THE DEVIL AT 4 O'CLOCK

US, 1961, 125 minutes, Colour.
Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Kerwin Matthews, Gregoire Aslan, Jean- Pierre Aumont, Barbara Luna.
Directed by Mervyn Le Roy.

The Devil at 4 O' Clock is a popular religious adventure. Pious looks and heavenly humming and singing occur as well as ritual posturings and signs of the Cross. Fr. Spencer Tracy is here again. When this has been said, it can be admitted that, on the whole, the film is enjoyable and, where it concerns the character of Fr. Doonan (Tracy), quite moving.

The flavour of a Tahitian island and Catholic Mission is conveyed and the adventure, though spectacular, is plausible enough. Three convicts help the priest rescue leper children and the hospital staff during the eruption of a volcano.

A prologue suggests that bravery is important when one knows that one faces death and 'the devil at 4 o'clock'. The film illustrates this in the priest and each of the three convicts. It is a case of people judging by appearance and God seeing the heart. There is a good sequence where the mission hospital doctor explains to the newly appointed young priest and the audience (both of whom have seen only the weakness of Fr. Doonan) why the priest is as he is. This information has been kept until the middle of the film and makes stronger impact. The rest of the film moves from the trite and the predictable to the exciting and the satisfying. Spencer Tracy has no trouble in convincing us that he is Fr. Doonan.

1. Was this a typical Hollywood religious movie? what did it have in common with them? If you think it differed, how?

2. In what way was the film religious? only in story - or in effect on the audience? What would you have eliminated from the film to make its impact more genuinely religious?

3. How did Fr. Doonan's mission work? Who was in charge of him? Who sent his replacement? What was he supposed to do on Talus? Who supported him?

4. Did the film have an authentic tropical atmosphere - French Colony, governor, pilots, way of life? How did this contribute to an impression of Fr. Doonan's life and work?

5. Was Fr. Doonan a failure? What was the audience supposed to think when they first saw him - waking up, drinking, being off-hand with his successor, baiting the people?

6. How did your impressions change? What was the impact of the doctor's story of Fr. Doonan's early enthusiasm, work for the lepers and then cracking under opposition?

7. What were the curate's first impressions of Fr. Doonan? Why did he change?

8. Why did Fr. Doonan have such authority on the island, even over the Governor?

9. Why did the convicts go back with Fr. Doonan? 'He acted like you would expect God to act'. Were they as bad as was made out? How and why did they change? Did you find the sequence of the dead child and Harry's marriage fitted well into the story and the mood of the film?

10. Did Fr. Doonan and Harry do the right thing in dying? What else could they have done?

11. What impression did the prayers, the signs of the Cross, and the choir background make on you?

12. The title came from a quotation at the opening of the film about how difficult it was for a man to be brave when he knows he has to meet the devil at four o'clock. What does this mean, and how did the film illustrate it?