Soylent Green

Director: Richard Fleischer, Joe Canutt Richard Fleischer

Overview

This 1973 film, based on the novel by Harry Harrison, won a Nebula Award for "Best Science Fiction Film" and marks the final screen appearance of Edward G. Robinson. It predicts a Malthusian future for the human race; overpopulation has overstressed the food-production capacity of the planet, resulting in desperation at all levels. Detective Thorn (Charlton Heston) shares an extremely tiny "apartment" with retired researcher Soi Roth (Edward G. Robinson). In the overpopulation depicted here, it is impossible to get anywhere without walking over, under, or around someone. Thorn has been hired to investigate the murder of a top industrialist (Joseph Cotton), the man whose company manufactures the life-sustaining wafers called Soylent Green, the only means of survival for the swarming hordes of poor people.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/25/2008
UPC:	0012569799998
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00

Special Features

Commentary by Leigh Taylor-Young and director Richard Fleischer; Vintage featurettes A Look at the World of Soylent Green and MGM's Tribute to Edward G. Robinson's 101st Film; Charlton Heston sci-fi movies essay; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Charlton Heston	Thorn
Edward G. Robinson	Sol Roth
Leigh Taylor-Young	Shirl
Chuck Connors	Tab Fielding
Joseph Cotten	William Simonson
Brock Peters	Hatcher
Paula Kelly	Martha
Stephen Young	Gilbert
Mike Henry	Kulozik
Lincoln Kilpatrick	Priest
Roy Jenson	Donovan
Leonard Stone	Charles
Whit Bissell	Santini
Celia Lovsky	Exchange Leader
Jane Dulo	Mrs. Santini
Dick Van Patten	Usher
Tim Herbert	Brady
John Dennis	Wagner
Jan Bradley	Bandana Woman
Carlos Romero	New Tenant
Pat Houtchens	Fat Guard
Morgan Farley	Book 1
John Barclay	Book 2
Belle Mitchell	Book 3
Cyril Delevanti	Book 4
Forrest Wood	Attendant
Faith Quabius	Attendant
Joyce Williams	Furniture Girl
Beverly Gill	Furniture Girl
Cheri Howell	Furniture Girl
Jennifer King	Furniture Girl
Erica Hagen	Furniture Girl
Suesie Eejima	Furniture Girl
Kathy Silva	Furniture Girl
Marion Charles	Furniture Girl
Fred Myrow	Composer

Technical Credits

Stanley R. Greenberg

Harry Harrison

Richard Fleischer	Director
Stanley R. Greenberg	Screenwriter
Walter Seltzer	Producer
Russell Thacher	Producer
Joe Canutt	Stunts,Director
Robert R. Hoag	Special Effects
Augie Lohman	Special Effects
Matthew Yuricich	Special Effects
Harry Harrison	Screenwriter
Harry W. Tetrick	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Charles M. Wilborn	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Van Allen James	Sound Effects
Fritz Ford	Stunts
A.J. Lohman	Special Effects
Jack Baur	Casting

Editorial Reviews

"Soylent Green is..." no longer much of a surprise since Charlton Heston's climactic line has joined Planet of the Apes' "You maniacs" rant in the oft-quoted annals of Heston overacting. One of a cycle of early-'70s downbeat eco-science fiction films akin to Silent Running (1971) and Heston's The Omega Man (1971), Soylent Green presents Heston as another dystopian savior in a future shock vision that teeters on the fine line between clever and stupid. When not sleeping with dead magnate Joseph Cotten's comely "furniture" Leigh Taylor-Young (apparently feminism went down the drain with the food supply), Heston attempts to solve the mystery of Cotten's murder. The sickly green exterior haze, people sleeping on stairs, and the bulldozers that disturbingly clear riots, however, are enough to tip us off to the insidious secret ingredient in everyone's favorite bio-engineered snack long before Chuck witnesses the "waste" processing plant himself. Still, the opening montage of 20th century decay and Edward G. Robinson's heartfelt performance (in his final film) as a man old enough to know how beautiful and well-fed the earth used to be give moments of emotional heft to Soylent Green's ominous -- and still timely -- message about environmental desecration.