Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Last Woman on Earth (1960)

Posted on by

Poster for Last Woman on Earth (1960)Last Woman on Earth (1960) by #RogerCorman
screenplay: #RobertTowne
w/#BetsyJonesMoreland #AntonyCarbone

A gangster, his wife, and his lawyer may be the last people alive.

“They fought for the Ultimate Prize!”

“You mean you’d exile one-third of the human race?”

#Horror #SciFi
#NotQuiteClassicCinema
#FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn

Last Woman on Earth (1960) is one of three movies that Roger Corman made in Puerto Rico. He made Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) back to back with Last Woman on Earth to save money (shoot two movies while on location in one place). Last Woman on Earth is probably the better of the two. It was written by renowned screenwriter Robert Towne (Chinatown (1974), The Last Detail (1973)) and feels kind of like an old episode of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964).

Speaking of Robert Towne and saving money, Roger Corman convinced Towne to act in Last Woman on Earth so he could come with them to Puerto Rico and continue working on the screenplay. 

Towne plays Martin Joyce, a lawyer, who goes scuba diving with his gangster boss, Harold Gern, played by Antony Carbone. Also along for the undersea adventure is Gern’s wife, Evelyn, played by Betsy Jones-Moreland. When the three return to the surface they discover that everyone else in the world appears to have mysteriously died while they were under water. 

Last Woman on Earth (1960) is an intriguing story about believable characters caught up in a rather strange situation. It’s not an overt monster movie, filled with giant mutants or prehistoric birds from outer space. It’s more about the human monster that lurks somewhere inside all of us. It’s not surprising that Robert Towne would go on to write a masterpiece like Chinatown. 

Don’t get me wrong. Last Woman on Earth (1960) is no masterpiece. It’s undeniably #NotQuiteClassicCinema. But it is an entertaining watch with more brains than many of its contemporaries. Roger Corman would go on to direct many better films before stepping back to concentrate on producing more than 500 movies. Still, Last Woman on Earth is essential viewing for fans of Corman’s brand of low budget bravura. It’s a master-class in how to do a lot with very little – and keep an audience intrigued. And you could do much worse than add it to the queue for your next #FridayNightAtTheHomeDriveIn.

 

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

One thought on “Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Last Woman on Earth (1960)”

  1. Pingback: Friday Night At The Home Drive-In: Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) | 100% Certified Angus Kohm

Comments are closed.