I woke my dog up who was sleeping next to me when at 1am I involuntarily clapped my hands in applause as this ancient yet very entertaining film finished!
Five Star Final is made by Mervyn LeRoy - he was called Warner's boy wonder and brought to life the vision of his boss, Daryl Zanuck that their films should grittily reflect social problems, corruption, inequality and crime. In this one he exposes the the insidious evil of the muck-raking gutter press - the other gangsters. The story concerns an unscrupulous editor digging up dirt which destroys a whole family. After all these years, despite not being a perfect film, it still packs a punch making you angry and indignant.
Unlikely TWO SECONDS which LeRoy made with Edward G the following year which is almost a perfect film, this, like LITTLE CAESAR which he made again with Edward G a few months earlier isn't. A year is s long time in early Hollywood - technological innovations were evolving almost daily so this film looks about ten years older than TWO SECONDS. Mervyn LeRoy however still had fun placing some lovely bits of symbolism (some subtle, some very unsubtle) into his motion picture. The main problem with this film is the unevenness of the acting. The transfer to talking pictures, even at Warners was still causing issues in 1930 - some actors just couldn't get used to it. Edward G Robinson was one who could and that makes his performance natural and authentic rather than a theatrical performance. He is helped in this by a fabulous, fast paced and witty script. For example when his boss tells him that an editor should not sit on a pedestal above his readers. His reply is: If I sat on a cigar box, I'd be above that lot.
Those of us used to seeing Boris Karloff just doing his usual dark and menacing thing, such as in the massively over-rated CRIMINAL CODE will be pleasantly surprised to see him doing a great little role in this. He's actually really amusing as the sneakiest, smarmiest and most despicable reporter of the city. He, along obviously with Edward G and also Aline MacMahon (in her first role) come across as completely authentic - these three seem totally at ease in their characters whereas the others seem to treat the microphone as some terrifying demon on the set which needs to be searched for and shouted at. It was shot in 1930 and it's understandable that a lot of the more established actors find these new-fangled talking pictures quite uncomfortable.
So is this worth watching? Yes, it's not one of the best but it's definitely up there with all those other Warner Brothers - Zanuck classics from LITTLE CAESAR (which actually isn't as good as this), PUBLIC ENEMY, CHAIN GANG, THREE ON A MATCH and let's not overlook TWO SECONDS.
Five Star Final is made by Mervyn LeRoy - he was called Warner's boy wonder and brought to life the vision of his boss, Daryl Zanuck that their films should grittily reflect social problems, corruption, inequality and crime. In this one he exposes the the insidious evil of the muck-raking gutter press - the other gangsters. The story concerns an unscrupulous editor digging up dirt which destroys a whole family. After all these years, despite not being a perfect film, it still packs a punch making you angry and indignant.
Unlikely TWO SECONDS which LeRoy made with Edward G the following year which is almost a perfect film, this, like LITTLE CAESAR which he made again with Edward G a few months earlier isn't. A year is s long time in early Hollywood - technological innovations were evolving almost daily so this film looks about ten years older than TWO SECONDS. Mervyn LeRoy however still had fun placing some lovely bits of symbolism (some subtle, some very unsubtle) into his motion picture. The main problem with this film is the unevenness of the acting. The transfer to talking pictures, even at Warners was still causing issues in 1930 - some actors just couldn't get used to it. Edward G Robinson was one who could and that makes his performance natural and authentic rather than a theatrical performance. He is helped in this by a fabulous, fast paced and witty script. For example when his boss tells him that an editor should not sit on a pedestal above his readers. His reply is: If I sat on a cigar box, I'd be above that lot.
Those of us used to seeing Boris Karloff just doing his usual dark and menacing thing, such as in the massively over-rated CRIMINAL CODE will be pleasantly surprised to see him doing a great little role in this. He's actually really amusing as the sneakiest, smarmiest and most despicable reporter of the city. He, along obviously with Edward G and also Aline MacMahon (in her first role) come across as completely authentic - these three seem totally at ease in their characters whereas the others seem to treat the microphone as some terrifying demon on the set which needs to be searched for and shouted at. It was shot in 1930 and it's understandable that a lot of the more established actors find these new-fangled talking pictures quite uncomfortable.
So is this worth watching? Yes, it's not one of the best but it's definitely up there with all those other Warner Brothers - Zanuck classics from LITTLE CAESAR (which actually isn't as good as this), PUBLIC ENEMY, CHAIN GANG, THREE ON A MATCH and let's not overlook TWO SECONDS.