Movie: Soylent Green (1973)

Director Richard Fleischer and MGM brought Soylent Green to movie theaters in 1973. Solid, steady Charlton Heston anchors the picture, with Leigh Taylor-Young as some pretty "furniture" and Edward G. Robinson as Heston's old-school partner.

Based on the Novel by Harry Harrison

Soylent Green is based on the novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison. The 216-page book, expanded from the Harrison short story "Roommates," was published in 1966 by Doubleday.

Screenplay, Director, Music

Stanley R. Greenberg wrote Soylent Green for MGM. Richard Fleischer, whose previous sci-fi credits included 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Fantastic Voyage (1966), directed with his usual "fantastic" flair. Fred Myrow created the original music score. The soundtrack features selections from Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Grieg.

Soylent Green Cast

Charlton Heston plays Detective Robert Thorn. Other cast members are Leigh Taylor-Young (Shirl), Edward G. Robinson (Sol Roth), Chuck Connors (Tab Fielding), Joseph Cotten (William R. Simonson), Brock Peters (Lt. Hatcher), Paula Kelly (Martha Phillips), Stephen Young (Gilbert), Mike Henry (Sgt. Kulozik), Roy Jenson (Donovan) and Whit Bissell (Governor Santini).

Soylent Green was Edward G. Robinson's final film. Practically deaf, Robinson could not hear Richard Fleischer's direction. The 79-year-old actor died of cancer on January 26, 1973, shortly after filming had been completed.

Filming Locations

Soylent Green was filmed from September 5 to November 3, 1972.

The New York City riot scene was shot at MGM Studios in Culver City, California. Other locales used were the Los Angeles Sports Arena and the sewage disposal plant in El Segundo, California, the latter of which doubled as the Soylent Green factory.

Soylent Green Set in 2022

Soylent Green is set in New York City in the year 2022. The Big Apple, like the rest of the world, is an environmental mess, marked by overcrowding, lack of housing and food shortages.

Addressing the lack of nutritious food is the giant Soylent Corporation, which manufactures a line of processed rations called Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. The firm's latest offering is Soylent Green, which they claim is synthesized from "high-energy plankton."

NYPD detective Robert Thorn, who shares a cramped apartment with his old-school partner Sol Roth, investigates the murder of William R. Simonson, a director at the Soylent Corporation. What Thorn eventually uncovers is a web of government/corporate deception and a terrifying secret regarding Soylent's latest culinary creation.

Release, Reviews

Soylent Green premiered in New York City on April 19, 1973.

"New Yorkers certainly have problems these days -- graffiti, income tax, the Yankees -- but nothing like the horrors due in 2022 as depicted in Soylent Green..." reported A.H. Weiler of The New York Times (4/20/73).

Analysis

Soylent Green, which won both a Nebula and a Golden Scroll Award, represents the very best in science fiction. It's a manic by-product of the era -- the doomsday 1970s -- where concerns of overpopulation and mass starvation were often seriously debated in the media.

Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man) convincingly plays the film's antihero, the underpaid cop who steals from the dead, romances a young prostitute, comforts his dying partner and stumbles upon the cannibalistic secret of Soylent Green.

Chuck Connors -- minus his .44 Winchester from The Rifleman, darn it -- turns in a good performance as the heavy.

DVD

Soylent Green is available on DVD (Warner Home Video, 2003).

"Soylent Green is people!" Thorn tells his chief.

And there it is, the entire crux of the film. Soylent Green wafers are actually PRE's -- People-Ready-to-Eat.

Soylent Green half sheet movie poster

Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Soylent Green

Charlton Heston at the Soylent Green factory

Riot police in New York City, Soylent Green

Chuck Connors, Charlton Heston, Soylent Green

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