I heard about this movie while reviewing the user reviews of the original Star Trek, Galileo Seven. It looks like Star Trek took a lot of ideas from this movie, especially about the logical choice made at the end of who will survive. Mr. Spock's command!Now to this movie, it has a good story. Lots of characters and we get to know them. The main problem is in the acting. It was OK, but not great. Lucile Ball and John Caradine should have been used more. Maybe a bit more in the writing. The best actor here was Joseph Calleia as Vasquez. All the actors did a professional job.The ending where he tells the professor he has enough bullets for everyone (3 left) so the headhunters will not capture them alive, to avoid torture. He open the chamber of the gun and there we see 2 bullets. He shoot the professor and his wife dead, then we hear and see some glimpse of the headhunters approaching, not clear, but it's them. And we know what will happen to Vasquez. This is great stuff. The middle section is a bit slow. And the acting/writing could have been more energized. But this is still a solid movie.Rating is a B, for a B movie, 7 stars.

Very enjoyable thriller, with a strong ensemble cast. Distinguished by great actors who make the most of their small roles. I was specially impressed by Lucille Ball, surprisingly serious in the role of the "bad woman", and very attractive. John Carradine also shines as the contemptible bounty hunter and Joseph Calleia as his insightful and wise death row prisoner. The budget was very low and the sets show, but John Farrow's direction is very brisk and keeps the suspense and interest up through the short running time. Great dialogue, very well written exchanges between the characters, unsurprising given the three great talents on the script. The rhythm of the film benefits from the crisp timing: if they remade the movie today, it would probably be twice as long, and less interesting.An example for disaster and stranded dramas to come. One of the most memorable classics of the thirties.

Interestingly, the film ends on the non-survivors. The average viewer knows that the women and children had to be saved, and the screenwriters have made sure the much-less valuable characters die off-- the boy's uncle, the playboy, the man facing prosecution, and the elderly couple. So in that regard, it is all morally correct. Plus, don't overlook the fact the writers manage to stay clear of cannibalism. Still, I think there are ways the story could have been improved. We should have seen more with the pilots trying to fix the plane and the frustration of it taking so long to salvage the wrecked aircraft. We should have seen the rescue team attempt to find them. And we should have seen the natives-- after all, wasn't it a bit too convenient that the natives did not become a problem until after the eighteenth day? And why wasn't there any discussion that once the first five returned safely that they might help the rescue team go back to get the other five?

Passengers get ready for the ill-fated flight foreshadowed in the film's title "Five Came Back". Handsome businessman Patric Knowles (as Judson Ellis) and pretty blonde secretary Wendy Barrie (as Alice Melbourne) are going to elope. Looking like either a movie star or a classy call girl, beautiful Lucille Ball (as Peggy Nolan) wants to straighten up and fly right. Elderly botany professor C. Aubrey Smith and his wife Elisabeth Risdon (as Henry and Martha Spengler) want to enjoy their twilight years. As his gangster father is threatened with extinction, cute little Casey Johnson (as Tommy Mulvaney) is shuttled to safety with henchman uncle Allen Jenkins (as Pete)...Veteran airman Chester Morris (and Bill Brooks) and co-pilot Kent Taylor (as Joe) announce a slight delay when they are asked to take on detective John Carradine (as Crimp) and his prisoner Joseph Calleia (as Vasquez)...When the plane crashes in an Amazon jungle thought to be inhabited by hungry head-hunters, the crew must chose only five passengers to return home on their rickety, repaired plane. The director, John Farrow, re-made this as "Back from Eternity" in 1956. The later film has a stronger script, but with performances becoming overly obvious. Here, the swiftness highlights subtlety; for example, note the impassionate love between Mr. Knowles and Ms. Barrie, then how Mr. Taylor telegraphs his interest. The more toned-down tart played by Ms. Ball is superior, but lacks detail. You're well off seeing both versions as they make up for things lacking in each other.******* Five Came Back (6/23/39) John Farrow ~ Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Joseph Calleia, Patric Knowles