film which pillories the transgressions of the muckraking tabloids so popular in the 1920s. Go to Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 04/28/2011
5/5
A blistering indictment of tabloid journalism and built around one of Edward G. Robinson's most compelling performances. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 02/21/2008
C+
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. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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ChrisCSH H Feb 11 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. See more Mark B 03/25/2024 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) See more acsdoug D @acsdoug 02/11/2024 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. See more 12/14/2021 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. See more steve d 07/23/2020 It still works really well. See more 05/31/2020 Before Orson Welles' Citizen Kane took a veiled shot at newspaper tabloid tycoon Willian Randolph Hearst director Mervyn LeRoy did the same with Five Star Final. LeRoy, Edward G. Robinson - with co-stars Marian Marsh and Aline MacMahon - deliver a powerful story of how the tabloid media ruins lives for profit. The final scene is powerful and a must-see. See more Read all reviews
Five Star Final

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Cast & Crew

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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

Ziggie Feinstein

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Five Star Final

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Movie Info

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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