Absolutely the worst movie.

A Brilliant Conflict

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

While not as great as two of Spencer Tracy's late-career films of about the same time ("Inherit The Wind" and "Judgment At Nuremberg"), this is still a darned good film which got very good reviews at the time...higher than the ratings here at IMDb would indicate.Spencer Tracy is excellent as the weathered old priest who founded a leper colony hospital. His acting is as good here as almost any of his other films...well, not as stunning as in "Inherit The Wind"...but still a lesson for any aspiring actor. Tracy was beginning to be ill at this point in his life, and there are a number of scenes here where he looks not well.Frank Sinatra does well as one of the convicts...but his behavior on the set was, according to the new Tracy biography, churlish.Other supporting roles are also excellent, although for the most part, the actors will not be particularly familiar to the American audience.The special effects -- the earthquakes and especially the volcano eruptions -- were quite advanced for 1960, and received a great deal of recognition at the time. However, there are also some stupid errors in the film. For example,when did you ever hear tires squealing on a sandy dirt road? This is a very good film, worth watching, and worth consideration for your DVD shelf.

Charlie (Frank Sinatra) is a bitter convict headed for hard time in a Tahitian prison. During a stop-over on a neighboring island, he meets Father Doonan (Spencer Tracy), an alcoholic, world-weary priest. Doonan enlists Harry's aid when the island's volcano threatens to destroy an isolated children's hospital. They must get the patients and staff down the mountain and on-board a rescue boat by 4 o'clock...but will the volcano hold out that long? I was hoping to love this movie, after all, it's got a volcano and Frank Sinatra! On the plus side, Sinatra and Tracy are both charismatic and convincing in sympathetic roles, but there are too many characters who take valuable time away from the them. The special efforts were good for 1961, but today seem awfully clumsy. The movie is partially filmed in lovely Maui, but has many 'outdoor' scenes obviously shot on a sound stage, which is annoying. And finally, the script is loaded with corny clichés.Still, it's an okay movie and Sinatra fans should enjoy it.

This pretty much the way to make a movie, and a movie that is 8/10 is a film, so this is pretty much the way to make a film as well.It is one of those that is best seen without a spoiler, without knowing what will happen, because there are some surprises in store, as a drama becomes a high octane action adventure.In order not to spoil it, I will say it is the story of three convicts on an island, who establish a working relationship with a priest and his young replacement. Like most "cult" films, the characters appear to us as clichés at first, and then emerge into multiple dimensions, pretty much the way people appear to do so if you meet them in real life, so this is very fair.Tracy and Sinatra are gigantic names, and easily recognizable. But while they do superb jobs, they wouldn't be enough to make a movie great. This movie is well written, with many great characters. The situations are believable, and all of the action is believable.In fact, it is probably too realistic to be made today. It is a ride to be taken and not spoiled.

I've always thought this would be a good film to show problem kids in a group home: the film presents great values of friendship, loyalty, love and self-sacrifice (among a group of convicts) and the possibility of "redemption" through these values. The story is melodramatic (bordering on operatic!) but, if you accept the old-fashioned style of movie-making, it really works. As with all classic films, this is one you can watch over and over for the aesthetics as well as for the story. The acting is fine. The ONLY thing in the film that doesn't hold up, in my opinion, is the scene through the jungle with Frank Sinatra carrying the blind girl on his back: it looks a bit comical to a modern viewer.