Five Came Back
Encyclopedia
Five Came Back is a 1939
1939 in film
The year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
melodrama and a precursor of the disaster film
Disaster film
A disaster film is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject...
genre. The film was directed by John Farrow
John Farrow
John Villiers Farrow, CBE was an Australian, later American, film director, producer and screenwriter. In 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Writing / Best Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days and in 1942 he was nominated as Best Director for Wake Island.-Life and career:Farrow was...
, photographed by renowned film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, and written by Jerry Cady
Jerome Cady
Jerome Cady was a Hollywood screenwriter.What promised to be a lucrative and successful career as a film writer - graduating up from Charlie Chan movies in the late 30s to such well respected war films as Guadalcanal Diary , a successful adaptation of Forever Amber and the police procedural Call...
, Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
and Nathanael West
Nathanael West
Nathanael West was a US author, screenwriter and satirist.- Early life :...
.
It was remade in 1948 (differing only in minor details) as the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
film Los que volvieron. In 1956, producer-director Farrow remade the film as Back from Eternity
Back from Eternity
Back from Eternity is a 1956 drama film about a planeload of people stranded in the South American jungle and subsequently menaced by headhunters. It is a remake of an earlier 1939 film, Five Came Back, starred Chester Morris and Lucille Ball, also directed and produced by John Farrow...
starring Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
and Anita Ekberg
Anita Ekberg
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg is a Swedish model, actress and cult sex symbol. She is best known for her role as Sylvia in the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita which features the legendary scene of her cavorting in Trevi Fountain alongside Marcello Mastroianni.-Biography:Ekberg was born in...
.
Plot
Nine passengers board a commercial flight to Panama CityPanama City
Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
:
- wealthy Judson Ellis (Patric KnowlesPatric KnowlesReginald Lawrence Knowles was an English film actor who renamed himself Patric Knowles, a name which reflects his Irish descent. He appeared in films of the 1930s through the 1970s...
) and Alice Melbourne (Wendy BarrieWendy BarrieWendy Barrie was a British actress who worked in British and American films.-Early life:Marguerite Wendy Jenkins was born in Hong Kong to British parents...
), eloping because their parents disapprove - elderly Professor Henry Spengler (C. Aubrey Smith) and his wife Martha (Elisabeth RisdonElisabeth RisdonElisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...
) - gunman Pete (Allen JenkinsAllen JenkinsAllen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
), who is escorting youngster Tommy Mulvaney (Casey Johnson), the son of his fugitive gangster boss - Peggy Nolan (Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
), a woman of ill repute - Vasquez (Joseph CalleiaJoseph CalleiaJoseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
), an anarchistAnarchismAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
being extraditedExtraditionExtradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
for killing a high-ranking politician, and guarded by Mr. Crimp (John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
) for the $5,000 reward for his delivery
The pilot, Bill Brooks (Chester Morris
Chester Morris
Chester Morris was an American actor, who starred in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s.-Career:...
), co-pilot Joe (Kent Taylor
Kent Taylor
Kent Taylor was an American actor.Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including I'm No Angel , Death Takes a Holiday , Payment on Demand ,...
) and Larry (Dick Hogan) the steward comprise the crew.
A fierce storm buffets their airplane. A gas cylinder comes loose and is thrown against the door, forcing it open; Larry falls out to his death. The plane is blown far south of where rescuers would search and crash-lands in the dense Amazonian jungle
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
.
As weeks go by, Bill and Joe struggle to repair the engines, while the others clear a runway. The experience changes everyone. The Spenglers rediscover their love for each other. Bill warms to an appreciative Peggy, though she tells him about her past. Alice toughens up, but Judson goes to pieces, staying drunk much of the time. The biggest change is in Vasquez. Seeing how well most of the group have coped with their situation, he reconsiders his radical beliefs.
On the twenty-third day, Crimp disappears. It is Tommy who eventually discovers him. When Peggy and Pete go looking for the boy, he leads them to the body; they realize he has been killed by a poison dart. Pete orders Peggy to take Tommy to safety while he covers their retreat. He is also killed by the unseen natives.
The rest board the now-repaired plane, but an oil leak develops. They patch it, but realize that it will fail some time after takeoff, leaving only one working engine. As a result, the plane can only carry four adults and Tommy. Vasquez suddenly grabs Bill's gun and announces that, since he is doomed no matter what, he will decide who goes and who stays. The Spenglers volunteer to remain behind. Judson tries to bribe
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
Vasquez, but when that fails, he attacks Vasquez, who shoots him dead.
