The World, the Flesh and the Devil is a 1959 American science fiction[3][4] doomsday film written and directed by Ranald MacDougall.

Ralph later plays tapes at a radio station and learns that an unknown country had dispersed large quantities of radioactive sodium isotopes into the atmosphere.

The resulting lethal dust cloud spread around the world, killing every human who came into contact with it over a five-day period before the isotopes decayed into a harmless state.

Sarah Crandall, a White woman in her early twenties, had been living in the city and surreptitiously observing Ralph for some time, but was afraid to reveal herself.

Even as they become friends and grow closer, vestiges of racial division become evident when Sarah casually uses the phrase that she is "free, white, and 21" to describe her ability to make decisions.

Ben finally grows tired of the whole situation, realizing he stands little chance with Sarah as long as Ralph remains nearby.

[6] Paramount revisited the project in 1945, however by this time many studios were making films that dealt with nuclear warfare after the atomic bombings on Japan, so with the market saturated, production once again was put on hold.

[6] With this film, Siegel held a strong ideal and hope that blending the issues of race and nuclear war would catalyze audiences to find some kind of resolution.

[7] Siegel believed that casting Belafonte would add gravitas to the film's story and appeal to a wider array of audiences and races.

[6] Apparently, all three co-stars, Inger Stevens, Mel Ferrer, and Harry Belafonte, complained to Siegel during production that they were concerned by the representation of race in the movie.

[6] The film was released five years after the beginning of the American Civil Rights Movement, and critics felt let down by its alleged failure to solve any racial conflicts since the three survivors band together in the end, making their trials and tribulations throughout the movie amount to nothing.

[6][9][10] 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?

But this is such an obvious contrivance and so cozily theatrical that you wouldn't be surprised to see the windows of the buildings suddenly crowded with reintegrated people, cheering happily and flinging ticker tape.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.