The Last Man on Earth (1964)

Another day to live through, better get started. Is that all it has been since I inherited the world? Only three years. It seems like a hundred million. Yeah, I own the world. An empty, dead, silent world. More of them for the pit. Every day there are more of them. They live off the weak ones and leave them for the pit. K-O-K-W calling. Come in. K-O-K-W calling. I'm on international frequency. Come in. They can't bear to see their image. It repels them. I need more mirrors. And this garlic's lost its pungency. There was a time when eating was pleasurable. Now it bores me. Just fuel for survival. I'll settle for coffee and orange juice this morning. But first there is my life to consider. I'd better replace that garlic. I need more, lots more. Better stop off and get them. I can't afford the luxury of anger. Anger can make me vulnerable. It can destroy my reason, and reason is the only advantage I have over them. Got to find where they hide during the day. Uncover every one of them. Now, where did I finish off yesterday? Madison Street to 31st Avenue. Eleven kills over three years. And there's more than half the city I haven't searched. They are perfect. Just wide enough to keep the flesh apart so their body seal can't function. How many more of these will I have to make... before they are all destroyed? They want my blood. It's their lives or mine. I still get squeamish. Wait. That garlic. I better put it back where it belongs. I can't live a heartbeat away from hell and forget it. I'm out of gas. That means one more stop I'll have to make. I can get rid of them later. Right now, I'm out of gas. They're still fresh. But I'll take only what I need. They've got to last. They can wait, too. I've got my life to worry about. Those mirrors have to be replaced before dark. Square blocks to search. How many of them still exist? How long will I have to keep up this search? I haven't much time left. It'll be dark in an hour. And now 12 long hours before the sun will rise... and drive them back to darkness. Morgan, come out. Come out. Robert, help me! Another day. Another day to start all over again. Virge. God, how I miss you. The sun's already set. They'll be everywhere! It's Morgan. Get him. Do you hear? Do you hear, Morgan? Three years. Three years! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Virge? Yes? No. My makeup. My hair! - Where is everybody? All I can see is... - Hi, Ben! I can hear children, but I can't see any children. Uncle Ben! Look at Uncle Ben! - What did you bring me? - Open them and see. - Come. - Are all those for Kathy? Take a look at this. - It's highly theoretical, Ben. - Theoretical? Do I have to remind you that theory is the beginning of solution? "Is Europe's disease carried on the wind?" Is it, Ben? - It could be. - And if it is? It isn't, Virge. Is that what you really think, or what you'd like to think? I cannot accept half-baked theories that sell newspapers. I'm a scientist, not an alarmist. You're whistling past the graveyard. Is that a commentary on my work at the lab? - We both know how hard you've worked. - I'm sorry. I just can't accept the idea of universal disease. Uncle Ben, you promised us card tricks. All right, Kathy. Who can resist that face? All right. Card tricks. Is it possible this germ, or virus, could be airborne? Anything is possible, Virge. The best brains in the world have been running through this thing... with a fine-toothed comb. The germ is visible under a microscope... but it's not like any bacilli I've ever known. In what way? It can't be destroyed by any process we've been able to uncover. But with the whole world trying, there must be a solution. Mommy, when are we gonna cut the cake? Right now our problem is to cut that cake. - Mommy. - Coming. The wind wake you up? It always does. How do you feel? - I'm all right. - Don't get up, honey. - I'm not sick, I'll make your breakfast. - You don't have to. I'll be all right. Go on and read your paper. All right. Sweetheart, look, if you don't feel well, please go back to bed. I'm just a little tired, that's all. I wish somebody would find a vaccine. It's all we're working on at the lab. Maybe you better not send her to school today. All right. - Do you think you should go to work? - I have to. Bob, I'm so frightened. Everything's going to be all right, sweetheart. - Well? - The bacilli are multiplying. That kicks the bone marrow theory in the head. This specimen shows a higher white count... than when I put it on the slide. Those cells are still living, Dr. Mercer, off one another. There has to be an answer. You've heard all communications are ended outside the continental limits? Yes, I heard. That leaves it in our laps. So we keep trying. Where's Cortman? He should be here by now. You two stay on this virus theory until I decide it's exhausted. Right. - Yes, sir? - Morgan will fill you in. All right, sir. And what did the great man of science have to say today? - More of the usual? - He's trying, Ben. Just like the rest of us. And nothing works. The streets are swarming with truckloads of bodies... that they're throwing into that God-awful pit. And the dedicated Dr. Mercer goes on... with his plodding, unimaginative approach. - You have a better idea? - Maybe. - At least it involves imagination. - Ben, it's as simple as this. An unknown germ is being blown around the world. It's highly contagious, and it's reached plague proportions. And you don't believe some of the dead have come back? Let's get to work. And why are they burning the bodies? Why don't they bury them? Because it's the best known way to control the contagion... to keep the germ from spreading. That's what we've always believed, at any rate. - You'd prefer us to believe in vampires? - If they exist, yes. There are stories being told, Bob. By people who are out of