4)

THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL

Category:

Studio:

MGM presents a Sol C. Siegel Production

Runtime:

95 minutes (CinemaScope, Black & White)

Date:

1959

Producer:

George Englund

Director:

Ranald MacDougall

Screenplay:

Ranald MacDougall

Story by:

Ferdinand Reyher

Made by:

Siegel-Harbel Productions

Music by:

Miklos Rozsa

Cast:

Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens, Mel Ferrer

Belafonte:

Acts and sings Fifteen, Gotta Travel On and I Don't Like It Here.

Outline:

A suspenseful allegory about three people struggling to rebuild civilization 

in the wake of a nuclear holocaust.

Coal miner Ralph Burton (Belafonte) is deep inside a closed mine when he

becomes trapped. Finally fighting his way to the surface, he discovers the

human race has been killed off by nuclear poison. Making his way to New 

York City, Burton finds there is someone else, Sarah Crandall (Stevens), 

who has also survived. At first their relationship is strained and tentative 

because Ralph is black. Even when Sarah comes to see him as a "fine, 

decent man," Ralph reminds her that only months ago she would never 

have allowed herself to find out that much about him. As they slowly

overcome their mutual suspicion, the situation is complicated by the

arrival of Ben Thacker (Ferrer), who is not as easy-going and patient as 

Burton. Thacker knows what he wants, and is prepared to do whatever

necessary to get it. Faced with old divisive issues, the new human race 

must decide if it will resort to the same failed methods to solve its

problems. Or, having come so far and lost so much, can it finally do 

better? Shot in an eerily empty Manhattan that is both dreamlike and 

chillingly real, The World, The Flesh and The Devil is a powerful 

evocation of the concerns of the fifties. A carefully-paced, thought-

provoking film, it shows how far we've come, and how much further we

5)

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW

Category:

Studio:

United Artists

Runtime:

96 minutes 

Date:

1959

for Harbel Productions

Director:

Robert Wise

Screenplay:

John O. Killens and Nelson Gidding

Story by:

William P. McGivern

Music by:

John Lewis

Cast:

Harbel presents: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters

Co-starring Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame with Will Kuluva, Kim Hamilton,

Mae Barnes, Richard Bright, Carmen De Lavallade, Lew Gallo

Belafonte:

Acts and sings Ol' Man Evil (with ?) and another Blues number (title?).

Outline:

One hundred and fifty thousand dollars ready for the taking. It's too much

to resist for Earl Slater, a bigoted ex-con slumming through life with a 

patronizing girlfriend (Shelley Winters), an obliging neighbor (Gloria 

Grahame) and zero expectations. He agrees to be part of a bank job 

planned by former cop Burke (Ed Begley). Until, that is, he finds out one 

of his partners will be Johnny Ingram (Harry Belafonte) a black man. Earl's 

desperate need for cash, however, leads him to reconsider. For this job 

only, he'll put his racism aside. But when the men are moments away from 

their biggest score ever, Earl's hatred erupts and has consequences for the 

heist ..... and their lives. Nerve-snapping tension, gritty style and an 

unsparing look at race combine in this powerhouse movie that's the last in 

a great film noir cycle of the '40s and '50s.

6)

THE HAND

Category:

Studio:

Harbel, released by Contemporary Films

Runtime:

Date:

1967

Producer:

Harry Belafonte

Director:

Jiri Trnka

Screenplay:

Story by:

Outline:

This Prague film uses animation to present a stylized allegory. A lonely man  

7)

THE ANGEL LEVINE

Story by:

Bernard Malamud

Music by:

Zdenek Liska

Cast:

Belafonte Enterprises presents: Zero Mostel, Harry Belafonte

Ida Kaminska, Milo O'Shea, Gloria Foster

Belafonte:

Actor

Outline:

Comedy / Drama

"Infused with a warm, wry wit" (Los Angeles Times), The Angel Levine

is a sentimental examination of the need to believe and the desire to be 

believed in. With "wildly funny dialogue" (Time) and "brilliant 

performances from its super super cast" (L.A. Herald-Examiner), this 

modern-day morality tale is a poignant and entertaining gem.

Things couldn't get worse for worn-and-weary Jewish tailor Morris 

Mishkin. His shop has gone up in flames, his daughter has married outside

the faith and worse yet, his beloved wife has been slowly dying. But when

he chases a thief into traffic ... and the man is killed before his very eyes, 

Morris finally decides to give up on God. Then a mysterious black man -

who closely resembles the thief - appears in his home claiming to be his 

Jewish guardian angel! Doubtful that this stranger is Jewish, never mind an

angel, Mishkin dismisses the Divine intervention. Undeterred, this unlikely

heavenly spirit - who explains that he is on ethereal probation - will stop at

nothing to convince Mishkin that not only does God exist but this is his 

8)

BUCK AND THE PREACHER

Category:

Studio:

Columbia Pictures

Runtime:

102 minutes (Color)

Date:

1972

Producer:

Joel Glickman

Director:

Sidney Poitier

Screenplay:

Ernest Kinoy

Story by:

Ernest Kinoy and Drake Walker

Music by:

Benny Carter

Cast:

Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell

Belafonte:

Actor

Widely regarded at the time of its release as "Butch Cassidy And The

Sundance Kid" with a social conscience. "Buck And The Preacher" is an

immensely satisfying Western which marked Sidney Poitier's directing 

debut, as well as his first screen pairing with superstar Harry Belafonte.

Poitier stars as Buck, an ex-Union Cavalry sergeant who becomes

a scout for freed slaves heading to the Colorado frontier. Belafonte tags 

along as a Bible-thumping con artist, The Preacher, with Ruby Dee in a 

scene-stealing performance as Buck's stoic wife. Attacked by racist 

bounty hunters determined to return the former slaves to a life of 

sharecropping in Louisiana, the remarkable courage of the pioneers 

served as a powerful metaphor during the Civil Rights movement of the

1970's. Notable for being the first major studio Western to focus on 

black pioneers. Although many who tamed the western frontier were 

African-Americans, movie-makers had virtually ignored their heroic 

contribution to the settlement of the west.