The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)

A Masterpiece!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The Devil at 4 O'Clock is directed by Mervin LeRoy and adapted to screenplay by Liam O'Brien from the novel of the same name written by Max Catto. It stars Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Kerwin Mathews, Jean- Pierre Aumont, Grégoire Aslan, Bernie Hamilton, Barbara Luna and Cathy Lewis. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc.Pleasantly old fashioned film making, a disaster movie from the early 60s that boasts star appeal and nifty effects for the era. Plot finds Tracy as Father Doonan, a cleric who has lost his faith and likes a tipple or two. Ensconsed on a pacific island that houses a children's leper hospital, Father Doonan is to be relieved of his duties by Father Joseph Perreau (Mathews). Enter three convicts who have to stop by the island, fronted by angry agnostic Harry (Sinatra), the cons are put to work in the leper hospital just as the island volcano decides it is time to erupt and level the island post haste.What transpires sees a race against time formula adhered to, with added slices of sacrifice and redemption unfurled for our emotionally tickled enjoyment. It's undeniably too long at over two hours, really stretching the premise to breaking point, but such is the fine work of cast, photographer and director, it rounds out as spiffing entertainment. Great ending as well! 7/10

This film, starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra, is about a priest on an island that has essentially lost his faith. The island has a volcano that starts to erupt and the priest is concerned about evacuating the children's Hospital that he founded. The movie is titled for the fact that after the volcano starts erupting, Father Doonan only has until 4pm to rescue the children before the last boat leaves the island.The film starts slow and never really recovers from the slow pace. The one high spot of the film is the location shooting in Hawaii which is gorgeous. But this hardly saves the movie. The biggest flaw I found was with the script. The dialogue and action were for the most part dull and uninteresting. I think they could have done a much better job creating and maintaining tension given the extent of the looming disaster.I thought the special effects were very good for the era. It's amazing that they actually "constructed" the volcano on farmland in California. It looked very realistic. The earthquakes and destruction of the town's buildings were also fairly realistic. I thought some of the studio sets were pretty fake though - like most of the film as they are escaping down the mountain from the volcano. All the rocks, cliffs and vegetation were obviously fake. Especially the rocks, they looked "shiny".So far as the acting performances, there's a reason no one won, or even got nominated, for awards. There are no intense performances like you would expect when people are in the midst of an apocalyptic disaster. But it mostly comes across as exaggerated acting. There is one tender moment of fine acting near the end from Tracy when he is saying his goodbyes to Charlie and praying to God. I suddenly felt like I was watching an entirely different film, it stood out so much from the rest of the performances. Tracy only appeared in 4 more movies after this one before dying in 1967. Barbara Luna plays the exotic beauty Camille, the blind nurse. You may remember her from Star Trek, or "One Life to live" (Maria Roberts - "the bitch everyone loves to hate). I have never seen eyes so dark.I must say for a film made by Hollywood, where they usually laugh at spiritual matters - there is a pretty good message of redemption and forgiveness here. The theme of a disillusioned priest rediscovering his faith reminds of a similar message in "Signs". But unlike the latter, this film didn't enjoy the same box office success. Now, I see why. Too bad.

It's amazing that the amount of money that was spent getting these high profile actors for the movie STILL resulted in a dull and unconvincing film. Part of the problem may have been the genre itself. This is at heart a disaster movie, and although some may disagree, almost all the disaster movies made were cheesy messes with terrible scripts and HUGE explosions! This film is certainly not an exception to this rule. Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy, among others, have pretty ill-defined parts--playing more characters than people. And, once the volcano starts to blow, the movie becomes predictable and clichéd. This is down deep just a time-passer--a mediocre film with no lasting impact.

Own this movie and always enjoy watching it. I remember first seeing it at the drive-in theater when I was a kid. The volcanic eruption and lava is really awesome...whether it's realistic or not, I don't know, but it's sure neat to watch. The island setting is beautiful and the filming is well done. The earthquake was pretty cool, too. I like the fact that the 3 convicts turn out to be decent guys who do what has to be done. Frank Sinatra, especially changes from the cocky smart-mouthed know-it-all to a person with feelings for others. The ending, with the island exploding is pretty outrageous, but, again, fun to watch. I really like this show! Watch it for fun, not to critique its realism.