Whether it was due to a special alignment of the stars or something in the martinis, few will deny that the late 30s in Hollywood was a time of incredible vitality and creativity. No greater evidence exists than the timeless entertainments released in 1939. Cast and crews working on top-budgeted dramas or fan-favourite series and everything in between did more than their best.
One of RKO's outstanding projects for the season is from a Richard Carroll story with the spoilerish title of Five Came Back. The diverse talents behind the screenplay were Jerry Cady (Call Northside 777), Dalton Trumbo (A Guy Named Joe), and Nathanael West (Lonelyhearts). Directing duties were ably handled by Naval veteran and screenwriter John Farrow (The Big Clock) with a seamless and sure hand. Farrow would revisit this story in Back from Eternity, 1956.
Five Came Back is a contemporary adventure/melodrama that concerns a fateful plane trip for a disparate group of passengers. For the movie's brisk 74 minutes we live with a brittle showgirl, a playboy running away with his secretary, an elderly professor and his wife, a revolutionary being escorted to his home country to face death and a gangster charged with caring for his boss' child. All lives are in the hands of our duty-bound pilots when a storm forces a crash landing in a South American jungle. Out of radio range and off their registered flight plan, survival and escape are paramount.
It is when we are under pressure that we really know ourselves and so it is with this group of strangers who must now rely upon each other. The dithery professor is quite a bright fellow and his worrying wife a practical and kind woman. The tough gal has a heart. The playboy reveals he has nothing to reveal. The anarchist is a builder.
The studio-bound set excellently creates the atmosphere of claustrophobia as characters are trapped by the jungle and its' surrounding danger while their spirits soar with unimagined freedoms. Nothing is wasted as the story unfolds because our characters have no time to waste. Life must be lived to the fullest as we race to our heart thumping, heart breaking conclusion in Five Came Back.
Five Came Back is a film on my personal list of favourite ensemble casts - a cast that works together contributing to a single effect. Like the characters in the movie, the actors are thrown together for a brief period of time with one goal. Where did they come from? Where are they going? How did the experience impact their lives?
Chester Morris (1901-1970) played pilot Bill Brooks.Chester was born to show business parents and made his Broadway debut while a teenager under the auspices of the legendary George M. Cohan. He was nominated for an Oscar for Alibi, and some of his outstanding movies include The Big House and 3 Godfathers. From 1941 - 1949 he starred as Boston Blackie in a popular series of 13 movies which even gave him a chance to show off his skill as a magician.
Chester died by his own hand after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
Lucille Ball (1911-1989) played showgirl Peggy Nolan.Jamestown, NY born Lucy is a tribute to perseverance as she carved out her place in show business from her beginnings as a model/showgirl to an actress always-on-the-cusp of stardom to a legendary and beloved comic star. The assistant director of Five Came Back, Argyle Nelson, would later be the production manager of Lucy's TV hits and the costume designer Edward Stevenson would give Lucy Ricardo her timeless fashion style.
Wendy Barrie (1912-1978) played secretary and future bride Alice Melbourne.Wendy was born in Hong Kong to a King's Counsel, raised in a convent school in London and attended a Swiss finishing school. Born Jenkins, she took the name of her godfather, Sir James M. Barrie the creator of a famous "Wendy", for her professional name. Outstanding titles include The Private Life of Henry VIII and Dead End. It is said that her career stalled due to her romantic involvement with gangster Bugsy Siegel, however, her winning personality found a niche on television as a talk show host in the 1950s. Wendy's last years were spent in a nursing home after a stroke.
John Carradine (1906-1988) played Crimp, a government agent.The voice. An artist and bohemian, born of the same and parent of same. Featured player in classic movies such as Stagecoach and Les Miserables and player who made films classic by his presence. With over 300 movie and TV roles to his credit there is a favourite Carradine performance for everyone from The Prisoner of Shark Island to The Grapes of Wrath to The Shootist.
