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	/
All Movie Guide profile
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. The film was directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow. The star was Vincent Price. The film was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and was credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona were the other writers. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 395 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (692 × 1050 pixel, file size: 672 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A promotional film poster for The Last Man on Earth. ... Samuel Zachary Arkoff (June 12, 1918–September 16, 2001) was an American producer of B-movies. ... Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ... Paul Sawtell (February 3, 1906 - August 1, 1971) was a film movie composer. ... Bert Shefter (May 15, 1902 – June 29, 1999) was a Russian film composer who worked primarily in America. ... The early AIP logo. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Richard Burton Matheson (born February 20, 1926) is an American author and screenwriter, typically of fantasy, horror or science fiction. ... Cover for the first edition of I Am Legend. ... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ...

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. The early AIP logo. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... The inner box (green) is the format used in most pre-1952 films and pre-widescreen television. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Synopsis

In the year 1968, 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 everyone else has been infected by a new disease that turns them into vampire-like creatures. They cannot stand sunlight, and fear mirrors and garlic. They would kill Morgan if they could, but fortunately, they are weak and not too smart. At night, Morgan locks himself inside his house listening to jazz on the hi fi, and in the morning, he kills as many as he can, destroying the bodies. Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ...

Then one day, he meets a beautiful woman named Ruth Collins (Franca Bettoia), who seems to be disease-free. Overjoyed at the sight of another human being (Morgan's wife died from the disease years ago), he takes her home with him. He becomes suspicious when he finds she is repelled by garlic. He then catches her trying to inject herself with some sort of serum. Ruth explains that she is infected, but the serum keeps the disease at bay temporarily. There are others like her, trying to rebuild civilization. They fear him, because some of those he killed were still alive. She confesses that she was sent to distract him; the others plan to kill him that very night.

Morgan is filled with regret at his actions, and vows to cure her. He is immune to the disease for some unknown reason. He wonders if it may be due to a bite he received from a bat in his younger days. The bat's biological defenses may have weakened the disease enough before passing it on, resulting in his immunity. Whatever the reason, when he gives Ruth some of his blood, her symptoms instantly disappear. At last, a cure has been found. But before they can do anything about it, Ruth's people arrive, chase Morgan into a church and murder him in front of the altar, killing the last true man on Earth.

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.
• One Of The DVD editions contained a minor missing sequence involving Ruth talking to a mother holding a crying baby before walking away, ending the movie.

Hammer horror refers to horror films produced in the late 1950s through the 1970s by the British film studio Hammer Films. ... George Romero at the 2006 DragonCon George Andrew Romero (born February 4, 1940) is an American director, writer, editor and actor. ... Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 black-and-white independent horror film directed by George A. Romero. ... For other uses see Zombie (disambiguation) A zombie is a kind of undead, or figuratively, a very apathetic person. ...

Cast

• Vincent Price as Dr. Robert Morgan
• 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.

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ...

See also

• I Am Legend
• I Am Legend (film)
• The Omega Man
• Last Woman on Earth
• The Quiet Earth

Cover for the first edition of I Am Legend. ... I Are Legend is an upcoming 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. ... The Omega Man is a 1971 science fiction thriller starring Charlton Heston. ... Antony Carbone and Betsy Jones Moreland, unsure about their future course of action Last Woman on Earth is a U.S. movie of 1960 produced and directed by Roger Corman about an inexplicable incident during which all life on the surface of the earth is killed except for three human... The Quiet Earth is a 1981 science fiction novel (ISBN 0-340-26507-8) by New Zealand writer Craig Harrison, about Zac Hobson, a scientist who wakes up one morning to find out that apparently he is the last person left on the planet Earth. ...

External links

• Download this movie from internet archive
• The Last Man on Earth at the Internet Movie Database
• Review by The Spinning Image
• Review by Science Fiction Weekly
• The Last Man on Earth(Scifi.com)
• The Last Man on Earth(TheyreComing.com)