Trivia
The technical consultant for the film was Frank R. Bowerman, who was president of the American Academy for Environmental Protection at the time.
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Spoilers (3)
The scene where Thorn and Roth share a meal of fresh food was not originally in the script, but was ad-libbed by Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson at director Richard Fleischer's request.
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The video game in Simonson's apartment, "Computer Space", was one of the first coin-operated video games, manufactured by Nutting Associates in 1971 and designed by Nolan Bushnell, who later founded Atari and designed "Pong". The video game was painted white for the movie but the original color was either yellow, red or blue.
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The original title of Harry Harrison's book, "Make Room! Make Room!" was changed by the producers, who feared that audiences would confuse it with the Danny Thomas' TV series Make Room for Daddy.
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In very poor health with cancer, Edward G. Robinson was almost totally deaf when he made this movie, and only able to hear anyone if they spoke directly into his ear. Because of this, scenes with him talking to other people had to be shot several times before he got the rhythm of the dialogue and was able to respond to people as if he could really hear them. And because he was unable to hear director Richard Fleischer yell "cut" when a scene went wrong, Robinson would often continue acting out the scene, unaware that shooting had stopped seconds earlier.
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The word "Soylent" is a holdover from the Harry Harrison novel "Make Room! Make Room!" upon which this film is based. In the novel, the word is supposed to suggest soybeans and lentils.
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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.
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Among the buildings in the matte "skyline" in the background of the early scene where Gilbert crosses the drainage ditch, one can see the Marina City towers (Chicago) and the Transamerica Pyramid (San Francisco).
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The last film shot at MGM Studios backlot on Overland Blvd. and Culver Blvd. in Culver City, California. The lot was razed in 1973 to make room for an assisted living community and condominiums.
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A small, green spirulina-based cracker called "Soylent Green" (officially licensed by MGM) was released in July, 2011. The box does not use any images or characters from the film, but rather attempts (humorously) to be an actual product. The ingredients list does not list "people."
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This film's opening prologue states: "The Year: 2022. The Place: New York City. The Population: 40,000,000".
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Spoilers
When Thorn discovers that he is too late to stop Sol's suicide, he begins to cry. According to a 1997 interview with Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies, Charlton Heston was really crying because he was so moved by Edward G. Robinson's performance. Robinson knew he was dying from cancer and kept it from the cast and crew. He knew this would be his last film, and his death scene was the last scene he ever filmed. He died just ten days after shooting wrapped.
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The music which played when Edward G. Robinson was "going home": - The overture was the principal theme from the first movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, the "Pathetique." - When the visual presentation starts, the music is the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Symphony #6 (The Pastoral)". - When the flock of sheep appear, the music is "Morning" from Edvard Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite #1". - At the end of the presentation is "Asas Death", also from the "Peer Gynt Suite".
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The movie's line "Soylent Green is people!" was voted as the #77 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
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