The Last Man On Earth (1964 Film) - Production

Production

Rights to Matheson's novel had been bought by producer Anthony Hinds for Hammer Productions. Matheson wrote a script but the British censors would not allow its production so Hinds sold the script to Robert Lippert. Lippert originally told Matheson that Fritz Lang was to direct but eventually Sidney Salkow was chosen. To save money the film was shot in Italy with a predominantly Italian cast and crew.

There are differences between the film and the novel in which it's based. The protagonist of the novel is named Robert Neville, not Robert Morgan. The movie also changed the protagonist's profession from plant worker to scientist. The film's vampires are almost zombie-like, whereas in the book, they are fast, capable of running and climbing. The dog that shows up on Neville's doorstep is timid in the novel, and comes and goes as it pleases. The relationship with Ruth also slightly differs from the novel, and no transfusion takes place; a cure seems implausible, even as Neville hopes he will find one. Ruth escapes after Neville discovers that she is infected. He is not captured until many months later, and even then he barely fights. The book ends shortly before Neville is to be executed: Ruth returns to give him suicide pills, and finds it ironic that he has become as much of a legend to the new society as vampires once were to his (hence the title). The novel implies that the vampire plague resulted from a biological disease. The origin of the disease is not explained in The Last Man on Earth, and is altered in the subsequent adaptations.