The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, is the second film version based on the “I Am Legend” novel by Richard Matheson.
The first was the 1961, The Last Man on Earth, featuring Vincent Price, battling vampires with wooden stakes.
Grade: B- (**1/2* out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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A third adaptation, titled I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was released in 2007.
This version was more popular than the Vincent Price movie, which was made in Italy.
The premise:
The City of Los Angeles and its only human survivor are under siege by a whole race of zombies as a result of apocalyptic germ warfare.
The setting:
In March 1975, the Chinese-Soviet conflict escalates into full-scale war in which biological warfare destroys most of the human race.
Struggling to maintain his sanity, Neville is patrolling the now-desolate city, hunting and killing members of “the Family,” a cult of plague victims thar had turned into nocturnal albino mutants.
When “the Family” finally captures Neville, he is found guilty of heresy by their leader Jonathan Matthias (Anthony Zerbe), a former news anchorman. Sentenced to death, he is nearly burned at the stake (in Dodger Stadium).
But he’s rescued by Lisa, the woman he had earlier dismissed as hallucination, and Dutch, a former medical student. Lisa and Dutch are part of a group of survivors, some of whom are children.
Heston is well cast, rendering a more creditable (and square) performance than Vincent Price did.
The kiss between the characters played by Heston and Rosalind Cash was one of the first interracial kisses to appear in a movie. It was an improvement over the interracial romance seen in the 1968 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, in which the couple embrace and kiss (but not in the mouth).
At the time of initial release, reviewers complained about credibility gaps in the narrative, the primitive look of the mutants, the phony and florid climax, and so on. As a result of the mixed critical response, the movie was only a moderate success at the box-office.
Yet over the years, The Omega Man has developed a cult following, as a result of repeat viewings on TCM and other venues.
Director Tim Burton said in 2009 that, “If I was alone on desert island, I’d probably pick something that I could relate to—probably The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I don’t know why that is one of my favorite movies, but it is.”
Credits:
Directed by Boris Sagal
Produced by Walter Seltzer
Screenplay by John William Corrington and Joyce H. Corrington, based on the novel, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Music by Ron Grainer
Cinematography Russell Metty
Edited by William H. Ziegler
Production company: Walter Seltzer Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date: August 1, 1971
Running time: 98 minutes
Cast
Charlton Heston as Robert Neville
Anthony Zerbe as Jonathan Matthias
Rosalind Cash as Lisa
Paul Koslo as Dutch
Eric Laneuville as Richie
Lincoln Kilpatrick as Zachary
Brian Tochi as Tommy
