This blog was begun Wednesday night June 10th, and completed the following morning :
Who would've thought we'd find another Roger Corman movie at this stage of the game? Yes indeed, we got lucky, though it wasn't your typical Corman fare. While he is versatile and can't be pinned down to one genre, he's mostly known for low-budget horror and sci-fi, largely of the Rubber Suited Monster variety. This time, however, he went for an Art Film, entitled "Last Woman On Earth"(1960). There must be something in the air for us to have discovered two Art House movies in a row. If we decided that "Incubus" was made in the style of Ingomar Street Bergman, might we then say that "Last Woman" has overtones of Antonioni, particularly "L'avventura"? That might be a stretch, but then Corman is stretching here as well, going for existentialism over cheese, trying for a Serious Motion Picture, just as Leslie Stevens did last night. In Corman's case, he has an ally in Robert Towne of all people.
Towne, about whom we will have more to say later, wrote the screenplay for "Last Woman". He also stars in the movie, along with Betsy Jones-Moreland and Corman vet Antony Carbone, as one of three people who have survived an apparent global holocaust. Yes, you read that correctly - Robert Towne not only wrote the movie but is one of it's leads. According to IMDB, this is his first produced script, so it looks like he is yet one more movie business talent who got his start with ol' Roger. Towne plays "Martin Joyce", the lawyer for unscrupulous investor "Harold Gern" (Carbone). As the movie opens, they are at a cockfight in Puerto Rico, along with Harold's wife Evelyn (Jones-Moreland). I must butt in to say that cockfights are disgusting and cruel, but this movie was made in 1960 before a lot of folks were enlightened about such things. Thankfully, Corman doesn't show us the worst of it. Harold and Martin are discussing a land deal, off which Harold stands to make a killing. We get the feeling right away that Martin doesn't care much for Harold's questionable business tactics, but puts up with him anyway because of their professional relationship. For her part, Evelyn feels neglected by Harold. She enjoys their jetsetting lifestyle but would trade it for her husband's affection. At the cockfight, Ev has an ally in Martin, who finds the "sport" as repulsive as she does. When Harold gets up to place a bet, Ev comes on to Martin, who doesn't encourage her attentions but doesn't ignore her either.
When the cockfight is over (thank goodness), Harold suggests a change of scenery. "Why don't we take the boat out? We can go scuba diving. It'll be good for you two to get some fresh air and sunshine". Hmmmm........a boat trip, marital ennui.....this is what I meant by "L'avventura", though it's admittedly just a glancing reference. Once out on the boat, Harold - a man of much machismo - encourages the more nebbish Martin to join him for a scuba dive. "You should come along too, Ev". The other two beg off. They are enjoying each other's company, but Harold can see this so he says it again : "C'mon. Go get your diving gear, we're going in". He's the Alpha Male - Martin's boss and Evelyn's husband, so they reluctantly do as he says.
Under the water, the trio encounter a Manta Ray. It closes in and appears to attack, causing the divers to swim quickly to the surface, but in doing so they rise too fast and can't breathe. Harold is concerned they may have gotten The Bends, i.e. nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream. "Put your masks back on"!, he orders. They remain in the water for several minutes, inhaling oxygen, but when they finally climb back on the boat and remove their masks and tanks, they still can't catch a breath. The boat won't start. Martin tries to light a match; it sputters out. Harold once again takes charge.
"Quick, throw down the life raft! We have to row to shore. We'll assess the situation when we get there".
They paddle to a tropical beach, thick with palm trees and flora. Sitting by a large fern, Martin discovers he can now breathe freely. "Harold! Evelyn! Look at this"! He grabs a handful of big green leaves and inhales. "Don't you see? Plants give off oxygen! We're surrounded by them here. In the ocean there were none. We couldn't breathe because there was no oxygen"!
"Something's obviously happened to the atmosphere", says Harold.
"Whatever it is, I'm not sure I want to know the details".
Harold suggests they look for other people. "There's a town not far from here. Someone there might know what's happened". But when they get to the town, no one is alive. Bodies lie in the street, in cars. "Is it like this all over the world"?, Martin wonders. "I fear it is", says Harold. "If so, we're the last three people on Earth". They begin to think about their immediate survival. Harold catches fish; With Evelyn's help, Martin gathers coconuts and jungle fruit. Later, we see them resting on the beach, drinking beer they've rescued from their boat. Evelyn is gravitating toward Martin again. Now tipsy, she kisses him. This time he doesn't fend her off. Harold sees them but says nothing for the moment. Later, after dinner, he confronts Martin alone. "If we're to survive this, Martin, we need to observe the basic rules of society, if you understand what I'm saying".
