Movie Review: Five Came Back (1939)
Synopsis: While flying from Los Angeles to Panama, a commercial flight carrying nine passengers and three crew members gets caught in a storm, is thrown off course and crashes in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Weeks later, with rescue hopes abandoned, three people already dead and hostile natives lurking in the jungle, the plane is repaired but only has one working engine, restricting the amount of weight it can handle, only five of the remaining survivors can escape. The decision about which five comes down to Vasquez, a convicted anarchist facing execution who is now carrying a gun.
Who's in it? The movie stars Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, John Carradine, Allen Jenkins, Patric Knowles and Joseph Calleia.
Review: I came across Five Came Back last night while scrolling through movies and thought it sounded interesting enough to add to my list. I wound up watching it this morning and it was as entertaining as I was hoping it would be.
The film does take a bit to get going. In fact, for a while there, I was wondering if it was going to show their entire 3,000-mile trip to Panama, complete with layovers. Once the film gets past the character introductions and gets to the main plot though, it turns out to be worth it.
I think the thing I liked best about this film was the way the ensemble's reactions to being stranded in a rainforest varied. For some, the constant threat of danger from the forest itself and the unseen natives was too much. For others, the situation brought out their better side and even led to a bit of romance. Then, when they found out half of them would be forced to remain behind, it added a whole new element to the movie.
Putting Vasquez (Calleia) in a position where he was the one making the decision about who lived and who died was an interesting choice that only made the movie better. Since he was facing certain death if they made it to Panama, it was unclear if he'd use the advantage the gun gave him to better his situation or if he would choose to accept his fate and stay behind.
If I had any complaints about the movie, it would be the decision to have the young boy, Tommy (Casey Johnson) because he didn't add a whole lot to the film. He was the son of a gangster but that didn't really have any impact on the plot. Plus, when they were stranded and forced to make a decision about who would survive, the movie pretty much set things up so he'd be guaranteed a seat, meaning there was no suspense as far as his character went. Perhaps if the movie would have arranged it so it could be up to five adults rather than just four adults and one child, it would have created a bit more of a moral dilemma that made his addition worthwhile.
Final Opinion: It's an interesting movie with decent suspense and some intriguing characters. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.
My Grade: A
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