FIVE STAR FINAL in Golden Age Horror Forum

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FIVE STAR FINAL

Author	Comment
Elisabeth	FIVE STAR FINAL	Lead	[-]
Jul 14 10 5:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Heads up on this WB Treasure! A magnificent pre-code film about a filthy tabloid newspaper, and just how far its owners will go for "Circulation". It stars Edward G. Robinson...a tough editor with a Pontius Pilate fixation. Someone who loathes what he's doing, but doesn't hesitate to collect his blood money. This film is "horror" because it is the film Boris Karloff made immediately prior to FRANKENSTEIN. He plays the repulsive T. Vernon Isopod, A degenerate reporter with (unspecified) nasty appetites. He really shines in this one, guys. It's a great story and a great restoration. Elisabeth Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
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Don Glut		#1	[-]
Jul 14 10 6:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	FYI, I just listened to the pilot or audition (one or the other) of the old BIG TOWN radio series, also starring Eddy G -- and it's a veritable remake of FIVE STAR FINAL.
TomWeaver999		#2	[-]
Jul 14 10 6:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<< it is the film Boris Karloff made immediately prior to FRANKENSTEIN. << One of the eleventy-leven stories of how Karloff got his role in FRANKENSTEIN is that Carl Laemmle Jr. saw him in FIVE STAR FINAL and thought he'd make a good Monster (MOTION PICTURE magazine, April 1932). Great picture, yes. The 1936 remake ... not so great. I believe pudgy milquetoast actor Harry Hayden played the equivalent role in the remake (whose title I can't remember). Last Edited By: TomWeaver999 Jul 14 10 6:05 PM. Edited 1 times.
Elisabeth		#3	[-]
Jul 14 10 6:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tom. Isopod scared the stew out of me. Even as an adult. So many of my favourite people were in this: Anthony Bushell, from JOURNEY'S END, Marian Marsh, from SVENGALI and THE BLACK ROOM. H.B. Warner from Paramount's SUPERNATURAL, and Aline MacMahon in ANYTHING....This was a real treat. Keep your eye open towards the end, when Aline gives Boris a Bronx Cheer...showing him what she thinks of him. Karloff's reaction shot is priceless. "E" Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
Elisabeth		#4	[-]
Jul 14 10 6:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tom...it was TWO AGAINST THE WORLD, with Humphrey Bogart in the Robinson role. "E" Your Signature ... "....I do hope he won't upset Henry..."
Mora		#5	[-]
Jul 14 10 7:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Right, Elisabeth. Also known as "One Fatal Hour" which compresses the original's 89-minute running time into a compact 56 min (Turner library print). With the setting changed from a newspaper office to a radio station. No classic and solely missing Karloff's slimy performance, but a nice change of pace for Bogie, actually playing one of his rare 30s characters with a conscience.
will		#6	[-]
Jul 14 10 9:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Good movie, but I think it is a strectch to label it a horror flick.
TServo4		#7	[-]
Jul 14 10 9:52 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If you liked FSF, you're sure to like the Eddy G. companion piece, TWO SECONDS. I consider both to be the strongest performances he gave at that point in his career. J. Theakston Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY
Don Glut		#8	[-]
Jul 18 10 9:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ah, I'd forgotten about TWO SECONDS. If memory serves me (and I think I have it on tape) Eddy G gets dangerously close to "over the top" territory.
Ray Faiola		#9	[-]
Jul 20 10 7:52 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TWO SECONDS is one of the few genuinely frightening films I've seen. Showtime ran a gorgeous 35mm print back in the 80's. Boy, was I blindsided by that one! Classic Film Scores Restored on CD http://www.chelsearialtostudios.com
Mora		#10	[-]
Jul 20 10 9:45 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Two Seconds" definitely has a weird feeling to it. I like the early part of the film, but feel it does tend to go over-the-top towards the end. Fortunately, it doesn't quite overstay its welcome. Must confess it's not one of my favorite early Eddie's or early Warners.
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TomWeaver999		#11	[-]
Jul 20 10 10:03 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Haven't seen it in a while but my memory is also more weird (and depressing) than good. A memorable experience, yes, but that could also be said of losing a finger!
taraco		#12	[-]
Jul 20 10 12:13 PM Burgomaster Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	FIVE STAR FINAL goes far beyond just being an obscure early Boris Karloff appearance. As a journalist, I found its get-the-story-at-any-cost-no-matter-who-it-hurts newspaper storyline as true to the reality of things as any "newspaper film" I've ever seen. Only ABSENCE OF MALICE comes close to FIVE STAR FINAL in laying bare the worst dangers of newspapering when common sense or humanity are ignored.. Really a terrific, thought-provoking film with wonderfully over-the-top performances by Edward G. Robinson, Karloff and many others. david
will		#13	[-]
Jul 20 10 12:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	taraco wrote: FIVE STAR FINAL goes far beyond just being an obscure early Boris Karloff appearance. As a journalist, I found its get-the-story-at-any-cost-no-matter-who-it-hurts newspaper storyline as true to the reality of things as any "newspaper film" I've ever seen. Only ABSENCE OF MALICE comes close to FIVE STAR FINAL in laying bare the worst dangers of newspapering when common sense or humanity are ignored.. Really a terrific, thought-provoking film with wonderfully over-the-top performances by Edward G. Robinson, Karloff and many others. david Also Ace in the Hole (1951).
CAPTAINCOMPANY		#14	[-]
Jul 21 10 1:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey guys! I haven't gotten around to picking-up and seeing FSF yet (although it's on my "short list of WB Archive pick-ups), I have seen "Two Seconds"... I'll concur that it does have a weird & depressing feel to it (it almost feels as if Dwain Esper got the opportunity to film on the Warner's lot in some places...), but it does begin to drift into "ham & cheese" land by the wind-up (compare Peter Lorre's famous speech in "M" to Robinson's court room rant and you'll get the picture) Robinson returned to somewhat similar terrain in "Scarlet Street" (1945) (coincidentally another Fritz Lang) with much more assured and satisfying (although even MORE depressing) results. Bryan
professor liebstrum		#15	[-]
May 14 12 2:50 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There's a very good print of Five Star Final up on Youtube at the moment, and it's not cut into 9 minute chunks either Russ
Grant		#16	[-]
May 14 12 9:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I only know it from one paragraph or so in the Peter Underwood Karloff book. but there's one thing I've always wondered. It's possible to be a casual "fan" (instead of a student) of any kind of animal, even the less romantic kinds, and for me that includes aquatic crustaceans. My question is, how in the world does he have the name "Isopod," a kind of pillbug relative that lives in the water? And an animal that isn't considered particularly nasty (like the kind of animal a villain would be named after), and isn't even well-known in the first place?
professor liebstrum		#17	[-]
May 15 12 1:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He's named after a sea monkey? Russ
Mora		#18	[-]
May 15 12 3:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Not surprising that Boris was chosen to play the Frankenstein creation. In FIVE STAR FINAL he really comes acoss as a spooky, cadaverous character. Much more than in, for instance, his brief appearance as "Sport" in the Robinson-Cagney combine SMART MONEY.
Mora		#19	[-]
May 15 12 3:35 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	BTW: Was not THE GUILTY GENERATION the film that Karloff made prior to FRANKENSTEIN? From what I understand (and I may be wrong) the reason Karloff's appearance as the gangster in TGG was abbreviated was because he was set to do the James Whale film.
TomWeaver999		#20	[-]
May 15 12 7:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	According to the shooting dates for both movies in the AFI CATALOG, they were made at the same time (starting a little after mid-August 1931).
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