The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

The World, the Flesh and the Devil
Directed by Ranald MacDougall
Written by Ranald MacDougall from a story by Ferdinand Reyher and a novel by M.P. Shiel
1959/USA
Harbel Productions
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Benson Thacker: I have nothing against negroes, Ralph.

Ralph Burton: That’s white of you.[/box]

I was loving the post-apocolyptic part.  Then it turned into a more ordinary but still OK love triangle.

Ralph Burton (Harry Belafonte) is a miner who is waiting to be dug out following a mine collapse.  After a couple of days he stops hearing any digging and can’t get anyone on his radio.  Eventually, he frees himself.  When he reaches daylight he can’t find anyone around – anywhere.  He makes it from Pennsylvania to New York City, which is absolutely deserted.  Gradually, he learns that an unknown country let loose a killer radioactive gas into the upper atmosphere, the big cities were evacuated, and he may be the only person left alive.

There is at least one other person, though.  She is Sarah Crandall (Inger Stevens).  She watches him long before he sees her.  Finally, they meet and become friends.  They are clearly attracted to one another but neither breaches the racial divide.  Then suddenly Benson Thacker (Mel Ferrer) arrives from South America.  He is not shy about what he wants and what he will do to get it.

The clever us of the atomic poison, which wipes out people but not things, allowed the filmmakers to create a convincing post-apocolyptic world on a small budget.  Belafonte is very good, especially in the early sequences when he is all alone.  The scenes with Inger Stevens are also kind of endearing.  Then Mel Ferrer shows up.  The love triangle is much less effective, though there is a racial prejudice/tolerance angle to it that is an interesting glimpse into the times.  Give it a try if the plot appeals.

Trailer