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Five Star Final
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Synopsis
Adapted from the stage play by former newspaperman Louis Weitzenkorn, Five Star Final is an uncompromising look at the consequences of journalistic irresponsibility. Hounded by his publishers to pep up circulation with a sensational story, newspaper editor Edward G. Robinson decides to revive public interest in a long-ago murder case. He discovers that a woman (Sally Starr) who'd shot her lover nearly three decades earlier is now living under a new name and is married to a pillar of society (H.B. Warner). The woman's daughter (Marian Marsh) is just about to marry the son (Anthony Bushell) of another wealthy couple. Robinson sends one of his slimier reporters (Boris Karloff), a onetime divinical student who'd been expelled for sexual misconduct, to visit the woman and secure a photograph. The underhanded reporter disguises himself as the clergyman who will officiate at the wedding, worms his way into the family's confidence, and appropriates the photo. When the story hits the papers, the woman desperately tries to call Robinson and ask him to cease and desist, but Robinson is unmoved. The disgraced woman commits suicide, as does her husband a few moments later. The groom's parents snobbishly try to call off the wedding, but the groom stands by his fiancee's side and is disinherited. The grief-maddened daughter breaks into Robinson's office with a gun, threatening to kill him for ruining her mother. She is calmed down by her fiance, who warns Robinson that he himself will come back for revenge if the newspaper ever mentions the dead woman's name again. The conscience-stricken Robinson quits his job and sets out with his faithful secretary (Aline MacMahon) to start his life over "clean." Despite some stilted performances by the supporting cast, Five Star Final is as potent and powerful as it was in 1931, right up to Edward G. Robinson's climactic (and shockingly scatological) renunciation of his filthy profession. Five Star Final was remade in 1936 as Two Against the World, this time set in a radio station instead of a newspaper office. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Boris Karloff "Reverend" Vernon Isopod
Marian Marsh Jenny Townsend
Ona Munson Kitty Carmody
Edward G. Robinson Joseph Randall
Frances Starr Nancy Voorhees Townsend
George E. Stone Ziggie Feinstein
H.B. Warner Michael Townsend
Anthony Bushell Phillip Weeks
Robert Elliott Brannegan

Production Crew

Jack Okey Art Director
Sol Polito Cinematographer
Earl Luick Costume Designer
Mervyn LeRoy Director
Frank Ware Editor
Leo F. Forbstein Musical Direction/Supervision
Louis Weitzenkorn Play Author
Byron Morgan Screenwriter
Robert Lord Screenwriter
Year: 1931
Runtime: 89
Country: USA
MPAA Rating:
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Produced by
Warner Brothers

Release
by First National

Awards
1931 - 10 Best Films - Film Daily
1931-1932 - Best Picture - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie
1931-32 - Best Picture - Academy