their minds with fear! Maybe, but there are too many to be just coincidental. Stories about people who have died, and have come back. They're stories, Ben, stories. And why are the infected people always so tired in the daytime? Why can't they stand the sunlight? Why are they only seen at night? Come here. - Look. - I know as well as... - Now, is this bacilli or isn't it? - It doesn't alter... And this bacilli is found in the blood of every infected person, or isn't it? To show me germs is not to refute these stories, Bob. The point is, if there are vampires, they exist in spite of these germs. Come on, let's get to work. Until further notice this station... will continue its around-the-clock coverage of this national disaster. And now we switch you to the state capitol... where His Excellency, the Governor... is speaking from the executive mansion. Further, I have in conjunction with the Federal Government... declared this state to be a disaster area. The public health is dependent on the bodies of the deceased being burned. You must notify the Health Department immediately... if you have a plague victim in your home. Under no circumstances should you gather publicly. In view of the dire emergency that exists... Anything new? No, nothing new. Nothing. Mommy, where are you? Mommy, I can't see. - I'm going to call the doctor. - I said, no. Virge, there's nothing they can do. - But we can't just let her lie there. - This way she has a chance. If you call a doctor, he'll report it. Do you want that? Mommy, help me. - How can you be so sure... - Blindness is one of the symptoms. You're not to call a doctor under any circumstances. No one is to come into this house. Now remember that. Mommy, where are you? I've got to pick Ben Cortman up on the way to the lab. No one is to come into this house. Now remember that! No! Please! Please don't let him be buried in the pit. Please, for God's sake. Don't take him away like this. You can't! - Who's there? - It's me, Ben. We're late. Ben, what's the matter with you? Nothing. And I'm going to keep it that way. - Look, let's talk about this. - There's nothing to talk about. You think I'm out of my mind. You laughed at me and my theory. You might be one of them. Look, you're ill. You ought to see a doctor. No doctors. You take care of your life. I'll take care of mine. Now get away from here. You understand? Get away from here! If you're looking for anybody but me, forget it. - Are they all gone? - That's right. Is there any hope from the latest reports? No, not yet. But believe me, Morgan, we'll find an answer. When, Doctor? We need it right now. I need it! You're the only one who wasn't afraid to come here today. What's going to happen, Dr. Mercer? Is everybody in the world going to die before someone finds the answer? No, I don't think so. I don't deny that there's some strange evolutionary process going on. But mankind won't be destroyed. The fact that you and I are working here today... is evidence of that. All right. Let's roll. When? I called a doctor. I had to. I told you not to call anyone. Bob, she was blind. She couldn't see. She kept reaching out her hands, and groping for me. And all of a sudden she was gone. And they came... and I tried to stop them. They took her. I saw a truck out there. Was that it? Was it? Yes. I'm sorry, lady. There's nothing I can do. Let that truck through. Get out of the way. Get back, folks. Nobody's allowed out there. Please, all of you. Get behind those lines. Look sharp there. Move. Move along. Make way for that truck. This way. Hey, you, mister! Come back! Did this truck just come in from Market Street? I said, did this truck just come in from Market Street? Mister, I don't know. Hey, you don't belong in here. Get out. - I said get out! - I want my daughter. A lot of daughters are in there, including my own. Bob, I can't see! I can't see! No. I won't let them put you there, Virge. I promise. I won't let them put you there. Let me in. Who is it? Who's there? We're going to kill you, Morgan. Do you hear? Do you hear, Morgan? If Cortman thinks he can get to me by destroying my car... his wits are getting dull. This convertible would be nice. Probably handles well. But I can't think of comfort. There was a time when I shopped for a car. Now I'm looking for a hearse. This station waggon will have to do. Alive. It's alive. Wait. Don't run away! Come back here. Don't run away! Come back. Come back here! Wherever he is, I've got to find him. If I have to search every street, every house, every alley... every inch of this town, I've got to find him. Come back! Hey, boy, where are you? Where are you, pal? Come here. They're dead. They've been staked. These are made of iron. Not wood, like mine. Someone else is alive in this world. But where are they? Where are they hiding? How many are there? Where did they come from? Why haven't I seen them? This is Robert Morgan. If somebody can hear me, answer me. For God's sake, answer me! This is K-O-K-W calling. Answer me. So you finally decided to come back. Good boy. Oh, no. Don't worry, boy. You're going to be all right. Yes, you are. There now, we've got you all cleaned up. You're gonna feel better. Gonna put you down here now and you can rest. Got you all cleaned up. You know they're out there, don't you? You poor driven thing. Everything's going to be all right. Nobody's going to hurt you. Everything's going to be all right. All right. You're going to get better. We're going to have lots of happy times together. You'll see. Everything's going to be fine. What's the use? I'm not going to hurt you. Can't you understand? Wait! Wait. I'm not going to hurt you. Wait. I couldn't be out here in the daylight if I was one of them. You know that they can't come out until sundown. