MovieChat Forums > Five Star Final (1931) Discussion > Another New Fan--and Didn't Robinson Loo...

Another New Fan--and Didn't Robinson Look Great?

posted 10 years ago by Schmoozette
10 replies | jump to latest

Just putting in my two cents' worth--absolutely loved this movie! The melodrama, the acting, all of it. The characters really jumped off the screen, great script, and Robinson looked downright handsome. I think he was shot very well; there were some really interesting angles in some scenes.

It just so happens that I'm now reading When Giants Ruled, about Park Row newspapers (NYC) at the turn of the century. It was the time of "yellow journalism" and cutthroat tactics. Really fascinating, and this movie is a fun complement to the book. Hope everyone gets to discover this movie!

[–] butaneggbert 10 years ago

Just watching it now, and noticed some interesting angles already.

At one point Robinson was seated, gesturing with his right hand, while being shot from slightly below the front of his desk. So his own gestures intermittently blocked his face. On the one hand, it almost seemed like a mistake. On the other, the effect was Robinson's keen eyes flashing off and on like a light. Very different!

[–] Schmoozette 10 years ago

I don't doubt that this was very deliberate. There were so many things that were more subtle and creative in the older movies, unlike the newer ones where everything is explicit and spelled out, as though an audience could never understand otherwise. A lot of indie and foreign films aren't like that, but the mass-audience productions really reach for the lowest common denominator, IMO.

I really like your observation about his keen eyes, however; I agree!

[–] pepperdog61 10 years ago

Unfortunately, Mervyn LeRoy is largely remembered today, if at all, as a kind of studio dray horse of a director, a crank-it-out sausage-maker. He was actually a brilliant filmmaker of the precode days. A year after "Five Star Final," he would make "I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" with Paul Muni.

[–] BelleCBelle 9 years ago

This film is a perfect treasure, and that rare marriage (no pun meant) of every element necessary to create a quality product and entertaining film. That's why I adore the early Warner Bros. films - they looked at the real world, sometimes brutally honest. I loved the character actors, and the stars, of course. But the films wouldn't have been as good without those great character actors.

My favorite shot of the film is when George A. Stone, as Ziggie, was sitting at a desk, leaning back in the chair with his feet up, on the phone. The shot was between his shoes up to his face, filming him while he talked in his rapid-fire way with that sweet smile on his face. Voila.

At least it was nominated for the Oscar for best picture and the Film Daily called it one of the ten best films of 1931, according to Wikipedia.

"Wow. Our town has only had a Whole Foods for three weeks and we already have our first gay kids."

[–] Schmoozette 9 years ago

I also really enjoy the "social realism" films of Warner Bros. I just happened to find this site; you might enjoy reading it. http://www.filmsite.org/30sintro3.html I linked it to Part 3 since it's about Warner Bros., but the whole history looks really interesting! Hope you like it.

[–] BelleCBelle 9 years ago

Thank you! I enjoy Hollywood films of the 20's through the 30's the most so I will have fun. I appreciate other people who are passionate about films too ?

[–] Alix1929 9 years ago

The pre-codes are the best of the 1930s movies. Check out some of these ore 1934 movies.

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

Schmoozette says > It just so happens that I'm now reading When Giants Ruled, about Park Row newspapers (NYC) at the turn of the century. It was the time of "yellow journalism" and cutthroat tactics. Really fascinating,

I haven't read the book you mentioned but I think this movie paints an excellent picture of how things were in that industry at that time. A lot of the tactics are different; especially in terms of how the various papers used to use violence to undermine each other.

Today, they employ more subtle means to win out over their competitors but I think in the end they're often just as sleazy and underhanded as the movie depicts. For those in the media, it's always about getting the story first. They'll shape the narrative if they have to in order to make that happen. Increasing circulation, getting more readers or viewers is how they make money.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]

[–] dga23 8 years ago

Very good - 8.5

"She let me go."
~White Oleander

[–] Popcorngal (4779) a month ago

Hopefully its on YT, or I can find the DVD at a library.