After the plane takes off, Professor Spengler quietly informs Vasquez that if they are taken alive they will be torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d. Vasquez lies to him, telling him that there are three bullets left when there are only two. He kills the couple and waits for his grisly fate.
Cast
- Chester MorrisChester MorrisChester Morris was an American actor, who starred in the Boston Blackie detective series of the 1940s.-Career:...
as Bill Brooks - Lucille BallLucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
as Peggy Nolan - Wendy BarrieWendy BarrieWendy Barrie was a British actress who worked in British and American films.-Early life:Marguerite Wendy Jenkins was born in Hong Kong to British parents...
as Alice Melbourne - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Crimp - Allen JenkinsAllen JenkinsAllen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...
as Pete - Joseph CalleiaJoseph CalleiaJoseph Calleia was a Maltese born American singer, composer, screenwriter and actor, both on Broadway and in film...
as Vasquez - C. Aubrey Smith as Professor Henry Spengler
- Kent TaylorKent TaylorKent Taylor was an American actor.Born Louis William Weiss in Nashua, Iowa, Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including I'm No Angel , Death Takes a Holiday , Payment on Demand ,...
as Joe, the co-pilot - Patric KnowlesPatric KnowlesReginald Lawrence Knowles was an English film actor who renamed himself Patric Knowles, a name which reflects his Irish descent. He appeared in films of the 1930s through the 1970s...
as Judson Ellis - Elisabeth RisdonElisabeth RisdonElisabeth Risdon was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. An attractive beauty in her youth she usually played in society parts...
as Martha Spengler - Casey Johnson as Tommy Mulvaney
- Dick Hogan as Larry, the steward (uncredited)
Production
Almost a character in its own right, the airplane used in Five Came Back is the Capelis XC-12Capelis XC-12
The Capelis XC-12 was a failed 1933 aircraft design that most notably was used as a non-flying prop in the 1939 film Five Came Back with Chester Morris and Lucille Ball, the 1942 movie, The Flying Tigers, starring John Wayne, and the 1942–1943 movie, Immortal Sergeant with Henry Fonda, Thomas...
, built in 1933 by Capelis Safety Airplane Corporation of California. The plane is described at an American aviation history reference and research Web site, Aerofiles:
- XC-12 1933 = 12-place low-wing cabin monoplane with two 525hp Wright Cyclones; span: 55'0" length: 42'0" load: 3000# v: 220/190/65. Designer: Dr John E Younger. Population: 1 [X12762]. All-metal; triple biplane tail; partly retracting gear, which extended automatically when the throttle was closed.
- Funded by local Greek restaurateurs as a promotional aircraft, and constructed with help from University of California students. US patent #1,745,600 issued to Socrates H Capelis of El Cerrito in 1930 (a modified application for patent of the design with a half-span dorsal wing and two more engines appears in 1932). The main wing spar was bolted together, and much of the skin attached with P-K screws rather than rivets. These tended to vibrate loose, requiring tightening or replacing every few flights. Promotional tours were soon abandoned, and its career ended as a movie prop, appearing in ground roles in several motion pictures (Five Came Back 1939, Flying Tigers 1942, others) before reportedly being scrapped c.1943. Flying shots in films were of a model; the plane itself was grounded by the studio's insurance company.
Reception
In his July 5, 1939 New York Times review, Frank NugentFrank Nugent
Frank Stanley Nugent was an American journalist, film reviewer, script doctor, and screenwriter who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for John Ford...
praised it as "a rousing salute to melodrama, suspenseful as a slow-burning fuse, exciting as a pinwheel, spectacularly explosive as an aerial bomb."
"In 1939, John Farrow directed one of the most exciting 'B' films in company history," wrote Richard B. Jewell in The RKO Story. "Since the title indicated how many would make it out alive, audience members were kept on the edge of their seats," according to Jewell, Professor of American Film at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Jewell describes the film as "one of the very best programme melodramas in RKO history. ...
Five Came Back, which cost $225,000 to make, eventually earned $262,000 in profits and collected substantial critical praise."
Trivia
- The screenwriter for the Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
first-season episode "The Galileo Seven" acknowledges Five Came Back as an influence.