The Devil at 4 O'Clock

The Devil at 4 O'Clock is a 1961 American adventure film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra. Based on a 1958 novel with the same title by British writer Max Catto, the film was a precursor to Krakatoa, East of Java and the disaster films of the 1970s such as The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. The film deals with multiple issues of prejudice concerning age, blindness, disease and alcoholism. It also considers moral issues, such as a priest who drinks to excess and criminals who commit acts of self-sacrifice. Plot A small plane approaches the fictional Pacific island of Talua in French Polynesia, 500 miles from Tahiti, the plane's destination. The plane and its cargo of three manacled prisoners and a priest makes an overnight stop on the island, planning to fly onward the next day. On the island, Father Doonan has been relieved of his duties by Father Perreau. Doonan, an alcoholic, has fallen out of favor with the island's residents because he stumbled upon the island's carefully hidden secret: leprosy among the children of the islands. Doonan had built a hospital for the children by the island's volcano and he regularly visits homes soliciting funds or goods for the leper colony. However, the inhabitants have grown tired of Doonan's demands for donations and view him as an irritation.