Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Despite the obvious mistakes, "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" is still a movie that you should see. Unlike most of the post-apocalyptic movies, this one features no supernatural threats. The only threats are the three survivors. Coal mine inspector Ralph Burton (Harry Belafonte), lone woman Sarah Crandall (Inger Stevens) and sailor Ben Thacker (Mel Ferrer) converge and try to coexist, but tension is bound to arise. Not surprisingly, Burton's skin color becomes an issue.Many movies have dealt with the potential of a nuclear holocaust. Donald Trump's ascension to power makes it even more likely. In fact, the day before the election, Harry Belafonte wrote an article in The New York Times titled "What Do We Have to Lose? Everything". Now that looks likely. It's good to know that Belafonte will be one of the people fighting for justice every step of the way.As for the other cast members, I know that Mel Ferrer was married to Audrey Hepburn at the time. Inger Stevens was one of the numerous blonde bombshells on the screen (unfortunately, she died of a drug overdose at 35). Meanwhile, producer George Englund was married to Cloris Leachman at the time and later directed the Marlon Brando movie "The Ugly American".Anyway, I recommend the movie.

When I was a LOT younger I remember seeing this film and being fascinated by it. As time passed and I grew older, I forgot the details until all I could remember was an apocalypse movie with some singer in it that my mother had liked. As the years passed I forgot it completely and it was only recently that I came across it again and had the pleasure of watching it as an adult.To watch it now only highlights how far we've come as a society. Sometimes we forget, immersed in our day-to-day troubles, just how much better times are now. We have evolved, as a society, but to those of us who are part of that evolution, the changes happen so slowly we don't notice them. At least, not until something like this movie is revisited to see how things WERE.The story follows the fortunes of a young black engineer after a mysterious apocalyptic event destroys all trace of humanity from the Earth. Man's works are left behind, but of man himself there is, for the early part of the film, only Belafonte's character.With typical stoicism born of the post-war era, Belafonte first digs himself free of a collapsed mine, then sets about making a home for himself in the empty city. Bereft of companionship, his future looks a lonely one as he slowly pieces together what has happened to the world.Of course, he soon discovers a white female survivor and this is where the film really starts to shine. The interplay between the two is electric and both Belafonte and Stevens give dynamic performances as they struggle to come to terms with their growing attraction to one another. Belafonte is particularly adept at getting across how the mindset of non-whites led them to believe they were inferior.Given the time the film was made this in itself would be enough to make a fantastic film, but it's not enough for this movie. After a period where Belafonte and Steven's characters seem to have come to some sort of "truce" between themselves, they discover a third survivor - a white male.Needless to say, the character dynamic undergoes a dramatic change, with Ferrer's white character trying to dominate the trio and taking an interest in Steven's female character.All the usual love-triangle difficulties arise, made all the more intense because of the inter-racial aspect. As tensions mount, the two males eventually come to blows over the female regardless of her wishes in the matter.So, what we have are inter-racials tensions along with (for the time) typical male misogyny.The film is essentially this dynamic played out to an extreme. However, it is in fact the final scenes of the movie that really set it apart as something phenomenal.Having fought and nearly killed each other, it seems set that the men will go their separate ways and the woman must choose one of them. However, with a truly unique twist, she chooses them both and the final scene is the three of them walking off into the distance, hand in hand whilst over the top of the scene appear the words "The beginning.." It may not sound like much, but for 1959 this was a truly epic scene to put on celluloid. The notion that a white woman might have relations with a black man let alone (as hinted strongly here) that there might be a threesome going on, was something that just wasn't done.For those who didn't grow up with any of that racial or sexist nonsense, it might seem bizarre or unrealistic that such things were a big deal. And for you, the best equivalent I could cite in today's world as a similar taboo might involve a brother/sister incest relationship. It really was that big a deal back then.Films like this are often forgotten, or ignored on channel playlists because of their age or content. This is a massive shame, because there are some truly magnificent films out there that are fading almost into myth because of a lack of exposure.It is films like this that show us just how far we've come in fifty odd years. But it is also films like this that show us that, even back then, there were those who hoped for change and expressed that hope and desire through the medium of film.If you like a good, tense character drama, then you'll not find many better than this one.

Don't judge a book by it's cover, right? Wrong, at least in this case. I picked it up recently with no cover, just a homemade sticker with this weird title, probably one of the best titles ever. I had no idea what this movie was about, the guy at the checkout looked at the title and then me with some disdain. I thought it was going to be a movie about religion, which in some ways i guess it was. The movie concerns the interaction between three people who survive a nuke-attack and end up in NY of all places. So it was kind of a nice surprise, and a premise that doesn't get looked at very much. Sure people and zombies can survive a nuke, but this movie is just THREE people, one of them being Harry Belafonte. This is an old flick, a bit talky, the title might be the only memorable thing about it. Blargen.

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) is a very good film if only for its thought-provoking plot. Regardless of which side you are on regarding inter-racial marriage and dating, this movie will move you to consider that people are people, regardless of their color and people need people.The other interesting thing about this movie is that Ralph Burton (Bellafonte) is the best man in the film and Ben Thacker (Ferrer) is the evil, self-centered one. In 1959, it must have required very forward thinking to portray the black man as the good and the white man as the evil one. Further, Sarah Crandall (Stevens) is obviously in love with Ralph Burton and wants him to claim her. He loves her, too, but is imprisoned by his prior socialization as a black man and will not allow himself to have the woman he loves.The ending of this movie is a major disappointment. All three are shown walking down a deserted street holding hands with Crandall in the middle. Does this mean that the men are going to share her? Clearly, in this case, one man is going to get the girl and the other one isn't. If love has anything to do with it, Burton should rightly have the woman. But, Ben Thacker's self-serving interests lead him to attempt killing Burton. Burton decides to defend himself and accidentally reads a sculpture with a reference from the Bible about turning your swords to plowshares and is deeply affected. He throws down his weapon and naively places himself at the mercy of Thacker who badly wants to murder him but can't because he would lose his self-respect for shooting an innocent man who won't fight back.This movie does real damage to Harry Bellafonte's image as a man and as an actor. Twice in the movie, he throws down his weapon at times when he needs it most. A beautiful woman is in love with him and stops just short of throwing herself at him but he turns his back and walks out with a sense of martyrdom and literally sends the woman to the other man. There is a time for fighting and a time for making love and Burton fails to rise to either occasion.However, to Burton's credit, he is obviously the most intelligent and capable man. He develops a reputation among the others for being able to fix anything and uses a shortwave radio to contact other apocalypse survivors in far away locales. Burton also saved Thacker's life and was instrumental in nursing him back to health. Interestingly, the man whose life he saved was so willing to take his. My favorite quote of the movie was when Sarah Crandall told Ralph Burton "you're a good and decent man...what else is there to know?" That quote must have come easy to Stevens because she was truly color blind and later married a black man in reality. In summary, this was a very good movie but somewhat far-fetched for its time. New York City was reduced to only three people...hard to believe.My imagination runs toward thinking what comes next for these three. Sooner or later, someone will get the woman because she is definitely ready for "marriage" as she says. In fact, she (Crandall) was the first to raise sexual issues in this film. See it for yourself and tell me what you think.