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IMDb > The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   760 votes
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Director:
Ranald MacDougall
Writers:
M.P. Shiel (novel)
Ferdinand Reyher (story)
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Contact:
View company contact information for The World, the Flesh and the Devil on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 May 1959 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi more
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... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 nomination more
User Comments:
Belafonte on Ferrer's possible racial bias: No, the only thing he has against me is that I'm younger than he is. I can understand that. more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The End of the World (USA) (working title)
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Runtime:
95 min
Country:
USA
Language:
French | English
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 4-Track Stereo
Certification:
UK:A (1959) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

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). more
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. more
Quotes:
Benson Thacker: I have nothing against negroes, Ralph.
Ralph Burton: That's white of you.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in I Am Legend (2007) more
Soundtrack:
I DON'T LIKE IT HERE more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful:-
Belafonte on Ferrer's possible racial bias: No, the only thing he has against me is that I'm younger than he is. I can understand that., 27 December 2006
7/10
Author: brujay-1 from Northern Mariana Islands

In the '50s the nuclear holocaust was never far from the popular imagination. This picture is one of many fictional efforts to show what might have happened.

By being trapped in a Pennsylvania mine, Belafonte is one of the very few people on earth (as far as we know from the film, only three) to escape annihilation. He manages to get out of the mine on his own (the first of many plot contrivances), goes to New York City and finds it depopulated, except for Inger Stevens, who eventually comes out of hiding. It's mostly a picture about loneliness. As much as we may resent the jostling masses in our midst, what if they were gone?

Actually, it spurs a fantasy, too. Imagine that you had the pickings of all of New York to yourself, and imagine that you were a handyman who could rig up generators and the like, and imagine that you found a comely woman to keep you company. Could be worse.

But we are asked to ignore too much in the picture, the fact that only one person in all of the city survived, the fact that not a single rotting body is shown on the streets, the fact that the shortwave transmissions Belafonte regularly monitors show that the rest of the world is empty, too (except, eventually, for Mel Ferrer, who was sailing during the nuclear blasts)-- all a bit too much. The film tries too hard to be an allegory when it should have been good, logical science fantasy.

Nevertheless, TWTF&TD is well worth a watch.

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