Five Star Final

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Five Star Final

1931,

1h 29m,

Crime/

Drama

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Watchlist

91%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

77%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

77%

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

Mar 26, 2009

Edward G. Robinson means a lot to this entertainment.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Jun 24, 2006

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

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Mordaunt Hall

New York Times

Jun 24, 2006

4/5

This production races along without a desultory instant.

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TV Guide

Jan 31, 2012

3/4

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

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Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Apr 28, 2011

5/5

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

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Feb 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.

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Draco S

Sep 5, 2018

Five Star Final has a less involving first half and it works much less in melodramatic and romantic scenes, but the journalism stuff is excellent, the film makes a strong statement, Edward G. Robinson is superb in the main role and, although most of the other scenes aren't great, that finale truly is amazing and quite moving.

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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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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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