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The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959 film)

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For films and other entities with similar titles, see The world, the flesh, and the devil (disambiguation).
The World, the Flesh and the Devil
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRanald MacDougall
Written byRanald MacDougall
Screenplay byRanald MacDougall
Based onThe Purple Cloud
by M. P. Shiel
"End of the World"
by Ferdinand Reyher
Produced bySol C. Siegel
George Englund
Harry Belafonte (uncredited)
StarringHarry Belafonte
Inger Stevens
Mel Ferrer
CinematographyHarold J. Marzorati
Edited byHarold F. Kress
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • April 23, 1959 (1959-04-23) (Cleveland)
[1]
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,659,000[2]
Box office$1,085,000 (rentals)[2]

The World, the Flesh and the Devil is a 1959 American science fiction[3][4] doomsday film written and directed by Ranald MacDougall. The film stars Harry Belafonte, who was then at the peak of his film career.[4] The film is set in a post-apocalyptic world with very few human survivors. It is based on two sources: the 1901 novel The Purple Cloud by M. P. Shiel[5] and the story "End of the World" by Ferdinand Reyher.

Plot

Black mine inspector Ralph Burton (Harry Belafonte) becomes trapped in a cave-in at a Pennsylvania coal mine. He can hear rescuers digging towards him, but after a few days they slow down and then stop completely. Alarmed, he digs his own way out. Reaching the surface, he finds a deserted world. (No bodies are seen at any time in the film.) Discarded newspapers provide an explanation: one proclaims "UN Retaliates For Use Of Atomic Poison", another that "Millions Flee From Cities! End Of The World". Ralph later plays tapes at a radio station that reveal that an unknown nation had used radioactive sodium isotopes as a weapon, producing a dust cloud that spread around the world and was completely lethal for a five-day period.

Traveling to New York City in search of other survivors, he finds the city vacant. Ralph busies himself restoring power to a building where he takes up residence. Just as the loneliness starts to become intolerable, he encounters a second survivor: Sarah Crandall (Inger Stevens), a white woman in her twenties. The two become fast friends, but Ralph grows distant when it becomes clear that Sarah is developing stronger feelings for him. Despite living in a post-apocalyptic world, Ralph cannot overcome the inhibitions instilled in him in a racist American society.

Ralph regularly broadcasts on the radio, hoping to contact other people. Eventually, he receives a signal in French, indicating there are at least a few other survivors. Then ill white man Benson Thacker (Mel Ferrer) arrives by boat. Ralph and Sarah nurse him back to health, but once he recovers, Ben sets his sights on Sarah and sees Ralph as a rival. Ralph is torn by conflicting emotions. He avoids Sarah as much as possible, to give Ben every opportunity to win her affections, but cannot quite bring himself to leave the city.

Ben finally grows tired of the whole situation, realizing he stands little chance with Sarah as long as Ralph remains nearby. He warns Ralph that the next time he sees him, he will try to kill him. The two armed men hunt each other through the empty streets. Finally, Ralph passes by the United Nations headquarters, climbs the steps in Ralph Bunche Park, and reads the inscription "They shall beat their swords into plowshares. And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war any more", from the Book of Isaiah. He throws down his rifle and goes unarmed to confront Ben, who in turn finds himself unable to shoot his foe. Defeated, he starts walking away. Sarah appears. When Ralph starts to turn away from her, she makes him take her hand; then she calls to Ben and gives him her other hand. Together, the three walk down the street to build a new future together. The film ends not with "The End", but with "The Beginning".

Cast

Production

Originally, Paramount had wanted to produce this film under a different title in 1940 but this seemed to have been put on hold.[6] Paramount then tried to revisit the film in 1945, however, many studios at this time were already making films that dealt with nuclear warfare after the atomic bombings on Japan took place so due to an oversaturated market for the film, production got put on hold again.[6] It wasn't until 1956 that Sol. C Siegel purchased the rights to The Purple Cloud that The World, The Flesh and The Devil finally would be produced.[6] With this film, Siegel held a strong ideal of blending the issues of race and nuclear war together in hopes for some kind of resolution to be brought about by audiences.[6]

Harry Belafonte's production company, Harbel Productions, helped to co-produce the film.[6][7] With his company, Belafonte hoped to create and produce films that would accurately depict African-American lives and experiences as well as promote an African-American presence in Hollywood filmmaking.[7] The World, The Flesh and The Devil was the first film that Harbel had ever helped to produce.[7]

Co-producer Siegel reached out to Belafonte thinking that he would be a good choice for the casting of Ralph and that Harbel would benefit from the guidance of Siegel's production advising.[7] Siegel believed that casting Belafonte would add more gravitas to the film's story and appeal to a wider array of audiences as well as different races.[7] Belafonte agreed to sign onto the film even though the script had yet to be finished and admired how interracial relationships became the focus of the film.[7] However, these feelings would change over time.

