The Devil at 4 O'Clock
The Devil at 4 O'Clock
NR
6.3
·

1961

·

126m

The Devil at 4 O'Clock

Summary

A crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.

Director

Mervyn LeRoy

Novel

Max Catto

Screenplay

Liam O'Brien

Reviews

Geronimo1967

Geronimo1967

June 6, 2025

6

Idealistic priest “Fr. Joseph” (Kerwin Matthews) has arrived on a remote French Polynesian island to take over from the weary and cantankerous old “Fr. Matthew” (Spencer Tracy) whose congregation consists of a leper colony and a prison. When the priests manage to recruit a few reluctant convicts to help out with some repair work in the leper village, they - led by “Harry” (Frank Sinatra) prove to be a bit bigoted and recalcitrant, but things soon change when their very own version of Krakatoa decides to make it’s presence felt putting everyone into a spin and giving the cons an idea as to how they might just escape. Of course, “Fr. Matthew” can’t just abandon his flock, nor their hospital, and with lava lava everywhere he has to convince as many as he can to help him mount a very daring rescue mission into the mountains to see if there is anyone left to evacuate. This is a perfectly competent vehicle for Tracy and Sinatra that doesn’t look remotely realistic until a bit of volcanic activity at the end. The forest scenes don’t quite involve potted plants, but this isn’t anyone’s most convincing south sea island adventure as it takes it’s time to get going. For my money, it’s Grégoire Aslan who steals what limelight there is, and Jean-Pierre Aumont adds a bit of low-key eye candy as the seaplane pilot “Jacques” but the rest of the acting and the writing aren’t up to very much. Some more judicious editing could have tightened up the pace a little but ultimately this is just standard afternoon fayre where most of the cash went on the stars, and very little on giving them much of substance to work with. Watchable, but forgettable, sorry.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

rescue
island
prisoner
volcano
priest
hospital
quicksand