The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

Director:

Ranald MacDougall

Writers:

M.P. Shiel (novel)
Ferdinand Reyher (story)

Release Date:

20 May 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Most Unusual Story Ever Told!

Plot:

Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out...

Plot Keywords:

New York City | Post Apocalyptic | Disaster | Male Female Relationship | End Of The World

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Harry Belafonte	...	Ralph Burton
Inger Stevens	...	Sarah Crandall
Mel Ferrer	...	Benson Thacker

Also Known As:

The End of the World (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo

Certification:

UK:A (1959) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

HarBel Productions

Trivia:

On the bookshelf behind the bed in which Ben Thacker is recovering, is a copy of "The Proud Land" by James Lee Bartlow. This is the book supposedly written by Bartlow, played by Dick Powell in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952).

Goofs:

Continuity: The rifles carried by Ben and Ralph change. Ben is initially shown shooting at Ralph with a bolt action rifle. Later, he is armed with a Remington pump action. Ralph grabs a tube fed Winchester lever action from the sporting goods store, but when he throws his rifle down, it has changed into a Winchester 1895 with a box magazine.

Quotes:

Benson Thacker: I have nothing against negroes, Ralph.
Ralph Burton: That's white of you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Am Legend (2007)

Soundtrack:

GOTTA TRAVEL ON

What Kind Of Culture Will They Establish?

Harry Belafonte is a coal miner trapped in a cave-in. He hears the drilling of the rescue crew which abruptly stops. Belafonte claws his own way to the surface and finds everything abandoned. I mean really abandoned. An Armageddon has occurred when some nation decided to forego the bomb and all that destruction and just use the radioactive byproducts. It gets out of control and wipes out everybody.

Well, almost everybody. Harry hot wires a car and travels to New York City in search of life in the largest population center. After a while he finds it in Inger Stevens. It looks like another Adam and Eve ready to begin again when Mel Ferrer also shows up. By that time Belafonte has established some kind of contact with some unknown foreign survivors somewhere in the post apocalypse world?

Of course with two men, two races, and only one woman, things start to look like business as usual for mankind. I was reminded of Neil Patrick Harris's line from Starship Troopers about how we're in it for the species. Will all three of them and anyone else they contact decide we're in it for the species in The World, the Flesh and the Devil?

Director Ranald McDougall got three good performances out of his small cast. The World, The Flesh And The Devil does ask some thought provoking questions as to whether man is capable of screwing up once again. What kind of culture will they establish and will a Supreme Creator/Deity need to intervene?