Allen Jenkins (1900-1974) played Pete, an unlikely gangster/nanny.Like co-star Chester Morris, Jenkins was born into a family of performers. He served at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during WWI and was a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The always busy actor was the father of three. Catch him in Destry Rides Again, Pillow Talk, Ball of Fire and as a cop in 3 episodes of I Love Lucy.
Joseph Calleia (1897-1975) played Vasquez, an anarchist.Joseph Calleia was born in Malta and as a teenager traveled Europe as a singer/musician. It was in the late 1920s that he arrived in the States and found work on Broadway prior to his Hollywood career. Most familiar for gangster roles as in The Thin Man, Mr. Calleia gave us outstanding performances in Five Came Back, The Jungle Book and Touch of Evil. Apparently, Coppola wanted him for Vito Corleone, but poor health intervened or maybe he was enjoying his retirement in Malta too much. The Maltese government has issued two sets of stamps in his honour.
C. Aubrey Smith (1863-1948) played Professor Henry Spengler.If you were to ask any classic movie fan to picture their idea of a typical Englishman, I imagine the majority of thoughts would first go to Sir C. Aubrey Smith. The Cambridge educated cricketer was given the Order of the British Empire in 1938 and Knighted in 1944 for his contribution to Anglo-American relations.
Smith began his acting career past the age of 30. Character actors require a lot of seasoning, but they are in it for the long haul. Among his famous titles are The Four Feathers and And Then There Were None.
Kent Taylor (1907-1987) played co-pilot, Joe.Good looking Iowa farm boy Louis Weiss discovered the stage while in high school. A later move to California where he worked in his family's business brought about an introduction to director Henry King and a career in film which included over 130 roles in movies and television.
Co-star Chester Morris was the movies' Boston Blackie and Kent was television's Boston Blackie for two well-remembered seasons. Kent and his wife of 57 years, Augusta, were the parents of three children.
Patric Knowles (1911-1995) played Judson Ellis, wealthy ne'er do well.The first in his family to enter show business, attempting to run away to the theatre as a teen, Patric Knowles ease in front of the camera is evident in such classic films as How Green Was My Valley, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Charge of the Light Brigade. Why he never became a top leading man is one of those mysteries of the ages.
During WW2 Knowles achieved the rank of Sergeant-Instructor in the Royal Canadian Air Force and later was a civilian instructor with the US Army Air Force at Miraloma Academy. Patric was married for 60 years to Enid Percival and the father of two. In his later years, he was a proud and involved grandfather, and a tireless worker for charities for elderly actors.
Elisabeth Risdon (1887-1958) played Elizabeth Spengler.Versatile Elisabeth Risdon was a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She appeared in early silent films in England and made her Broadway debut in George Bernard Shaw's Fanny's First Play in 1912. Decades of Broadway appearances followed, and tours of North America with George Arliss. On-screen Elisabeth could be patrician as in The Canterville Ghost or shrewish as in Tall in the Saddle. Fans remember classic roles in High Sierra, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Theodora Goes Wild, and as Aunt Della in the Mexican Spitfire series.
Dick Hogan (1917-1995) played steward, Larry.Dick was a nightclub singer whose gigs included working with Glenn Miller. His film career includes 40 roles, many uncredited, and a few mirroring his experience as a WW2 veteran, including So Proudly We Hail and Action in the North Atlantic. By the 1950s Dick left Hollywood for his Arkansas birthplace and entered the insurance field.
Casey Johnson played Tommy Mulvaney.Casey Johnson had a brief career as a child actor appearing in 12 movies between 1939 and 1946. Popular titles include Boom Town, One Foot in Heaven and This Land is Mine.
Five Came Back was a few weeks work for these actors in 1939. A paycheque? Fulfilling a contract? The desired role? A hopeful stepping stone? A daily chore? A pleasure to get to work? A forgotten blur in a long career? A fond memory? Five Came Back may have been all of these things.
Five Came Back is an eternal treat for movie fans to this day. An adventure film with heart that stands the test of time with a magical glow.