Martin finds this outrageous coming from the shady banker. "Ha! Yes, I understand, Harold! All of a sudden you've become morally upright. Give me a break. You talk about society, the society you've always taken advantage of? Well, there is no more society, Harold. There are no more rules. Your money means nothing now, it's just paper"!
"Oh really, Martin? And what about my marriage? Is that just a piece of paper, too"?
The message from Harold is clear : "Stay away from Evelyn", but Martin won't don't that. It would be difficult anyway, as Ev can't keep her hands off him. Soon they are sleeping together. Harold tries to convince Ev she was raped. "No, I wasn't"!, she replies. "I love Martin"! Now the real trouble will start, as Harold and Martin will struggle over the Last Woman on Earth. Towne's script explores the conflicting philosophies of Martin (the cynical existentialist) versus Harold (the cunning survivalist). Martin tries to rationalise his betrayal but is really no better than his crooked boss, just taking advantage of what he can get, which in this case is Evelyn. There will be a hard fought battle for her in the end, after Martin tries leaving with Ev on the boat. I won't tell you who is victorious.
Though the plot is fairly simple, there are many layers to the script, revealed through the ideologies of Martin and Harold. One of Robert Towne's strengths is dialogue, so even though there isn't a lot of action in the movie, there's still plenty of dramatic tension played out verbally between the two men. This brings me back to Towne : after the movie, when I saw his name listed as the actor who played "Martin", I was flabbergasted. I recalled seeing him in the opening credits as the screenwriter, but I had no idea he ever was an actor, let alone the star of a movie. It turns out that, for the role of "Martin", Towne was credited under the psuedonym of "Edward Wain". But yeah, I was stunned for a couple of reasons, first of all because of how good Towne was in the role. He plays opposite Antony Carbone, one of Roger Corman's best actors, and equals him scene for scene. In some ways, because the plot turns on his motivations, "Martin" is the film's main character, making Towne the protagonist. So, yeah, he's excellent in the role, but that's not what really got me.
What really got me was how normal Towne looked, and seemed. Not just as his character, "Martin", but what you sensed of him behind the role, as a real person. He looks like the most regular of guys, a Joe you'd see anywhere, like a young man coming out of an office or university. I say this because of the image many of us film fans have of Robert Towne the Famous Screenwriter. Of that Towne, we know little. He's always been a mysterious character, known as much for his contractual disputes in Hollywood as for his intermittent screenplays. Back in 1974, he made his name with "Chinatown", which some consider "the greatest script ever written". No doubt it's one of the best, without question. But we never really knew who Towne was until "Shampoo", and then a few years later, with a movie called "Personal Best", the story of a gay female track star, which was also Towne's directorial debut. There was a big fight over that film between Towne and the studio. I don't recall the particulars, but I think it had to do with the nature of the script. Hollywood was still nervous in those days about making a gay picture, and Towne felt the bosses were trying to water down his movie. Whatever the actual reason, I just remember that it was the first time we ever (most of us, anyway) saw a photograph of Robert Towne. Screenwriters don't usually get their pictures in the paper, right?
Well anyway, he looked like he was pretty old, balding and bearded with weathered skin and wary eyes. In short, he looked like a Hollywood burn-out, even though he would've been just 48 years of age. His image was one of a Cantankerous, Creative Hermit, one who was capable of greatness but who rarely worked, and after the fight over "Personal Best", he may have had trouble getting work, I don't know. But my point is that the guy looked bad. He looked really bad in those days, almost degenerate. Now, this happened in the early 1980s, just a little over twenty years since his clean cut appearance in "Last Woman on Earth", so it was shocking to see his transformation. I did some Googling, and discovered it was The Same Old Story, drugs and alcohol. Towne was part of Jack Nicholson's crowd and was heavily addicted to cocaine, which turned him into a buzzard before he was fifty. The amazing thing is that he's still alive at 84, so he must have gotten his act together at some point, but yeah, check him out in his first movie, in his only starring role. He's really good! His normal-ness will astonish you.
Overall, I'm gonna award "Last Woman on Earth" Two Solid Thumbs Up. It's a good effort in all respects, and shows that Roger Corman was quite capable of making serious movies. Betsy Jones-Moreland is also first rate as the neglected wife. All three actors play well off one another, maintaining the triangle of tension. I just felt that there could've been more to the story than just the romantic betrayal and the difference in world views between the two men, but then I also read on Wiki that Towne wasn't finished with his script when shooting began, so maybe they had to improvise a bit and work with what they had. It's still a very good picture, worth watching as a Corman Art Film, and in that respect is recommended by Yours Truly. //////
Sorry I missed you last night. Normally I'd have turned this review in yesterday, but Grimsley came over and I missed my deadline, lol. Now I'm back on schedule, however, and will see you later this evening at the Usual Time. Have an awesome day!
Tons and tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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