1959 · post-apocalyptic · last-man · race

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

Directed by Ranald MacDougall · 1h 35m · 1959

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, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the city's harbor. At this point, tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white, and Burton, who is black.

Our read: The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) reads as a sombre, steady, grounded post-apocalyptic · last-man · race entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.