The Final Programme was a 1973 British comedy-thriller film directed by Robert Fuest, and starring Jon Finch and Jenny Runacre. It was based on the first Jerry Cornelius novel (also called The Final Programme) by Michael Moorcock. It was distributed in the United States and elsewhere as The Last Days of Man on Earth.
Plot synopsis
The story starts with the burial of Jerry Cornelius's father, a Nobel-prize-winning scientist who has developed the "Final Programme"—a design for a perfect, self-replicating human being.
A group of scientists including Dr. Smiles and the formidable Miss Brunner (who consumes her lovers) try to persuade Cornelius to locate the microfilm containing his father's Final Programme, which is believed to be hidden somewhere in a family-owned house.
Things are further complicated by the apparent disappearance of Cornelius's sister, Catherine; the activities of his evil brother, Frank; and the involvement of other characters such as his old friend "Shades", and "Little Miss Dazzle", originally a singer.
The attack on the old house commences, with many traps to be breached, until Jerry finally confronts Frank, and a fight ensues. In the process, Catherine is killed, Jerry wounded, and Frank falls into the hands of Miss Brunner. She encourages him to open the vaults, but he outsmarts her, and gets away.
After Jerry recuperates, he again meets Miss Brunner, who introduces him to her new friend, Jenny. They plot to go and find Frank but in the meantime, Jenny is consumed by Miss Brunner. When they find Frank, another fight ensues, and this time Frank is killed and Miss Brunner takes Cornelius and the microfilm to Lapland, "Daddy's summer resort".
There, the scientists put the Final Programme into operation, in a process that involves combining Cornelius with Miss Brunner. The result of the experiment is supposedly a new Messiah, but is actually a rather dumpy looking caveman.
Cast
The author's verdict
Reputedly, Michael Moorcock was highly disappointed by this film because of its many plots, unrelated to the book, and the final image of the "all-purpose human being" portrayed as a joke caveman instead of the novel's beautiful if vapid hermaphrodite.
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