According to multiple members of the production team, the movie's original ending was reshot due to various conflicting reasons, whether it be scene quality differing between shooting locations, production office arguments, or the overall effect the original ending produced being different than what was artistically intended.[6] The new ending that was used instead received some negative critical attention from audiences as well as cast members.[6] Apparently, all three co-stars, Inger Stevens, Mel Ferrer, and Harry Belafonte, complained to Siegel that they did not agree with how race was being represented in the movie while it was still in production.[6]

Harry Belafonte was paid $350,000 against 50% of the net profits.[8]

Release and reception

Box office

The film had its premiere in Cleveland, Ohio on April 23, 1959.[1] According to MGM records, the film earned theatrical rentals of $585,000 in the US and Canada and $500,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $1,442,000.[2]

Critical response

While The World, The Flesh and The Devil was praised for its cinematic quality, it also received quite a bit of negative criticism after its release.[6] Many complained with how the ending of the movie lacked any real message or significance, especially about race and interracial relationships.[6] Since this film was released five years after the beginning of the American Civil Rights Movement, critics were let down at how the ending didn't solve any racial conflicts by having all three survivors band together in the end, making their trials and tribulations throughout the movie amount to nothing.[6][9][10] A 1959 review of the film from Time stated that,

"In this instance, the audience is asked to believe that when most of humanity has been wiped out by a cloud of radioactive sodium, the three people who have managed to save their skins will spend most of their time worrying about the color of them [...] The story falls into the predictable triangular pattern, which soon resolves into the predictable eternal question: Which boy will get the girl? [...] the answer is intended to answer the race question, but since Actor Belafonte's skin seems just about as light as Actor Ferrer's, the audience may justifiably wonder if the question itself is not almost academic."[9]

Recent scholars and critics have praised the film for choosing to go against featuring an all-white cast, although still find great fault in the racial issues that it has.[11] Feeling that it rather makes the topics of race, integration, and nuclear war more divided; the complete opposite of what was intended by the producers and a major disappointment to audience's expectations of seeing a fully-fledged interracial couple on screen.[11][12] The ending also caused confusion surrounding the message behind the platonic nature of Ralph, Sarah, and Ben, which then impacted the entire message of the film as well.[12] Many critics have stated that the lack of a victor between Ralph and Ben, and thus a lack of a final couple, left an impression that was not only unrealistic in the post-apocalyptic sense but that also seemed as more of a mockery of the issues the film was trying to address.[11][12]

Further Reading

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The World, the Flesh and the Devil at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. ^ "World, the Flesh and the Devil, The". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. January 23, 2013. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Jeff Stafford. "The World, the Flesh and the Devil". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  5. ^ Shaw, Arthur (1960). Belafonte: An Unauthorized Biography. New York: Chilton. p. 288.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The World, The Flesh and The Devil Notes". Turner Classic Movies. 2 April 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f Smith, Judith E. (2014). Becoming Belafonte : black artist, public radical (First ed.). Austin. ISBN 978-0-292-76733-1. OCLC 891081341.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (July 20, 1958). "Top Stars' Strangle Hold on Film Profits Poses New Woe to Beleaguered Studios". Los Angeles Times. p. e3.
  9. ^ a b "Cinema: The World, The Flesh and The Devil". Time. 1959-06-01. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  10. ^ Foertsch, Jacqueline (Summer 2012). "Last Man Standing: Interracial Sex and Survival in Post-nuclear Films, 1951-2007". Modern Language Studies. 42: 36–39 – via JSTOR.
  11. ^ a b c Foertsch, Jacqueline (Summer 2012). "Last Man Standing: Interracial Sex and Survival in Post-nuclear Films, 1951-2007". Modern Language Studies. 42: 36–39 – via JSTOR.
  12. ^ a b c Yeates, Robert (2021). Fantastic Cities: American Urban Spaces in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. University Press of Mississippi.
  13. ^ Stafford, Jeff. "The World, the Flesh and the Devil". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
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