The Last Woman On Earth
1960
Director: Roger Corman
Cast Includes: Antony Carbone, Edward Wain, Betsy Jones-Moreland
MS Cinemania 1994:
Dull three-cornered romance involving last survivors on earth after unexplained disaster. Screenplay by Robert Towne - his first. He also co-stars, using acting pseudonym Edward Wain.
The Primal Screen:
Concern about the Bomb naturally continued into the sixties and so did Bomb movies. Roger Corman was still at it - in 1960 the made The Last Woman On Earth .... which was a cheap, exploitation version of The World, The Flesh And The Devil. The woman in question .... and her husband survive the end of the world because they happen to be scuba diving at the time. Another survivor turns up and one thing inevitably leads to another. Amusingly the screenplay for this mess was written by Robert Towne, who also plays the last woman's husband under the pseudonym of Edward Wain.
The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction:
For unexplained reasons (war?) the world is drained of oxygen for several hours; the lone survivors (as far as we know) are three scuba divers: two men (one wealthy and aggresive, one effete and intellecual) and the first man's wife. Scientifically silly and poorly acted, with scriptwriter Towne - later celebrated for Chinatown (1974) and other films - called in to play the intellectual part at the last minute, The Last Woman On Earth still has compelling moments. For a quickie-movie the script is remarkably mannered; yet it may be a sharper, less sentimental film than the more famous The World, The Flesh And The Devil, on which it was presumably modelled.
External Links
updated february 2010