SnoopyStyle Various people board a plane flying to Panama. They encounter a storm and crash land in the jungle rumored to be populated with headhunters. They must hack an airstrip out of the jungle, repair the aircraft, and survive. It doesn't help when the jungle's inhabitants attack. One engine is damaged and the aircraft can only carry five people.This is Lucille Ball scrapping by as a B-level actress. She wasn't always a comedic icon and a Hollywood titan. She plays a sexy smart side character. She's young and uses her sex appeal. The jungle is obviously interior but it is loaded with plant life. I expected lots of cannibal natives but it's not until the last half hour that the natives attack. They are off-screen and the first hour lacks any thrills. It's a well-made B-movie that exceeds its limitations.

evanston_dad "The Flight of the Phoenix," Robert Aldrich's plane crash survivor story from 1965, was based on a novel. If it hadn't been, I might have thought it was a loose remake of "Five Came Back." In this 75-minute movie from director John Farrow (father of Mia), a group of passengers are stranded in a Central American jungle when their plane crashes en route from L.A. to Guatemala. Holding out no hope for a rescue, they take it upon themselves to fix the plane and fly to safety while the various dramas introduced with the characters play out. They succeed in fixing the plane just in time for a swarm of savage headhunters to come calling; the hitch is that the plane can only carry five of them to safety, meaning four have to stay behind.The headhunter and "who gets left behind?" plot twists are the most talked up in reviews of the movie, but really these events comprise only the last 5 minutes of the film. We never even see the headhunters, aside from a stray leg or arm peeking through Cedric Gibbons' impressive jungle set. And even the dramatic threads of these characters' stories aren't that dramatic. After all, a screenplay can only do so much in 75 minutes. The appeal of the film is the cast, featuring a fetching Lucille Ball, who doesn't get to do much but mope around the set and drop hints about a hard-luck-girl backstory, but who nevertheless displays a tremendous screen presence. C. Aubrey Smith and Elisabeth Risdon make probably the biggest impression as an older couple whose romance is rekindled as a result of being stranded in a jungle together. And Joseph Caiella is impressive as well as an anarchist on the run who meets the bleakest fate of any of them.The most fun to be had from the movie is the antiquated peek it gives into air travel from long ago, when passengers could mosey into the cockpit anytime they wanted to chat with the pilots. It's also a hoot to watch Ball stroll around the jungle campsite in a luxurious bathrobe. I wouldn't mind being stranded in the wilderness if the wilderness were as comfortable as it's portrayed in this film.Came across this late at night on TCM. I would probably never have discovered this film on my own.Grade: B-

mark.waltz Everybody has some drama in their life, and for this "Motel 6" variation of "Grand Hotel", it is first set aboard a tin can of a puddle jumper then somewhere deep in the jungle with rumored cannibals nearby. The plane goes down, dramas amongst the crew and passengers ensue, then the group must decided who will stay behind and who will return thanks to the inability of the repaired plane to make it over a mountain range with everybody aboard. Among those on the plane are wanted criminal Joseph Calleia, tired party girl Lucille Ball, socialite Wendy Barrie and elderly couple C. Aubrey Smith and Elisabeth Risdon. They are lead by pilot Chester Morris who tries to keep it all together.Tense and often nail biting, this ranks as one of RKO's best B movies. It shows future funny girl Lucille Ball off to be quite a fine dramatic actress which makes me wonder what her career might have been like had she not moved into radio then T.V. to gain a reputation as a comic. Smith and Risfon are touching as a devoted, long married couple with issues of their own, reminding me of Ida and Isador Strauss from the "Titanic" legend. A pretty decent remake, "Back From Eternity" came out during the last days of RKO and is well worth seeing too.

Bill Smith I have always been intrigued by RKO (RKO Radio) Pictures. Since darkness and shadows always held a steady platform for the old studio, I preferred my RKOs in living black-and-white! I have no favorite RKO films in color."FIVE CAME BACK" is a typical RKO Radio Pictures release. Never mind the sometimes "overdone" acting! The story of a plane that has crashed in a South American jungle, with very limited hope of survival for those on board, requires the likes of Chester Morris, Lucille Ball, Sir C. Aubrey Smith and others! Remember --- this is 1939. A new version starring Robert Ryan was released by RKO in 1956. This flick was titled "BACK FROM ETERNITIY". It had a bigger budget, and the acting was very good, but the original still stands as my personal favorite. Perhaps it was the simplicity ... check the guide wire on top of the plane as it crashes into the trees! The wire wasn't attached when the double-engine job was in the air! The most obvious "dummy" plane just adds to that touch of movie innocence preceding World War II."FIVE CAME BACK" is a movie-collector's delight. Nothing fancy, just simple fun. It's worth the short viewing time (75-minutes) to see a beautiful, 27-year-old Lucille Ball! Add to that the obvious low-budget (approximately $250,000) and you're set for a very good time "at the movies".As a tag: One wonders why it took Sir C. Aubrey Smith half the film time to remove his coat in the overheated jungle! As I recall, he never removed his tie during the miserably hot weeks at the crash site!