The Last Man on Earth
by Ubaldo Ragona, Sidney Salkow
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Actor: Emma Danieli, Franca Bettoia, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Umberto Raho, Vincent PriceDirector: Sidney Salkow, Ubaldo Ragona
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Franco Delli Colli
Writer: Ubaldo Ragona
Editor: Gene Ruggiero
Editor: Franca Silvi
Producer: Samuel Z. Arkoff
Writer: Richard Matheson
Writer: William F. Leicester
Writer: Furio M. Monetti
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
DVD Release Date: 2007-12-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: American International Pictures (AIP)
DVD Reviews of The Last Man on Earth
DVD Review: The Last Man on Earth
Summary: 5 Stars
The original and the best of the three. Omega Man and I am Legend have followed on and are great movies in themselves, but as for this excellent restored colored version,- well A+++.DVD Review: Low-budget Production, but Atmospheric
Summary: 4 Stars
Granted, in this day of effects-driven spectacles with fast editing, the pacing of this version seems a bit pedestrian. But what it lacks in visual flourishes it makes up in atmosphere. You might be surprised at how convincing the depiction of the deserted city was, with its strewn and tattered corpses, and by Vincent Price's earnest performance as a man nearly mad with loneliness and despair. I actually liked it. But you can either take this trip back to another cinematic era or you can't. Therefore, if you're on this page, you know already if you want to buy this movie. What you're looking for now is information about this particular edition, and by that I mean MGM's The Last Man on Earth.
When weighing what I'm saying against what others have written, it's important to note the release date of the DVD, December 4th, 2007. Some of the reviews below were written prior to that date, and they're discussing a very different, very inferior edition, probably made from the faded, fullscreen, public domain copy which you can download for free at Internet Archive. MGM released this edition of The Last Man on Earth to meet the interest generated by the Will Smith remake. It bears the MGM logo on the spine of the case, the lion's roar before the DVD menu comes up, and it's a pristine print in widescreen format. It is not marred with scratches, and it upconverted beautifully from my Sony Blu-ray player to my HDTV, which is a concern for me these days.
And as a special feature, we get a 7-minute interview with Richard Matheson, author of the now classic novel I Am Legend that the movie was based on. It's a simple interview, sprinkled with insights and ideas, how he thought of the book, and so on; not much to it, but nice just the same. Mainly it's the picture quality of the movie itself that's the real attraction on this disc. This is the edition you want to get if a good clean copy is what you're after.
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DVD Review: "Vincent Price Series ... The Last Man on Earth (1964) ... Legend Films (2008)"
Summary: 5 Stars
Legend Films presents "THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" (8 March 1964) (86 mins) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- now in COLOR and Glorious Black and White --- This is a great film to watch alone --- Horror veteran Vincent Price plays Dr. Robert Morgan, a desperate and lonely man who's left alone in an apocalyptic world; A world ruled by zombie-like vampires as a result of a widespread plague --- These vampire zombies are highly reminiscent of George Romero's walking dead in "Night of the Living Dead" ---. Price does a remarkable job interacting with practically nothing --- He's alone throughout the majority of the film --- His performance largely carries this low budget film from director Ubaldo Ragona --- When you watch the movie alone, you really feel where his character is coming from and a sense of hopelessness is established --- The Last Man on Earth is really a thought provoking classic --- I recommend it be watched with Charlton Heston's The Omega Man to see another take on the same story (both were based on Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend").
Under the production staff of:
Ubaldo Ragona - Director
Sidney Salkow - Director
Robert L. Lippert - Producer
William Leicester - Screenwriter
Richard Matheson - Screenwriter / Book Author
Franco Delli Colli - Cinematographer
Paul Sawtell - Composer (Music Score)
Bert Shefter - Composer (Music Score)
Gene Ruggiero - Editor
Giorgio Giovannini - Art Director
Harold E. Knox - Associate Producer
Pier Antonio Mecacci - Makeup
Jane Huizenga - Production Director
David D. Martin - Technical Director
Story line and plot, Dr. Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) as the sole and devastated survivor of a deadly plague that exterminated the entire human race, including his own wife and daughter --- Price due to his immunity to the lethal germs, he's the only one to fight victims who return in the shape of vampire/zombie like creatures --- Even though it has already been 3 years, Morgan desperately continues his search for other survivor --- This is one of the most impressive performances Price ever brought to the screen, and a lot more difficult than his usual roles of villains and madmen --- Judging by today's standards, I guess the film looks very dated and you can't really refer to the tame 'vamp zombies' as threatening anymore --- But the empty streets and depressing cities still are the ultimate in eeriness! --- this also was an immensely influential film --- You can't watch 'Last man on Earth' without being reminded of George A. Romero's milestone genre film 'Night of the Living Dead'. If you then realize this movie was made 4 years before Romero's classic, you can't but reckon the underrated brilliance of this film --- The same hopelessness aspect that made Romero's film so tense features HERE first, in 'Last Man on Earth'! --- This production offers an ideal proportion of frights and sentiments, luckily without too many tedious scientific speeches or faked drama. 'Last Man on Earth' has to be seen by every SF/horror fan on this planet --- For some reason this is one of the most underrated genre efforts ever, and that urgently has to change --- Legend Films has made that change.
the cast includes:
Vincent Price ... Dr. Robert Morgan
Franca Bettoia ... Ruth Collins
Emma Danieli ... Virginia Morgan
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart ... Ben Cortman
Umberto Raho ... Dr. Mercer
Christi Courtland ... Kathy Morgan
Antonio Corevi ... Governor (as Tony Corevi)
Ettore Ribotta ... TV Reporter (as Hector Ribotta)
Rolando De Rossi
BIOS
1. Vincent Price
Date of Birth: 27 May 1911 - St. Louis, Missouri
Date of Death: 25 October 1993 - Los Angeles, California
SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. It Happened in Hollywood (hosted by Vincent Price)
2. Legend Films Trailers
The complete print was restored and colorized by Legend Films, using the latest technology --- Although the Legend Films release was advertised under its reissue title, both the color and black and white prints featured the original title and opening credits --- Legend Films can restore, colorize and release many of the classic earliest black and white films --- a patented coloring and remastering process makes each film picture perfect plus more vivd than ever --- no one can resist collecting every title that Legend Films releases.
