Five Star Final

IBM

Five Star Final released in 1931

The movie Five Star Final starts off with people talking about Mr. Randall, managing editor of the New York Evening Gazette.  Mr. Randall is played by Edward G. Robinson.

It starts to become apparent that Mr. Randall likes to hire beautiful women. A gorgeous woman named Kitty Carmody, played by Ona Munson, walks into the gazette. She starts telling Mr. Randall's secretary, Miss Taylor played by Aline MacMahon, that she wants a job. She says to the Miss Taylor, who is being cold towards her, "I don't think you like me do you? Miss Taylor responds saying, "Don't worry you'll get the job alright." 

I found this conversation to be particularly interesting because it shows the sexism that existed in the 1930s, the time the film takes place. Miss Taylor was exactly right and without so much as a hello, never the less actual interview questions, Mr. Randall hires Jenny. This sexism continues throughout the movie. One of the character's later says he wants to "Warning: Don't Fall in Love with Your Boss." This insinuates that men are always the bosses and woman are always just looking for a man to be with.

Mr. Randall sends Jenny out on her first assignment seconds after hiring her. He wants her to find a woman named Nancy Voorhees. Nancy killed her former boss that she was set to marry about 20 years ago. Mr. Randall wants to revive this scandal in the newspaper. However, this assignment is not what it seems and isn't just any story for Jenny.

We get a look inside the Townsend household. Jenny Townsend is about to marry Phillip Weeks, played by Anthony Bushell. The two of them are with Jenny's mother Nancy Townsend, played by Frances Starr, and Michael Townsend, played by H.B. Warner. The four happily talk about the wedding. However, when Jenny and Phillip leave the room we learn that Nancy Townsend's maiden name is Voorhees. She is the one who murdered her boss. We also learn that Michael Townsend isn't actually Jenny's father. Jenny doesn't know anything about the murder or her mother and supposed father's past, and the town doesn't know about either of these scandals either.

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Marian Marsh who plays Jenny

Later, Nancy finds out that her 20-year-old murder case is going to be featured in the newspaper. A terrified Nancy says to her husband, "They'll find us. You can't hide from a newspaper."

Ethical issues quickly develop within the newspaper. Vernon Isopod, played by Boris Karloff, visits the Townsend home with just Mr. and Mrs. Townsend present. He pretends to be the Dr. Isopod claiming to be the officiant of Jenny and Phillip's wedding. In their discussion, Nancy admits that her maiden name is Voorhees, and she asked who she thinks is Dr. Isopod for her advice on what to do about the upcoming news article. Isopod runs off because he got the information on Nancy that he needed.

Isopod reports back to Mr. Randall who agrees to publish about the Voorhees murder and the upcoming wedding, not realizing that this is Jenny's family.

This is an unethical practice for a reporter. Isopod should not have concealed his identity. He tricked the Townsend's into giving information that they thought they were giving to an officiant. Instead they were giving the information on their family scandal to the newspaper. They also gave Isopod a photo of Jenny, asking him not to include the photo of Jenny in the newspaper. Isopod defies those wishes and gives the photo to Mr. Randall. 

The Voorhees story is an example of yellow journalism. The newspaper cares more about scandal and sensationalism than presenting the facts. Nancy Voorhees committed murder 20-years-ago, so it no longer had a timeliness relevance. The newspaper just wanted to generate business by exposing scandal.

At the end of the movie Jenny going to the newspaper and screaming at them how they ruined her life and murdered her family. Just as she pulls a gun on them, Phillip runs in and stops her. He finishes what Jenny started and tells them that he will kill them if they ever print anything about his wife again. Everyone leaves physically unharmed, but the emotional damage is already done to both Jenny and Phillip and the newspaper members who realize their paper caused a double suicide.

The movie ends with Mr. Randall quitting the paper because of the emotional distress he was caused knowing he caused the chaos that came from the Voorhees article.

This movie is an example of how yellow journalism and deception within the press can negatively affect both the public and news publications themselves. It is for this reason that journalists should stay away from yellow journalism and report ethically and accurately.