BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

SimonJack "The Devil at 4 O'Clock" is based on a 1961 novel of the same title. Max Catto was an adventure novelist who had films made from nine of his novels. This story is set on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. Spencer Tracy plays a Catholic priest, Fr, Matthew Doonan who is being replaced by a younger priest, Fr. Joseph Perreau (played by Kerwin Mathews). The local volcano has been acting up, and the island needs to be evacuated. That includes children from a leprosy hospital. Three convicts en route to jail in Tahiti are pressed into service. They include Frank Sinatra as Harry. The island residents have turned on Fr. Doonan because he set up the leprosy hospital for kids. They think it deters tourism. In his rejection, Fr. Doonan has turned to alcohol. There aren't any graphic scenes of drunkenness or squabbles. Mostly, the film picks up with action as Fr. Doonan and Harry evacuate kids from the leprosy camp, and then go back to find a missing person as the volcano blows. The story is a good one, but this film version is melodramatic. Tracy's character is very good, but Sinatra sounds and acts more like a hoodlum kid off the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Some of the rest of the acting is quite good, but Sinatra and the other two criminals don't seem believable. The plot has some holes. We don't know how or why Harry, from America, winds up in France, or what crime he committed there for which he has been sentenced to a distant French penal facility.In the end, the priest and Harry redeem themselves by giving their lives trying to save others. The scene of the island exploding in the distance is gripping. The movie was filmed in California and Hawaii. Some of the scenic island shots are very beautiful. The special effects are very well done and interesting. The cracking of the street pavement, earthquake and others are excellent. The higher rating for this movie are due to the scenic shots and special effects.

gavin6942 A crusty, eccentric priest (Spencer Tracy) recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.Some say the film was a precursor to the disaster films of the 1970s, such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake, and The Towering Inferno. I can see that, although I never would have made that connection myself.Because of Tracy's demand of top billing in any movie he starred in, Sinatra ceded top-billing in order to secure Tracy for the film. The film was the most expensive that Columbia Pictures had ever made. This was a wise move on Sinatra's part, because Tracy really makes the picture. Although the convicts are great, this is one of Tracy's better roles (and it helps that Hepburn is not around to slow him down).

imdbman-8 this is an excellent movie: the characters are multi-dimensional, and particularly Spencer Tracy reveals a rare depth in character development. overall, many of the personal developments throughout the movie remind me of graham Greene's "the burnt out case", not because of the leprosy association, but because of the definition of "terminal". warmly recommended for fans of Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, and graham Greene.generally, a good movie. somehow, it gets a bit sentimental, but the overall idea does not disappear until 2/3 of the movie.

edman59 This film is a somewhat entertaining way to spend 2 hours, but it isn't very good, especially considering the talent involved in it (particularly the two major Oscar-winning movie stars in the leads.)In some ways, it feels like two movies spliced together: the first half about the disheartened priest trying to minister to people who have grown to resent him for building a leper hospital on their island and the second half, a cheesy disaster film about that same priest attempting to rescue the patients before the hospital is engulfed by a volcano.Overall, the story is generally contrived and silly (especially once the volcano rescue begins.) The special effects are uneven with the volcano being somewhat unconvincing with various scenes alternating from noisy and smoky to clear and quiet even though only a few minutes have passed and the characters haven't walked but a few yards away. In fact, the volcano effects are akin to those you might see on "Gilligan's Island".In addition, the long line of people on a trek to escape danger was done much more effectively in movies like the "Poseidon Adventure".Generally, the film IS fun to watch; it just isn't particularly good.