The World, the Flesh and the Devil: Harry Belafonte, Race and Apocalypse
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
Release Date: 05/11/2025
On the Beach: Atomic Apocalypse in 1959
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
As always there are spoilers ahead! Trigger warning for a lot of discussion of suicide with analysis of the plot along with a side of dark humour. If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at You can follow the podcast on , and . If you want to watch the film before you listen you can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region. On the Beach is available online to buy and rent from Apple and other sources in many places. I can’t believe I am almost done and dusted with this...
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The World, the Flesh and the Devil: Harry Belafonte, Race and Apocalypse
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*
As usual there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media: Instagram, Threads and BlueSky.
You can support the podcast and get ad-free episodes on info_outline
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* If you would like to support the podcast and get ad free versions you can subscribe for $3 or £3 a month at https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. In 1992 Ishiro Honda sat down for his info_outline
Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! Somewhere in the late 1950s society began to come to terms with the idea of the teenager. Teens were heading to the cinema leaving younger siblings and parents at home. The Blob (1958) isn‘t a tale of rebellion or film warning about teenage delinquency but a thoroughly enjoyable time with a catchy theme tune. I have two wonderful guests to help us unravel this classic 1950s sci-fi. The Experts Roger Luckhurst is a Professor at Bi Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* For this bonus episode I’ve teamed up with the excellent History Daily podcast. Very exciting! History Daily tells fascinating stories of what happened “on this day” in history with a new episode every weekday. The early 1950s in the USA stand out as not just a time of economic prosperity but also one of paranoia. The country faced the fear of the atomic bomb, the Red Scare and a moral panic around juvenile delinquency. (Teenagers were new and unpredictable!) During this Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* You can find the podcast on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. The Worst Film of All Time by The Worst Director of All Time. So claimed the 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards by Michael and Harry Medved regarding the film Plan 9 from Outer Space and director Edward Wood Jr AKA Ed Wood. But this very title is one of the Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! I would love to know what you make of the ending of this film if you watched it. Best place to do that is on social media. Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.&nb Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever* As usual there are spoilers ahead! Forbidden Planet (1956) is a somewhat overlooked 50s classic. Although it often fails to make lists of the greatest sci-fi films of all time it has come across often in my written research and when 
I Married a Monster from Outer Space was released as part of a double bill (with The Blob) in 1958. The story focuses on newlywed couple Marge and Bill Farrell but unbeknownst to his new bride and the whole town Bill has been replaced by an alien on the eve of th
As usual there are spoilers ahead!
You can follow the podcast on social media: Instagram, Threads and BlueSky.
You can support the podcast and get ad-free episodes on Patreon.
Please be aware that we touch upon sexual assault in this episode due to the content of the film.
Description
USA in 1959 was on the brink of a decade that would see major changes in the country in terms of race. But never without opposition. It was also the year in which Harry Belafonte, at the peak of his fame, would star in The World, the Flesh and the Devil.
The film centres Belafonte’s character, Ralph Burton, as the last man on earth. A Black man at a time when the country was wrangling with desegregation. Ralph is joined by Sarah and Ben: White survivors who enter what was for a while his world. This episode focuses on race and racism and I am so lucky to have two amazing guests to help us put the plot and frustrations into context.
Mark Bould is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has written/edited extensively about science fiction cinema.
Stéphanie Larrieux is the associate director of the Centre for the study of Race and Ethnicity at Brown University. She wrote about the World, The Flesh and the Devil as part of her PhD.
Chapters (times may vary slightly due to advertising!)
00:00 Introduction
01:07 Why is this film largely unknown?
03:10 Source material
10:05 Harry Belafonte
16:25 An empty Manhattan
18:53 The last man on earth
23:12 Double sight and racial panopticism
24:26 Cultured and capable
28:03 Sarah’s unnerving feet
31:31 The frustrations of this film
35:26 Free, white and 21: Ralph and Sarah’s relationship
39:25 The hair cutting scene
41:42 Ben comes to town: Mel Ferrer
45:31 The ending
47:09 Inger Stevens
48:29 Ben’s “idealism”
49:47 The title
50:28 Black protagonists in science fiction
53:36 Legacy
NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be talking about On The Beach (1959) starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins.
You can visit Just Watch in your region to find out where you can watch this film although it seems to be easily available to rent or buy online.
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