The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) on Netflix
NR19612h 6mAdventureDramaThriller
Three manacled convicts land on Talua, a Pacific island. Father Matthew Doonan runs a hospital beside a volcano for children with leprosy, and begs the residents for donations.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.4/102,776 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
A plane bound for Tahiti, 500 miles away, stops overnight at Talua in French Polynesia. On board are three prisoners in manacles and a priest. Father Joseph Perreau has taken over the duties of Father Matthew Doonan, who built a hospital for children with leprosy on the slope of the volcano and visits homes asking for funds and goods. Doonan is an alcoholic, and the residents are tired of his appeals. Harry, Charlie and Marcel, the three convicts, are given work at that hospital.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A structure representing the volcano was built on farmland outside Fallbrook, California, and detonated with almost one ton of explosives; the explosion nearly killed the helicopter pilot and cameraman who were filming it.
- Because Spencer Tracy demanded top billing for his films, Frank Sinatra agreed to take second billing to secure Tracy for the role of Father Doonan.
- The film's hazardous walk across the island by a group of people trapped by a volcano was largely copied in the 1980 volcano disaster film When Time Ran Out.
- The volcano explosion effects were considered so good that they have been reused as stock footage over the years.
- When it was made, The Devil at 4 O'Clock was the most expensive film Columbia Pictures had produced up to that point in its history.
