The Last Man on Earth

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For the earlier film with this title, see The Last Man on Earth (1924 film).
The Last Man on Earth

A promotional film poster for "The Last Man on Earth."
Directed by Ubaldo Ragona
Sidney Salkow
Produced by Robert L. Lippert
Samuel Z. Arkoff
Harold E. Knox
Written by Novel:
Richard Matheson
Screenplay:
Furio M. Monetti
Ubaldo Ragona
William Leicester
Richard Matheson (as Logan Swanson)
Starring Vincent Price
Franca Bettoia
Emma Danieli
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Music by Paul Sawtell
Bert Shefter
Cinematography Franco Delli Colli
Editing by Gene Ruggiero
Franca Silvi
Distributed by American International Pictures
Release date(s) 8 March 1964
Running time 86 min
Country /
IMDb profile

The Last Man on Earth (originally titled L'Ultimo uomo della Terra) is a 1964 film based upon the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. It was originally filmed in Italy, and was later released theatrically in the United States by American International Pictures in. It has since fallen into the public domain. MGM Home Video, the current owners of the AIP film catalog released a digitally remastered widescreen print in September 2005.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Every day is the same for Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price). He wakes up, gathers his weapons and then literally goes vampire hunting. Morgan lives in a world where all humans have been killed due to a new disease. This disease turns people into vampire-like creatures, who fear mirrors and would kill Morgan if they got the chance. At night Morgan locks himself inside his house, and in the morning, when the "vampires" are weaker he kills as many as he can, and destroys the bodies. Then one day, he meets a beautiful girl named Ruth. Overjoyed at the sight of another human being (Morgan's wife died from the disease years ago) he calls to her, but she runs away. Finally the two meet again, and Ruth explains that many of the creatures that he had killed were still alive. Morgan is filled with regret at his actions, and when he learns that this girl is also inflicted with the fatal disease, he vows to cure her. Morgan is immune to the effects of the disease for an unknown reason; he posits that it may be due to a bite he received from a vampire bat in his youth, which may have carried an attenuated form of the disease, resulting in his immunity. Whatever the reason, when he gives Ruth some of his blood, the symptoms disappear. At last, a cure has been found. Unfortunately, Ruth is not alone. She lives with others who have the disease, but have discovered a means of controlling its effects. The others have decided that because Morgan has killed many of them, he must die. They chase Morgan and murder him, in doing so, killing the last true man on Earth.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Mistakes

  • When the viewing audience first sees Morgan going in search of corpses to burn, he puts the corpses man and a woman into the back of his station wagon, head first. When he arrives at the garbage dump, the woman is now lying feet first in the back of the car and has switched sides with the man.
  • In the flashback sequence where Morgan takes his wife's body in his car for a secret burial, the shots of him inside the car driving shows that it is night or pre-dawn. However, the exterior shots of the car moving along on the road show that it is already daylight.
  • At first, Morgan has a Chevy station wagon. This turns into a Ford and then back into the Chevy. He eventually ends up with the Ford after the zombies wreck the Chevy.
  • In one of the first shots of the deserted city, smoke can be seen billowing from one building's chimney.
  • When Robert finally catches up with Ruth after seeing her for the first time you can see vehicles driving around on the streets below the hill.
  • When Morgan drives back home from the crypt, it's at night, but one of the shots of him driving is in broad daylight.

[edit] Trivia

  • This film was originally going to be produced by Hammer Films of Great Britain. They decided not to make it and passed the script over to their U.S. associate, Robert L. Lippert, who produced the film in Italy.
  • There is no record of this film being copyrighted, although the USA print carries a 1963 copyright statement. This is a factor in the reasons why buyers find it included in so many low-priced VHS and DVD packages.
  • The movie and the Matheson book it is based on are considered primary influences for George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The creatures, while technically vampires, shamble and move very much like the zombies in Romero's landmark film.
  • Richard Matheson was dissatisfied with this adaptation and substituted his screenplay credit with the name "Logan Swanson."

[edit] Criticism and Review

There has been much criticism directed at The Last Man on Earth, as well as review. Some critics have seen Vincent Price's performance as poor. It has been speculated that bats have bitten many people, and therefore, it is illogical to conclude that a bat bite is the key to Robert Morgan's immunity. Critics also say that it is improbable that Morgan could rightly call himself 'the last man on Earth'. It has also been observed that the remaining humans allowed Morgan to kill off their living brothers, sisters, friends, and neighbor's for nigh three years.

[edit] Important Crew and Cast

  • The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow
  • The film was written in part by Richard Matheson, author of the novel I Am Legend, credited as Logan Swanson. It was also written by William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona.
  • It starred Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan, the protagonist of the film.
  • Franca Bettoia as Ruth Collins, an infected individual.
  • Emma Danieli as Virginia Morgan, the deceased wife of Robert Morgan.
  • Giacomo Rossi-Stuart as Ben Cortman.
  • Umberto Raho as Dr. Mercer.
  • Christi Courtland as Kathy Morgan.
  • Antonio Corevi as the Governor.
  • Ettore Ribotta as the TV Reporter
  • Rolando De Rossi
  • Carolyn De Fonseca dubbed for Ruth Collins' voice in the English release of the film. She was uncredited.
  • Giuseppe Mattei as the leader of the survivors. He was also uncredited.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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