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to face them? - You feeling better? - Yes. - Would you like a cup of coffee? - Thank you. - You seem very well organised here. - Yeah. My name is Ruth Collins. I was married. I lost my husband. You are alone? - You were married? - Yes. Children? A daughter. What are you doing? Please, stop! Stop it, please! You're making me sick. Why do you turn away? - You are infected. - No. Infected systems are allergic to garlic. - You think I'm one of them. - You will be. You've made up your mind just because I... You can't change the facts by talking. Facts? What facts? That I got sick? I've had a sensitive stomach all my life. I saw my husband killed. Torn to pieces, right in front of our house. I've been wandering ever since. Hiding at night. Not eating more than scraps. Sick with mourning, sick with fear, unable to sleep. Then you shout at me. You chase me across the field, hit me... drag me to this house, and to top it all... when I get sick because you shove a piece of reeking garlic in my face... you tell me I'm infected. - Where are you going? - Let me go. You can't go out there. It's almost sunset. Let me go, I said. In a few minutes the streets will be full of them. - I don't care. - At least let me give you a blood test. Don't touch me. You must be hungry. I'll fix you some dinner. - You know, you should eat. - I can't. - You seem used to them. - As much as anybody could be. I'm not frightened of them anymore, if that's what you mean. I protect myself against them, but only because there are so many. Individually, they're weak. Mentally incompetent, like animals after a long famine. If they weren't... they surely would've found a way of breaking in here a long time ago. Come out, Morgan. Hear that? That's Ben Cortman. - He was my friend. - Your friend? He was like a kid brother. If I could find him and destroy him... But you said he was your friend. When I find him I'll drive a stake through him, just like all the others. But you lived through all this. Do you know why? Perhaps I was chosen. That's a laugh. Or perhaps it's because a long time ago when I worked in Panama... I was bitten in my sleep by a bat. My theory is... that the bat had previously acquired the vampire germ. By the time it entered my blood... it had been strained and weakened by the bat's system. As a result, I have immunity. It's only a guess, but it's all I have to go on. You don't think that I'm immune, do you? It's a simple matter to find out whether you are or not. What will you do if I am infected? Cure me? You don't have to answer. I know as well as you do... it's incurable. There might be a way. If not of killing the germ, at least of containing it, keeping it from spreading. If I had the equipment, the time. Which you don't. You are one of them. I was. And without that injection, I'll be one again. What do you mean? - You found a solution? - That's right. Exactly as you said it could be. I take that for it. What is it? Defibrinated blood, plus vaccine. The blood feeds the germ... the vaccine keeps it isolated... and prevents it from multiplying. We've had it for some time now. We? There are quite a number of us. And I thought you were alone. I was going to cure you. - Does that amuse you? - No. Now, I want the truth. I want all of it. Why are you here? To find out if you know any more than we do. You know far less. We're alive. Infected, yes. But alive. We're going to reorganise society. Do away with those wretched creatures who are neither alive nor dead. Start everything all over again. And you want me to join? You can't join us. You're a monster to them. Why do you think I ran when I saw you? Even though I was assigned to spy on you. Because I was so terrified of what I'd heard about you. You're a legend in the city. Living by day instead of night. Leaving, as evidence of your existence, bloodless corpses. Many of the people you destroyed were still alive. Many of them were loved ones of the people in my group. I didn't know. - Is there any way you can get out of here? - What do you mean? They're coming after you tonight. That's why I was sent here. To prevent you from resisting them. I'm supposed to keep you here until they come. - To kill me? - Yes. Your new society sounds charming. The beginning of any society is never charming or gentle. And you pretended to be shocked at my violence. What are you waiting for? Why don't you go on and use it? Get it over with. Use it. Now you know. What are you going to do? - What are you doing? - It's already done. What? Look. You see? It worked, Ruth. The antibodies in my blood worked. My blood has saved you, Ruth. Do you know what this means? You and I can save all the others. We won't be alone. We'll never be alone again. You are sure? Wait. Don't be afraid. Where are you going? I have to tell them you're not a threat to us. - You can't go out there. - You can save us all. When they come, there won't be time for explanations. They'll come to kill. For God's sake, Robert, let me go. Please. Ruth, look. Tomorrow. Please. Robert. Tomorrow, Ruth. Tomorrow will be all right. Robert, no. - Robert. - Yes, Ruth? - What if this doesn't last? - But it will. I've already checked it under the microscope. Wait, I'll show you. I'll prove it to you. I'll check it again. Ruth, just take a look at this. This'll prove it to you. There's no change. I've double-checked. Get away from her. Ruth, are you all right? Run, Robert! Run! They've come to kill you, Robert. Run! Up there! There he is. Wait, you don't understand. Wait! Get him! Wait! Surround the block. Move! This way. Hey, over here. This way. Cover all sides! Stand back. There he is! In the church! Hold your fire! Freaks! All of you. All of you, freaks. Mutations. Hold it. You're freaks. I am a man. The last man. They were afraid of me. They didn't know. Don't cry. There's nothing to cry about. We're all safe now. All safe. THE END