Watch The Devil at 4 O'Clock For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely Fantastic

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"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.

If we had a Catholic western as "The Bravados" with a big star (Gregory Peck) in 1958, why not a Catholic adventure drama with two stars three years later? It is a pity that the drama becomes a melodrama, and the adventure turns into an endless "mano a mano" between Tracy and Sinatra. The fun and the excitement of the perils the cast has to face vanish in the last 30 minutes, which is the time when all the dramatic and adventure elements reach their peaks, but they are all knocked down with the silly dialogues and situations that plague the final act (most concerning Grégoire Aslan's fear of leprosy, and Bernie Hamilton's sudden spiritual enlightenment). I spent most of that time spotting "dramatic" stretches that could have easily been cut without affecting the central plot and effectiveness of the film. It also becomes too predictable, as the characters begin to disappear, and --what is worse-- after being announced that they will be soon out of the action (for example, the flower that falls before Fleur's death). Still it is not terribly bad, it is entertaining for the most part and the cast makes it work.

I saw this movie while in high school, it was recommended. I always liked watching movies in school because then we didn't have to do school work.This movie is a fantastic movie, with great cinematography and a depth of characters that makes you root for the ones less likely to be someone you would call friend.Spencer Tracy plays a priest who lost his faith, while Frank Sinatra plays a man who never had faith. Brought together during a disaster and I couldn't imagine two better actors to portray these men.The supporting actors combined with the stars turn this movie into a powerful choice about doing the right thing or living.

I'm astounded at the generally good reviews this film has received. The farther along you get in this movie, the worse the writing becomes. I'm a huge Frank Sinatra fan, and an even bigger Spencer Tracy fan, but neither of them can save this cliché-ridden mess. The idea of this old man parachuting into the jungle is absurd enough, but what was the point of it? Logically, they should have found the leper colony abandoned. There were plenty of adults there. Why were they just sitting around, meekly awaiting death? Why didn't they pack up their charges and try to get out of there? Then, of course, all the rescuers have to die, in order that their sacrifice appears noble. The convict who dies in the quicksand is the silliest. I've always seen people die in quicksand in movies by sinking downwards. In this case the poor man encounters quicksand with a current, and he's swept away from his would-be rescuer at an absurd speed. The worst writing is saved for the very end, when Sinatra throws his life away, for no reason whatsoever. Noble? He's committing suicide! The nobility escapes me.