Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra deliver good performances and great chemistry in the 1961 disaster film “The Devil at 4 O’Clock.” Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Mister Roberts” 1955) tightly supervised this story of a priest (Tracy) and three convicts (led by Sinatra) leading a group of children away from an exploding volcano on a South Pacific island. The very well written screenplay by Liam O’Brien was adapted from the 1958 novel of the same name by Max Catto.
The supporting cast includes Kerwin Matthews, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gregoire Aslan, Barbara Luna, Cathy Lewis, Bernie Hamilton, Lou Merrill, Marcel Dalio, and Alexander Scourby as The Governor. The film had good pacing, loads of drama and suspense, and outstanding special effects. It was a precursor to the disaster films popular in the 1970’s, such as “Earthquake” (1974) and “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972).
The watchable “The Devil at 4 O’Clock” was filmed in Eastmancolor on location in Hawaii and Fallbrook, California. It was successful at the box office for Columbia Pictures.
The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1961)
cinema
My Review
Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra deliver good performances and great chemistry in the 1961 disaster film “The Devil at 4 O’Clock.” Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Mister Roberts” 1955) tightly supervised this story of a priest (Tracy) and three convicts (led by Sinatra) leading a group of children away from an exploding volcano on a South Pacific island. The very well written screenplay by Liam O’Brien was adapted from the 1958 novel of the same name by Max Catto.
The supporting cast includes Kerwin Matthews, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Gregoire Aslan, Barbara Luna, Cathy Lewis, Bernie Hamilton, Lou Merrill, Marcel Dalio, and Alexander Scourby as The Governor. The film had good pacing, loads of drama and suspense, and outstanding special effects. It was a precursor to the disaster films popular in the 1970’s, such as “Earthquake” (1974) and “The Poseidon Adventure” (1972).
The watchable “The Devil at 4 O’Clock” was filmed in Eastmancolor on location in Hawaii and Fallbrook, California. It was successful at the box office for Columbia Pictures.