A crusty, eccentric priest recruits three reluctant convicts to help him rescue a children's leper colony from a Pacific island menaced by a smoldering volcano.
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Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Crappy film
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
I'm starting to think Mervyn LeRoy wasn't a very good director. Sinatra and Tracy give their worst performances I've ever seen, and I've seen countless films by both men. Everybody else is an amateur-hour ham barely competent by TV standards. The special effects are shamefully bad. The plot? Well, it's basically a disaster flick before that term was applied to star-bloated films in the 70s and beyond. When the enormous styrofoam bridge post got dislodged and crushed one of the characters - though not so quickly that Tracy wasn't able to speechify about the guy's bravery - I just burst out laughing. This is a career low for Tracy and Sinatra. Their careers were lucky to survive this garbage.
A sea-plane bound for Tahiti, carrying three prisoners and a young priest, stops for the night on a small tropical island where tempers--and an angry volcano!--are flaring. Embarrassingly overacted adventure yarn pits salty priest Spencer Tracy with smart-mouthed convict Frank Sinatra in their attempt to save a leper colony of adults and children from the spewing lava. This may be the worst movie ever directed by veteran Mervyn LeRoy, who must have been so overwhelmed with the location shooting in Hawaii and California, the pyrotechnics involved, and the ill health of top-billed Tracy that he allowed the picture to get away from him. Liam O'Brien adapted his weak screenplay from the novel by Max Catto. Once the agonizing preliminaries and character conflicts are out of the way, moments of the perilous escape are worthwhile, and the volcano looks good. ** from ****
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.
Own this movie and always enjoy watching it. I remember first seeing it at the drive-in theater when I was a kid. The volcanic eruption and lava is really awesome...whether it's realistic or not, I don't know, but it's sure neat to watch. The island setting is beautiful and the filming is well done. The earthquake was pretty cool, too. I like the fact that the 3 convicts turn out to be decent guys who do what has to be done. Frank Sinatra, especially changes from the cocky smart-mouthed know-it-all to a person with feelings for others. The ending, with the island exploding is pretty outrageous, but, again, fun to watch. I really like this show! Watch it for fun, not to critique its realism.