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IMDbPro

Five Star Final

  • 19311931
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
Edward G. Robinson and Ona Munson in Five Star Final (1931)
Trailer for this newspaper drama
Play trailer1:55
1 Video
31 Photos
CrimeDrama

The City Editor of a sleazy tabloid goes against his own journalistic ethics to resurrect a twenty year old murder case... with tragic results.The City Editor of a sleazy tabloid goes against his own journalistic ethics to resurrect a twenty year old murder case... with tragic results.The City Editor of a sleazy tabloid goes against his own journalistic ethics to resurrect a twenty year old murder case... with tragic results.

IMDb RATING
7.3/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Writers
    • Louis Weitzenkorn(based on the play by)
    • Byron Morgan(screen play)
    • Robert Lord(adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Edward G. Robinson
    • Marian Marsh
    • H.B. Warner
  • Director
    • Mervyn LeRoy
  • Writers
    • Louis Weitzenkorn(based on the play by)
    • Byron Morgan(screen play)
    • Robert Lord(adaptation)
  • Stars
    • Edward G. Robinson
    • Marian Marsh
    • H.B. Warner
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 55User reviews
    • 29Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Five Star Final
    Trailer 1:55
    Watch Five Star Final

    Photos31

    Edward G. Robinson, Boris Karloff, Oscar Apfel, Anthony Bushell, and Marian Marsh in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson in Five Star Final (1931)
    Anthony Bushell and Marian Marsh in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson and Oscar Apfel in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson, Oscar Apfel, and Robert Elliott in Five Star Final (1931)
    Anthony Bushell, Marian Marsh, Frances Starr, and H.B. Warner in Five Star Final (1931)
    Frances Starr and H.B. Warner in Five Star Final (1931)
    Edward G. Robinson in Five Star Final (1931)
    Anthony Bushell, Marian Marsh, Frances Starr, and H.B. Warner in Five Star Final (1931)
    George E. Stone and William H. Strauss in Five Star Final (1931)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Edward G. Robinson
    Edward G. Robinson
    • Joseph W. Randall
    Marian Marsh
    Marian Marsh
    • Jenny Townsend
    H.B. Warner
    H.B. Warner
    • Michael Townsend
    Anthony Bushell
    Anthony Bushell
    • Phillip Weeks
    George E. Stone
    George E. Stone
    • Ziggie Feinstein
    Frances Starr
    Frances Starr
    • Nancy 'Voorhees' Townsend
    Ona Munson
    Ona Munson
    • Kitty Carmody
    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • T. Vernon Isopod
    Aline MacMahon
    Aline MacMahon
    • Miss Taylor
    Oscar Apfel
    Oscar Apfel
    • Bernard Hinchecliffe
    Purnell Pratt
    Purnell Pratt
    • Robert French
    Robert Elliott
    Robert Elliott
    • R. J. Brannegan
    James P. Burtis
    James P. Burtis
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Richard Carlyle
    • First Newstand Proprietor
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Darien
    Frank Darien
    • Schwartz - Undertaker
    • (uncredited)
    James Donlan
    • Reporter in Speakeasy
    • (uncredited)
    Evelyn Hall
    Evelyn Hall
    • Mrs. Isobel Weeks
    • (uncredited)
    Gladys Lloyd
    Gladys Lloyd
    • Miss Edwards
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Mervyn LeRoy
    • Writers
      • Louis Weitzenkorn(based on the play by)
      • Byron Morgan(screen play)
      • Robert Lord(adaptation)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      "The Evening Gazette" is based on the real-life "New York Evening Graphic," the most sensational of all the "Front Page"-era tabloid papers (critics called it the Porno-Graphic). The paper, owned by Bernarr Macfadden, published from 1924-32. At the time this film was made the Graphic had been losing circulation, because its new editor had been trying to make it a more respectable paper, just like in the film. The paper was best known for its "composographs," composite photographs used to create an otherwise unobtainable illustration. Louis Weitzenkorn, who wrote the original play, had been a reporter and editor on the" Evening Graphic."
    • Goofs
      When Nancy Voorhees Townsend is at the newsstand and picks up the Evening Gazette with her photo from 20 years ago beside the photo of the man she killed back then on the front page, the headline above the two photos is "Nancy Voorhees Story." But after she walks away with it to pay for it, another copy with the same two photos on the front is shown there at the newsstand, but with the headline "2 Die in Subway Cave-in." After she pays for the one in her hand, that's loosely folded in half, the headline on it can be seen and it isn't "Nancy Voorhees Story" as it was to begin with - it's now the "2 Die in Subway Cave-in" headline, and it's still that same 'subway' headline in the next shot when she sits down at the desk at her apartment to read it before hurriedly hiding it in the drawer when her daughter enters the room.
    • Quotes

      Joseph W. Randall: God gives us heartache and the devil gives us whiskey.

    • Connections
      Featured in When the Talkies Were Young (1955)
    • Soundtracks
      The Wearing of the Green
      (uncredited)

      Traditional Irish street ballad (1798)

      Whistled by Harold Waldridge

    User reviews55

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    A well told story. One of Edgar G. Robinson's best films.
    The story holds true just as much today as it did when it was made. Powerful newspapers will stop at nothing, it seems, in the name of circulation. Scandal sells. The best scene in the whole movie is when Jenny confronts each of the three protagonists with the question, "Why did you kill my mother?". Randall, realizing what he has caused to happen, attempts to kill the story, then turns in his resignation. (Or maybe he realized just how much power he held in his hands and wanted no more of it.) This movie shows that the pen, indeed, is mightier than the sword.
    helpful•13
    5
    • Crow-9
    • Mar 10, 1999

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 26, 1931 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Sed de escándalo
    • Filming locations
      • Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
    • Production company
      • First National Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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