The Devil at 4 o'Clock (1961)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 126 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra and Kerwin Mathews
IMDb score:
6,4 (2.769)
Releasedate: 18 October 1961
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
The Devil at 4 o'Clock plot
"They jumped into hell to save part of heaven."
When a volcano threatens a number of leprosy children on an island in the South Sea, alcoholic priest Matthew Doonan (Tracy) launches a major rescue operation with three criminals.
Actors and actresses
Father Matthew Doonan
Harry
Father Joseph Perreau
Jacques
Marcel
The Governor
Camille
Charlie
Marguerite
Doctor Wexler
Reviews & comments
Lovelyboy
-
- 128 messages
- 3089 votes
Sunday classic night brought The Devil at 4 O'Clock, which seemed to have a reasonable story beforehand and could count on a decent cast. Nevertheless, it was quite a shock that the film barely scores a passing grade. The thought was, just give it a try anyway, because who knows...
And in itself, the film has quite a few good points with Tracey and Sinatra; there is, of course, the concept of a disaster film—probably one of the first in this genre—and I do believe I regularly recognize elements from Dante's Peak; the locations and sets are beautiful, as is the eruption, which has literally phenomenal moments. Similarly, the beginning of the disaster is built up beautifully with the rift running right through the main street and the collapsing buildings, or failing that, the rescue operation and the evasion of the lava flows, because once again, it is at times phenomenally beautifully made.
But then again, as we know, no film is without flaws, because goddamn it, that first hour drags on so much, where every character is introduced but the film could just as well be used as a lullaby. You are almost hoping for that disaster, that volcanic eruption, that something will finally happen. Practically needless to say, the film is also far too long at 2 hours and 15 minutes, where the pace can be described as slow, slower, slowest, and to be honest, I don't connect with the characters at all. And that really hurts the film, actually so much that it won't get a passing grade, and that is truly a shame, as the film deserved better if it were in the right hands.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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