The Last Man on Earth (1924 film)

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The Last Man on Earth
Directed by John G. Blystone
Cinematography Allen M. Davey
Distributed by Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s) USA November 2, 1924
Running time 70 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language Silent film
English intertitles
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Last Man on Earth (1924) is a silent comedy produced by Fox Film Corporation and loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1826 novel The Last Man. It was remade as the semi-musical comedy It's Great to Be Alive (1933), and influenced the sci-fi novel Mr. Adam (1946).

[edit] Synopsis

In the futuristic year of 1960, a plague, known as male-itis has killed every fertile man on Earth over the age of 12. Boys under the age of 12 have been vaccinated, but they are all rendered sterile. Womankind takes over the world and a woman becomes President of the United States.

Meanwhile, a female aviator, Gertie (played by Grace Cunard), flying over the Ozarks finds smoke rising from the chimney of a cabin. She discovers a reclusive hillbilly, named Elmer Smith (played by Earle Foxe) living there with his sweetheart Hattie (Derelys Perdue). He is captured and examined at a medical hospital. All the women in the world soon begin to fight over Smith.

This film emphasized two events still very memorable at the time. The 1918 influenza epidemic, and women winning the right to vote in 1920.