The Last Date is a Scare 'Em Straight driver's education movie released in 1950, warning young drivers about the dangers of reckless driving and the death and destruction said behavior can cause. A secondary lesson focuses on making good choices, including a choice of date.
The movie centers on Jeanne, a popular but shy high school junior who is writing her cousin and recalling a tragic car accident she was recently involved in. In flashback, she explains that she had been dating a nice young man named Larry but found him dull. She is drawn to bad boy Nick, a popular jock and hot-rodder. Nick is very popular with his hot rod, which was reportedly clocked at more than triple the speed limit (of 55 mph). Despite his reputation, she goes with him anyway. (In contrast, Larry is a good driver, obeying the speed limit and all traffic laws.)
During the homecoming dance, Nick – who was the star of the football game played earlier in the day – coaxes Jeanne to go with him for a drive. Despite again having severe reservations – she described an earlier ride in his car as "terrifying," and there were warnings from other girls that he was bad news – she goes anyway.
Nick flagarantly disobeys all traffic laws and trying to set a new speed record with his hot rod on the dark, narrow roads. Jeanne tearfully begs Nick to slow down and at one point even pull over and let her walk home, but when he refuses she realizes she's now simply along for the ride and can only hope ... .
In the end, her decision to go with Nick is one she'll regret. Nick ignores Jeanne's plea to not pass a slow-moving truck on a narrow curve, and – at a speed of at least 100 mph – crashes head-on into an oncoming car. Nick and all occupants of the other car are killed (presumably instantly), while Jeanne is heard crying out ("My face!").
Wrapping up the letter, Jeanne says she now regrets having ever associated with Nick and – because of her bad choice – her face is so disfigured from the accident she'll never go out on a date again, wailing, "I've had my last date!" She then walks up to a mirror, looks at it, begins to cry and throws a comb at it, breaking the mirror.
Throughout the film, a local disc jockey, apparently popular with the local teens, reminds them about safe driving and not to engage in "teenicide" – the fine art of killing yourself, and maybe someone else, before you reach the age of 20. You do it with an automobile." Larry has taken the public service announcement to heart, but Nick ... well ... .
The Last Date was one in a number of short films about teenagers starring handsome young actor Dick York (the kid who played Nick). Yes, the man that later married a pretty witch and put up with her mother for five years on a popular ABC situation comedy of the mid-to-late 1960s. A popular driver's education film for many years, the movie continued to be shown in schools even after York left Bewitched in 1969.
The Last Date provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Jeanne shuns nice-boy Larry for hot-rodder Nick.
- Broken Tears: At the end, when Jeanne sees her disfigured face in the mirror and is so horrified she throws a brush at it before collapsing into deep sobs.
- Drives Like Crazy: Nick gains adrenaline from driving far above the speed limit ... and it's a habit that will eventually kill him.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Jeanne's disfigured face is never shown; she only cries out, "My face!" How hideously ugly she's become is left to the imagination of the viewer.
- Jerkass: Nick. Even when not behind the wheel, he shows signs of this, but try to tell him to stop driving with reckless abandon and he'll just gain more adrenaline and will to break every traffic law on the books. (It’s as if he gets a rush terrorizing his female classmates by his deliberate reckless driving.) Additionally, he brags about one day hoping to "own" Jeanne, as though she were a trophy or some kind of possession.
- Mark of Shame: For Jeanne, her disfigured face after the accident.
- My God, What Have I Done? and My Greatest Failure: Jeanne admitting she should never have gone for a ride with Nick, especially given his reputation.
- Public Service Announcement: A popular local disc jockey's message to young drivers, urging them to obey all rules of the road all the time: "Teenicide is the the fine art of killing yourself – and maybe someone else – before you reach the age of 20. You do it with an automobile."
- Safe Driving Aesop: The "teenicide" PSAs, which Larry takes to heart and Nick scoffs at.
- Teens Are Monsters: Nick is a "bad boy" hot-rodder straight out of the late-1940s/early-1950s stereotype.
