Five (1951)

Director:

Arch Oboler

Writers:

Arch Oboler (story)
James Weldon Johnson (dialogue) (poem)

Release Date:

25 April 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Four men and one woman are the last five people on Earth...This is their story!

Plot:

The world is destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. Only five Americans survive, including a pregnant woman, a neo-Nazi, a black man and a bank clerk.

Plot Keywords:

Pregnant Woman | Poet | Pregnant | Symbolism | Fascism

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

William Phipps	...	Michael
Susan Douglas Rubes	...	Roseanne Rogers (as Susan Douglas)
James Anderson	...	Eric
Charles Lampkin	...	Charles
Earl Lee	...	Mr. Barnstaple

Directed by
Arch Oboler

Writing credits
Arch Oboler		(story, screenplay and dialogue)
James Weldon Johnson		(dialogue) (poem "Creation")

Produced by
Arch Oboler	....	producer

Original Music by
Henry Russell
William Lava		(uncredited)
Charles Maxwell		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Sid Lubow
Louis Clyde Stoumen

Film Editing by
John Hoffman
Ed Spiegel
Arthur Swerdloff

Art Direction by
Arch Oboler

Sound Department
Gus Bayz	....	special sound effects
William Jenkins Locy	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Louis Clyde Stoumen	....	cinematographic consultant

Music Department
Charles Maxwell	....	orchestrator
Henry Russell	....	musical director
Betty Steinberg	....	music editor

Other crew
Frank Lloyd Wright	....	cliffhouse designer
Geraldine Klancke	....	executive secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Arch Oboler Productions
• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Lobo Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Films (1951) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinema Epoch (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"5ive" - USA (poster title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #15197)

Filming Locations:

Arch Oboler House - 32436 Mulholland Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Company:

Arch Oboler Productions

Trivia:

The character of Eric, the bigoted quasi-Nazi, was a good warm-up for actor James Anderson, who would take on his most famous movie role, the monstrous Robert E. Lee Ewell, so memorably in "To Kill a Mockingbird" a decade later.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When looking at the soap box powder in the store, the name of the soap is "Atomic Suds" but when the box is tilted by the actor you can clearly see the box top reads "Tide".

Quotes:

[last lines]
Roseanne Rogers:I want to help you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Great Balls of Fire! (1989)

Indelible Recollection!

I saw the film "Five" in 1951 when I was 10 . Being born in London during WW2, sirens and doodlebugs were everyday routine . Although only a baby then ,the sounds of the sirens have never left my memory. After the war ended my father returned from the Royal Navy and my mother wanted to get out of bomb- ridden London . We moved to a remote peaceful Thames Estuary location which was very rural with unmade roads and still with gas lighting. There was sea, fields, bungalows a few schools, shops and one cinema which changed programme once a week and was always a treat. This film had a traumatic effect on my ten years of age. Maybe because of the still close aftermath of memories of war. I cried and sobbed uncontrollably with such desperation that my mother had to take me out before it ended. It has stuck in my mind ever since, even though 56 years have passed. My impression is still very vivid of the loneliness and isolation of the five survivors and I identified myself as being part of the frightening predicament. I remember the scene of the greed of one character grabbing priceless jewels, but which had no longer any value and at only 10 years old I thought how worthless was he, as a human being. I have never see the movie since.

I wonder if Arch Oboler ever suspected that "Five" would make such an imprinting on so many people like us who have written about it after half a century. I wish I could find a DVD region 2 of it for curiosity, to see if I would relive the vision in the same way again. It was interesting to read the comments on this. Thanks. J.