Stardate 08.05.2026.H: Happy Anniversary - 1960's 'Last Woman On Earth' Turns An Incredible 66 Years Young Today!

so many movies ... so much to celebrate!!!
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On this day in 1960 (in America), Last Woman On Earth (aka The Last Woman On Earth) enjoyed its U.S. theatrical premiere.  Springing from a script by Robert Towne and directed by genre master Roger Corman, this SciFi feature starred Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, and screenwriter Towne himself (as Edward Wain). 

​According to our friends at IMDB.com, here's the plot summary:

"Ev, along with her husband, Harold, and their lawyer friend Martin, are swimming while on vacation in Puerto Rico. When they resurface, they gradually conclude that an unexplained, temporary interruption of oxygen has killed everyone on the island ... maybe even the world!"

-- EZ

From Google.com:

Last Woman on Earth is a 1960 low-budget post-apocalyptic science fiction and psychological drama directed and produced by Roger Corman. [1, 2, 3]

Plot and Premise
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• The Incident: While vacationing and scuba diving in Puerto Rico, a wealthy businessman, his wife, and his lawyer surface to discover that a mysterious atmospheric disruption has temporarily depleted the air of oxygen, killing everyone on the surface.
• The Survivors: Because they were underwater using scuba tanks during the event, Harold Gern (Antony Carbone), his wife Evelyn (Betsy Jones-Moreland), and lawyer Martin Joyce (played by screenwriter Robert Towne under the pseudonym Edward Wain) are left alone.
• The Conflict: Stranded in an empty world, the dynamics shift into a tense, volatile love triangle as the two men compete for Evelyn's companionship and control over their survival. [7]

Production Background
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• Double Feature: The film was originally released by Filmgroup in October 1960 as a double feature alongside Corman's famous quick-shoot classic, The Little Shop of Horrors.
• On-Location Efficiency: Corman shot the movie in Puerto Rico while already on location to film Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) to maximize his production budget.
• Writing and Acting: Screenwriter Robert Towne (who later wrote Chinatown) had not finished the script on time, so Corman had Towne step in front of the camera as one of the lead actors to save money. [6]

Critical Reception

• Public Domain: The film is widely available in the public domain and frequently reviewed by classic B-movie enthusiasts and programs like Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Reputation: It is generally viewed as a thin, slow-moving dialogue-driven chamber piece rather than a traditional action-heavy sci-fi disaster film, relying entirely on the interpersonal friction of its three main characters. [1, 7, 9]

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Woman_on_Earth
[2] https://eofftvreview.wordpress.com/2021/09/04/last-woman-on-earth-1960/
[3] https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/Last_Woman_on_Earth_(film)
[4] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054017/
[5] https://unobtainium13.com/2019/08/10/film-review-last-woman-on-earth-dir-by-roger-corman/
[6] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054017/trivia/
[7] https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xa5g0ie
[8] https://publicdomainmovies.info/last-woman-earth-1960/
[9] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_last_woman_on_earth