This is a fine film that nonetheless highlights the limitations of cinema versus theater. It brings to mind THE DUTCHMAN which I was surprised to find was done as a film adaption before Leroi Jones became Amiri Baraka. The opening scenes are indeed stunning and brilliant and do credit to the professional craft of Harold J. Marzorati. As in the original THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, all the howlers and logical inconsistencies are there, but this does little injury to the novel concept of Adam and Eve finding each other in a dystopian Garden of Eden.
Because there are no rotting bodies or other evidences of radiation produced consequences, this feels like a stage play set up by aliens to observe humans recently acquired for their Intergalactic Zoo as they work their way through a well simulated scenario of the End of the World. A great idea to introduce prime human physical specimens into. So we eagerly await the encounters between Inger Stevens as Sarah Crandall and Harry Belafonte as Ralph Burton to see what fireworks will commence.
Naturally, the aliens will be taking notes for their Encyclopedia Galactica and their Catalogue of Interplanetary Species available for a limited time only and on sale. The problem is it's as though the principals involved somehow sense that they are being watched and their reactions, especially on Belafonte's part, feel forced and less spontaneous than one would imagine between an attractive male and an attractive woman. The scene where Ralph Burton can barely bring himself to cut Sarah Crandall's hair is a case in point.
While I did not expect them to rush each other a la SWEET SWEETBACK'S BADASS SONG, I was expecting a little more romance between the two; and perhaps a walk through the ruins of New York to visit the local library, museum and church or even night club, hospital and cemetery to further extend the theme of Metropolitan devastation introduced by director Ranald MacDougall and his cinematographer Marzorati. This would have been visually more interesting and allowed for flashbacks of a prior life to give background and depth to their characters. As it is, we actually find out little about Sarah Crandall and Ralph Burton in terms of their personal histories with friends and families, etc. That's really a shame as there was so much to work with here.
The bias in film of course is to accent the visual over the verbal, but here it appears that neither the visual or the verbal is much exploited past the novelty of placing a black man and a white woman in a playhouse as large as a city and then seeing how they adapt to this strange environment. This is neither 'NAKED AND AFRAID' or ' DINNER WITH THE LAST MAN AND WOMAN ON EARTH' and either route would have made for more compelling watching either on the voyeuristic plane or the emotional and intellectual plane. It would have been interesting to see the two compare cultural perspectives and even vent angst about competing cultural aspirations with a little bit more than irritated frustration and resentment.
All this being said, and taking into account the racist and sexist atmosphere of the times in which this film was made, it still succeeds largely on it's own merits. I just think it would have been interesting to have both Sarah Crandall and Ralph Burton see a little bit more of The World, both singly and together, show a little bit more of The Flesh they were so stoically keeping from getting all worked up over, and for Mel Ferrer's arrival as The Devil to be a lot more devilish before he calls his gang in to separate Sarah Crandall from Ralph Burton forever as they attempt to take over the city for themselves.
Just my idea of how matters could have developed and progressed through a full blown catharsis to an electrifying end. The musical score by Miklos Roza and hearing Belafonte sing are also undeniable features of interest.
Because there are no rotting bodies or other evidences of radiation produced consequences, this feels like a stage play set up by aliens to observe humans recently acquired for their Intergalactic Zoo as they work their way through a well simulated scenario of the End of the World. A great idea to introduce prime human physical specimens into. So we eagerly await the encounters between Inger Stevens as Sarah Crandall and Harry Belafonte as Ralph Burton to see what fireworks will commence.
Naturally, the aliens will be taking notes for their Encyclopedia Galactica and their Catalogue of Interplanetary Species available for a limited time only and on sale. The problem is it's as though the principals involved somehow sense that they are being watched and their reactions, especially on Belafonte's part, feel forced and less spontaneous than one would imagine between an attractive male and an attractive woman. The scene where Ralph Burton can barely bring himself to cut Sarah Crandall's hair is a case in point.
While I did not expect them to rush each other a la SWEET SWEETBACK'S BADASS SONG, I was expecting a little more romance between the two; and perhaps a walk through the ruins of New York to visit the local library, museum and church or even night club, hospital and cemetery to further extend the theme of Metropolitan devastation introduced by director Ranald MacDougall and his cinematographer Marzorati. This would have been visually more interesting and allowed for flashbacks of a prior life to give background and depth to their characters. As it is, we actually find out little about Sarah Crandall and Ralph Burton in terms of their personal histories with friends and families, etc. That's really a shame as there was so much to work with here.
The bias in film of course is to accent the visual over the verbal, but here it appears that neither the visual or the verbal is much exploited past the novelty of placing a black man and a white woman in a playhouse as large as a city and then seeing how they adapt to this strange environment. This is neither 'NAKED AND AFRAID' or ' DINNER WITH THE LAST MAN AND WOMAN ON EARTH' and either route would have made for more compelling watching either on the voyeuristic plane or the emotional and intellectual plane. It would have been interesting to see the two compare cultural perspectives and even vent angst about competing cultural aspirations with a little bit more than irritated frustration and resentment.
All this being said, and taking into account the racist and sexist atmosphere of the times in which this film was made, it still succeeds largely on it's own merits. I just think it would have been interesting to have both Sarah Crandall and Ralph Burton see a little bit more of The World, both singly and together, show a little bit more of The Flesh they were so stoically keeping from getting all worked up over, and for Mel Ferrer's arrival as The Devil to be a lot more devilish before he calls his gang in to separate Sarah Crandall from Ralph Burton forever as they attempt to take over the city for themselves.
Just my idea of how matters could have developed and progressed through a full blown catharsis to an electrifying end. The musical score by Miklos Roza and hearing Belafonte sing are also undeniable features of interest.