Five
by Arch Oboler
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles Lampkin, Earl Lee, James Anderson, Susan Douglas Rubes, William PhippsDirector: Arch Oboler
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Louis Clyde Stoumen
Cinematographer: Sid Lubow
Producer: Arch Oboler
Writer: Arch Oboler
Editor: Arthur Swerdloff
Editor: Ed Spiegel
Editor: John Hoffman
Writer: James Weldon Johnson
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-03
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Five
Movie Review: One of the first films to tackle this subject
Summary: 5 Stars
The subject of this film may seem commonplace - the world destroyed by nuclear holocaust, one woman and several men the only survivors, - but it was the first to tackle this subject matter, and it does it very well. This one does have one interesting catch - the woman survivor is pregnant.
I'm usually on top of new classic releases, but this one escaped my attention until DVD Savant named it the top disc of 2009. I hadn't seen it since the third grade - Thanskgiving 1966 - and it made quite an impression on me at the time, so I thought I'd purchase it and see if it lived up to my memories. It did and then some. I can't really share any details of the story without giving anything away, except perhaps the character of the survivors. The woman is understandably obsessed with returning to the city and finding out for sure if her husband is dead or alive. Of the four men one is disqualified as a suitor because of his age, and another is disqualified because, after all, this is 1951 and he is African American and the woman is white. Of the two actually eligible suitors by 1951 standards, one is a brutish slob and the other is thoughtful and forward thinking, setting up a Cain and Abel dynamic between the two.
The film audio and video quality are excellent. From 2000 - 2005 Sony put out some of the more technically challenged classic film discs I've seen, but in the last three or four years they've really turned things around. Highly recommended for fans of 1950's sci-fi.
Summary of Five
Synopsis:Item Type: DVD Movie
Item Rating: NR
Street Date: 02/03/09
Wide Screen: no
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
LanguageENGLISH
Foreign Film: no
Subtitlesno
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: yes
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve Please note: This supplier will be closed on 11/24, 11/25, 12/26, 1/2 for the holidays. The shipping cut off is 12/10 to try and have the products delivered by Christmas.
Sony Pictures? "Martini Movies" series, of which Five is one, consists of films clearly intended to be laughed at, not with; indeed, watching this 1951 turkey is like a Mystery Science Theater screening, except that you supply your own commentary. But give writer-director Arch Oboler credit for coming up with one of the earliest entries in the post-nuclear apocalypse genre. In this "story about the day after tomorrow," the titular five have survived the radioactive fallout that has effectively wiped out the rest of humanity and somehow ended up in the same place (Malibu, California; the shooting took place at Oboler?s home, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright). The five quickly become four, as an elderly banker succumbs to radiation sickness. That leaves a pregnant woman (Susan Douglas), a "philosopher" (William Phipps), an "explorer" (James Anderson), and a guy who was accompanying the banker; and since the latter is African-American and this is the early '50s, that means it?s up to the other two men, one a practical hard worker and the other a nonchalant layabout, to battle it out to see who?ll become Adam to the woman?s Eve. Not a whole lot happens in this "cheap honky-tonk of a world"--tensions mount; grass grows; they dance to a Strauss waltz--but there?s plenty of philosophizing about the new order and some reminiscing about the old one, most of it ludicrously melodramatic and pseudo-profound. Clearly this stuff is best apprehended with the help of a cocktail or two, and we are helpfully provided with two martini recipes to guide us through. Cheers! --Sam Graham
Stills from Five (Click for larger image)
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