5 Star Final Reaction

 

Five Star Final directed by Mervyn LeRoy, is a drama that looks at the dark side of tabloid journalism. The story follows Joseph W. Randall who is a newspaper editor who is under pressure to increase sales. To fix it he brings back an old scandal involving Nancy Townsend, a woman who has tried to move on from a murder case in her past. Her story is published and the media attention becomes too much for her, leading her to kill herself. Her husband dies by suicide too.

This heartbreaking story shows how harmful it can be when the media chooses profit over people. Randall knows that reprinting Nancy’s story is wrong but he feels trapped by the demands of his boss. Edward G. Robinson plays Randall and does a great job showing how guilty and conflicted he feels. There’s even a scene where Randall washes his hands over and over which shows how badly he wants to be free of guilt.

The film also includes a creepy reporter Reverend T. Vernon Isopod played by Boris Karloff. He tricks Nancy’s family by pretending to be someone who cares but really he just wants a juicy story. His actions shows how low some journalists will go to get a headline. 

Even though Five Star Final was made almost 100 years ago its message is still important today. These days we still see news outlets using people’s pain and private lives just to get more clicks or views. The movie warns us about this kind of journalism and asks us to think about where we draw the line between reporting the news and hurting people.

Experts today still talks about the same issues the film brings up. For example, journalism scholar Matthew Harris (2021) says that the media should care not just about the facts but also about avoiding harm to people. Campbell (2001) explains that newspapers during the early 1900s often used shocking headlines and dramatic stories to sell papers even if it meant hurting others. Kovach and Rosenstiel (2021) also argue that journalists have a duty to respect the truth and treat people with fairness and dignity. These ideas connect closely to the message of Five Star Final.

The movie also uses strong visuals to make its point. In the final scenes newspapers are seen floating in the gutter suggesting that the damage caused by bad journalism eventually ends up in the trash where it belongs. It’s a simple but powerful image.

Even though the film has some slow parts and feels dated in some ways its main message still hits home. Five Star Final is more than just an old movie. It’s a reminder that journalism has real power and that power should be used responsibly. It challenges viewers to think about how the media affects people’s lives and whether selling papers or getting clicks is ever worth the human cost.