User:LarissaSanders/The World, The Flesh and The Devil

Production
Originally, Paramount had wanted to produce this film under a different title in 1940 but this seemed to have been put on hold. 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. 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. 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.

Harry Belafonte's production company, Harbel Productions, helped to co-produce the film. 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. The World, The Flesh and The Devil was the first film that Harbel had ever helped to produce.

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. 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. 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. 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. The new ending that was used instead received some negative critical attention from audiences as well as cast members. 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.

Box office
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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. Many complained with how the ending of the movie lacked any real message or significance, especially about race and interracial relationships. 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. 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.'"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. 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. 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. 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.