Soylent Green (1973)

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Stanley R. Greenberg (screenplay)
Harry Harrison (novel)

Release Date:

9 May 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

What is the secret of Soylent Green?

Plot:

In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.

Plot Keywords:

Food | New York City | Murder | Police | Starving

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	Detective Thorn
Leigh Taylor-Young	...	Shirl
Chuck Connors	...	Tab Fielding
Joseph Cotten	...	William R. Simonson
Brock Peters	...	Chief Hatcher
Paula Kelly	...	Martha
Edward G. Robinson	...	Sol Roth
Stephen Young	...	Gilbert
Mike Henry	...	Kulozik
Lincoln Kilpatrick	...	The Priest
Roy Jenson	...	Donovan
Leonard Stone	...	Charles
Whit Bissell	...	Gov. Santini
Celia Lovsky	...	The Exchange Leader
Dick Van Patten	...	Usher #1
Morgan Farley	...	Book #1
John Barclay	...	Book #2
Belle Mitchell	...	Book #3
Cyril Delevanti	...	Book #4
Forrest Wood	...	Attendant
Faith Quabius	...	Attendant
Jane Dulo	...	Mrs. Santini
Tim Herbert	...	Brady
John Dennis	...	Wagner
Jan Bradley	...	Bandana Woman
Carlos Romero	...	New Tenant
Pat Houtchens	...	Fat Guard
Joyce Williams	...	The Furniture Girls
Erica Hagen	...	The Furniture Girls
Beverly Gill	...	The Furniture Girls
Suesie Eejima	...	The Furniture Girls
Cheri Howell	...	The Furniture Girls
Kathy Silva	...	The Furniture Girls
Jennifer King	...	The Furniture Girls
Marion Charles	...	The Furniture Girls
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Ito	...	Shoe Seller (uncredited)
Ida Mae McKenzie	...	Woman Calling for Revolution (uncredited)
Richard Sterne	...	TV Announcer (uncredited)
Jeff Winkless	...	Suicide Parlor Attendant (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Fleischer

Writing credits
Stanley R. Greenberg		(screenplay)
Harry Harrison		(novel "Make Room! Make Room!")

Produced by
Walter Seltzer	....	producer
Russell Thacher	....	producer

Original Music by
Fred Myrow

Cinematography by
Richard H. Kline		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Samuel E. Beetley

Casting by
Jack Baur

Art Direction by
Edward C. Carfagno

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)

Costume Design by
Pat Barto

Makeup Department
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist
Sherry Wilson	....	hair styles

Production Management
Lloyd Anderson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gene Marum	....	second assistant director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director (as Daniel S. McCauley)

Art Department
Terry Ballard	....	property master

Sound Department
Harry W. Tetrick	....	sound
Charles M. Wilborn	....	sound
Van Allen James	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Robert R. Hoag	....	special photographic effects
Augie Lohman	....	special visual effects (as A. J. Lohman)
Matthew Yuricich	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Denny Arnold	....	stunts (uncredited)
May Boss	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunt double: Charlton Heston (uncredited)
Larry Duran	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stephanie Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tony Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fritz Ford	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ralph Garrett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Herron	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kim Kahana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Orsatti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Paul	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Warlock	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ted White	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Norman A. Burza	....	costumer (as Norman Burza)
Betsy Cox	....	costumer

Music Department
Gerald Fried	....	conductor: symphony music

Other crew
Frank R. Bowerman	....	technical consultant: Director of Environmental Engineering Programs, University of Southern California & President, American Academy of Environmental Engineers (as Professor Frank R. Bowerman)
Joe Canutt	....	action sequence coordinator
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Glenn Shahan	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presented by) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM-EMI (1973) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1974) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1975) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MGM/CBS Home Video (1981) (USA) (video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Turner Classic Movies (TCM) (2008) (USA) (TV)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (????) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1985) (Greece) (VHS)
• Vídeo Arte (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)

Other Companies

• Braverman Productions  special photographic sequences
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)  this picture made under the jurisdiction of (as I.A.T.S.E.)
• MGM Home Entertainment  VHS package design
• Magnum  prologue photos

Also Known As:

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG | Finland:K-18 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:16 | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | France:U | UK:15 (DVD rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:16 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles Sports Arena - 3939 S. Figueroa Street, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

All of the dialogue for actor Mike Henry ("Sgt. Kulozik") was dubbed. The actor's slight Southern drawl did not fit in with the New York cop character he was playing.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Thorne is talking to Sol in the "suicide facility", at one point the inter-phone starts malfunctioning and the "speaking permitted" light starts to blink. If you look at the cable coming out from the lower-left corner of the device, you'll notice that they are obviously alternating two still frames to achieve the blinking effect, as it jumps erratically from one position to another.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice over PA:First stage removal. First stage removal. Streets prohibited to non-permits in one hour. Streets prohibited to non-permits in one hour.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Angel: Carpe Noctem (#3.4)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Peer Gynt Suite No.1, Op.46: I. 'Morning'

A Sci-Fi Film that Has not Aged

In 2022, Earth is overpopulated and totally polluted; the natural resources have exhaust and the nourishment of the population is supplied by the Soylent Industries, a food made by plankton from the oceans. In New York, when the Soylent's member of the board William R. Simonson (Joseph Cotton) is murdered apparently by a burglar at the Chelsea Towers West where he lives, the efficient Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) is assigned to investigate the case with his partner Solomon "Sol" Roth (Edward G. Robinson).

Thorn comes to the fancy apartment and meets Simonson's bodyguard Tab Fielding (Chuck Connors) and the "furniture" (woman that is rented together with the flat) Shirl (Leigh Taylor-Young) and the detective concludes that the executive was not victim of burglary but executed. Further, he finds that the Governor Santini (Whit Bissell) and other powerful men want to disrupt and end his investigation. But Thorn continues his work and discovers that the oceans have exhausted and the bizarre and disturbing secret of the ingredient used to manufacture Soylent Green.

"Soylent Green" is one of the best sci-fi ever made and a film that has not aged. On the contrary, when I saw it in the movie theater in 1973, it was another good film with catastrophic view of the future. Along the years, I have seen this film on VHS at least four more times and every time that I see it, I find it better and better. In Brazil, this film has not been released on DVD or Blu-ray, only in the movie-theater in 1973 and on a rare VHS with the title "No Mundo de 2020" (translation: "In the World of 2020", despite the story takes place in 2022) and I have just bought the imported Blu-Ray and saw it again.

It is impressive how the writer Harry Harrison was capable to foresee the future in 1966 with pollution, overpopulation and menace of exhaustion of the natural resources and write his novel "Make Room! Make Room!". In those years, the concept of ecology did not exist, at least the same way in the present days. The grim view of the cannibalism to fee the population introduced by Stanley R. Greenberg in the screenplay fortunately has not been achieved yet.

"Soylent Green" is also the film number 101 in the career of the unforgettable actor Edward G. Robinson that was with cancer and almost deaf during the shooting and died two weeks after the conclusion of this film. The Blu-Ray has in the extras a tribute to this great actor. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "No Mundo de 2020" ("In the World of 2020")