Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

treeline1 Charlie (Frank Sinatra) is a bitter convict headed for hard time in a Tahitian prison. During a stop-over on a neighboring island, he meets Father Doonan (Spencer Tracy), an alcoholic, world-weary priest. Doonan enlists Harry's aid when the island's volcano threatens to destroy an isolated children's hospital. They must get the patients and staff down the mountain and on-board a rescue boat by 4 o'clock...but will the volcano hold out that long? I was hoping to love this movie, after all, it's got a volcano and Frank Sinatra! On the plus side, Sinatra and Tracy are both charismatic and convincing in sympathetic roles, but there are too many characters who take valuable time away from the them. The special efforts were good for 1961, but today seem awfully clumsy. The movie is partially filmed in lovely Maui, but has many 'outdoor' scenes obviously shot on a sound stage, which is annoying. And finally, the script is loaded with corny clichés.Still, it's an okay movie and Sinatra fans should enjoy it.

drystyx This pretty much the way to make a movie, and a movie that is 8/10 is a film, so this is pretty much the way to make a film as well.It is one of those that is best seen without a spoiler, without knowing what will happen, because there are some surprises in store, as a drama becomes a high octane action adventure.In order not to spoil it, I will say it is the story of three convicts on an island, who establish a working relationship with a priest and his young replacement. Like most "cult" films, the characters appear to us as clichés at first, and then emerge into multiple dimensions, pretty much the way people appear to do so if you meet them in real life, so this is very fair.Tracy and Sinatra are gigantic names, and easily recognizable. But while they do superb jobs, they wouldn't be enough to make a movie great. This movie is well written, with many great characters. The situations are believable, and all of the action is believable.In fact, it is probably too realistic to be made today. It is a ride to be taken and not spoiled.

bleo-1 This film has been firmly entrenched in my mind since i first saw it in 1974 at the age of seven. I have often thought about it, sometimes forgetting the title, but never forgetting the horror i felt at seeing the explosions and the flowing lava, and feeling the panic of the characters. Man's insignificance and helplessness against mother nature is portrayed with a sense of evil; Not unlike lord of the Flies. Every now and then, it has been replayed on TV, so i have watched it again and refreshed my memory. Even though older now, and more Desensitised to that type of stuff i have enjoyed reflecting as i watch it again. I feel that it set a standard for others to come, with a mixture of suspense, heroism and tragedy that certainly leaves no punches pulled.

bkoganbing I've always been of the firm belief that it is not possible to do a bad film in the South Pacific. Just the cinematography alone is a guarantee for me to enjoy it and you will enjoy The Devil at 4 O'Clock for that reason alone if nothing else. It's entirely possible that Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra agreed to do the film for a vacation to Hawaii and who could blame them. But in fact with Mervyn Leroy directing, the two of them starred in a very nice story about a priest losing and regaining his faith.Spencer Tracy is in his fourth and final film as a priest. He was sent many years ago to this tropical paradise under French colonial administration. It's a lush green place with a very large volcano.Tracy also saw a need for a children's hospital for lepers which was still prevalent among the population. The other islanders didn't share his vision to put it mildly. Their own callousness drove him from his faith and started him drinking and doing other sins.Anyway he's being recalled and a new priest, Kerwin Matthews, is being sent to replace him on the island and in the hospital which is located halfway up the volcano slope. Arriving on the same plane for layover are three convicts, Frank Sinatra, Bernie Hamilton, and Gregoire Aslan, who are bound for prison in Tahiti.Wouldn't you know it, the volcano erupts and the only men who are able to help Tracy with the hospital patients and staff getting them down the mountain and evacuated are the three convicts. It's quite a journey, all of the people involved discover hidden wellsprings of character. Of course the two stars have great roles. There's enough of the hipster Sinatra there to recognize, but he too is transformed by the experience. This maybe the only film where he plays someone who is actually from where old Blue Eyes was born in real life, Hudson County, New Jersey.Spencer Tracy had stopped playing traditional leading men long before this. He had an aversion to make up in general and was the least vain of leading male stars about growing old. Tracy's face and the sincerity with which he speaks his lines keep his performance from becoming maudlin. He has a powerful moving scene comforting the dying Bernie Hamilton and renewing his own lapsed Catholicism.The only thing I fault The Devil at 4 O'Clock for is that Humphrey Bogart did not live long enough to do the part Sinatra did. Tracy and Bogey were a great mutual admiration society and way back in 1931 they did a film for John Ford, Up the River, which was Tracy's screen debut and Bogey's second film. They never got to work together again, but became great friends and Tracy was a frequent visitor along with Katharine Hepburn to Bogart when he was dying.As good as Sinatra was, this part was made for Humphrey Bogart. I have a feeling had he lived with a bit of rewriting, this could have been their joint co-starring vehicle.What a classic that would have been.