Hats off and thanks to Barry B. Sandrew Ph.D. (Founder, COO & CTO) and his Legend Films Staff --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage era of the '20s, '30s & '40s --- order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Legend Films where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.
Total Time: 86 mins on DVD ~ Legend Films. ~ (10/21/2008)
DVD Review: Vincent Price. Need I Say More?
Summary: 5 Stars
Vincent Price, the master of horror himself, stars in the original (and, in my opinion, far superior) 1964 adaptation of the acclaimed science fiction novel, I Am Legend. What ensues is both a fantastic film exploring the human psyche and an opportunity for Price to spend the entire runtime demonstrating his considerable acting talent to enthralled audiences. Any fan of Price will be captivated by his emotion-laden and occasionally campy performance.
The colorization process applied to this DVD by Legend Films is as flawless as I am able to discern. In fact, without knowing beforehand that the film was colorized decades after the fact, it would be nearly impossible to tell that this was originally a black and white film (though, as is their standard for all colorized releases, Legend includes the black and white version on the same disc). Nostalgic value aside, I would venture that few of you will actually choose to watch the black and white after seeing it side by side with the color version.
And, to the adulation of Price fans such as myself, the disc contains a special featurette hosted by the man himself, entitled It Happened in Hollywood. It appears this was an old television show where Price would analyze and explain what elements composed various film genres. In the included episode, Price takes a look at Westerns & looks quite dashing himself in a cowboy getup.
DVD Review: NOT THE VERSION TO BUY IF YOU ONLY WANT THE B/W MOVIE
Summary: 3 Stars
If you're looking for the best B/W version of this film on DVD, then either of the two MGM DVD's, is the way to go, but if you want it in colour, then the Legend Films disc is sufficiently colorized for your viewing pleasure.
I have both of the MGM DVD's, and just got in the Legend Film one to do a comparison, seeing as no one else had done one, and I was stupidly enticed by the, "includes restored original black & white version" that was written on the top of the rather badly done DVD cover (the MGM, The Last Man on Earth movie only edition, has a better cover, still not the greatest, but better than this cover),
Here's the lowdown, it looks like the exact same print was used for all three DVD's, with the exception that the Legend Films picture has a couple of incidental dirt specs removed at the very beginning of the film (like 3 or 4 in a 5 minute span) but in return, the picture is just a touch softer then the MGM image (where as the MGM image quality is very crisp over all) and a slightly tighter frame around the widescreen.
Yes, and erroneously, the DVD cover states the film is full screen, but it's actually the widescreen version in both the B/W and colour versions.
Another problem with the Legend version, is that even though they seem to make a big stink on the cover about the B/W version, in actuality, the B/W movie has a play only option, with no chapter stop menu (although you can skip forward using your remote, at what looks to be around 5 minute increments) and I was unable to use the, "goto" feature on my remote to jump to a specific time point in the B/W film (the scene select in the DVD menu, only allow you to jump to scenes in the colorized version).
As for the colorized version, the colours are dark pastels, as per most colorized drivel, kind of reminding me of the early 2 strip Technicolor process, used before the 3 strip process was invented, which gave skin tones a tanned, orange/brown look, and muted all of the other colours.
So, the MGM DVD is the way to go for serious lovers of this film, but for novices who might want the novelty of the colorized version, then the Legend DVD is an okay second choice.
Hope this helps :)
Description of The Last Man on Earth
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 12/04/2007 Run time: 87 minutes Rating: NrVincent Price gives an atypically restrained performance as the sole survivor of a worldwide plague that revives its victims as bloodthirsty vampires. During the day, he canvasses his abandoned hometown, tracking down and stalking his former friends and neighbors, always making sure to return before nightfall, when the dead rise to assault his fortified house. Hope arrives in the form of an apparently normal young woman (Franca Bettoia), but her agenda proves to be even more sinister than that of the vampires.
Based on the 1954 novel by coscripter Matheson (whose displeasure with the final product spurred the use of a pseudonym), this Italian-made production is best known for its influence on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The similarities between the two films go beyond the presence of shuffling zombies and housebound heroes; both feature taboo-breaking scenes of interfamilial murder, and both end on bleak, dystopian notes. While The Last Man on Earth lacks the political and darkly satirical shadings (and graphic gore) that make Night of the Living Dead a more memorable experience, the combination of Bava-esque Gothic atmosphere and bleak, documentary-style camerawork by directors Ragona and Salkow (the brother of Price's agent Lester Salkow) lend themselves to moments of pure frisson that compare laudably to Romero's film. Matheson's novel also provided the source material for the awkward 1971 Charlton Heston vehicle The Omega Man. A planned third version, helmed by Ridley Scott and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was shut down in its earliest stages due to skyrocketing budget costs. --Paul Gaita
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