A 53 Year Old Movie: "Soylent Green" (1973)

 

I had never seen this 1973 sci-fi classic, but like many people, I did know what the punch line to the movie was, but I will give no spoilers here, not even for a fifty-three year old movie.  I recorded it off of TCM the other day and watched it over the weekend.

The movie takes place in "the future", when the world has been over populated (New York City alone has a population of 50 million people) and the entire world is an environmental disaster.  There is no food, no shelter, and people have devolved into savages.  Oh, and the future year in which this dystopian disaster has befallen: 2022!!

Charleston Heston in full lock-jawed intensity plays a NYC cop who is trying to solve the homicide of the Chairman of the Soylent Corporation, the firm that provides the world's only food source.  That product, Soylent, comes in many colors, but its newest product, "soylent green", made from sea plankton, is the best of the lot, but it is still severely rationed and its scarcity is causing riots among the population.  It is a very grim world, this world of 2022.

Actually, director, Richard Fleischer does a great job in painting the picture of this dystopian (yeah, I've now used this world twice, but it is such a cool word to use) landscape.  For that reason, this is a pretty neat movie to watch.  Another reason to watch is the cast.  In addition to Heston, it included.....

Edward G. Robinson.  Robinson was eighty years old and suffering from cancer when he made this final film appearance.  He died shortly after the movie wrapped up filming.  Heston later said that being able to act "with Eddie" made this movie one of the most special of his career.  Robinson's presence alone may make this worth watching.

Leigh Taylor-Young.  Miss Taylor-Young was all of 28 years old when she made this movie.  She appeared in television's Peyton Place (she replaced Mia Farrow). married co-star Ryan O'Neal, and was quite the thing in the early 1970's.  She was quite beautiful, but I had long since forgotten her.  She is now 81 years old, lives in Washington DC, and has worked regularly right through 2024.  Good for her.

Joseph Cotten, was 68 years old when he made this one and his role was brief.  He was the Soylent Chairman who got bumped off early in the picture.

Chuck Connors.  Television's Rifleman and ex-Brooklyn Dodger and ex-Boston Celtic was 52 years old when he made this.  Connors was only 71 when he died in 1992, and he had amassed 221 acting credits in a career that lasted right up until the year of his death.

Whit Bissell.  Was there ever a character actor with a better name than "Whit Bissell"?  Bissell died in 1996 at the age of 86 and had an astonishing 349 acting credits to his name in IMDB.  As I often say, Stars are Stars, but you can't make movies without guys like Whit Bissell.

Other notable actors that appeared in "Soylent Green" were Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, Dick Van Patten, and ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Henry.

"Soylent Green" was a 1970's era Message Movie, and while it may have been ham-handed in some aspects of delivering that message, it was still fun to watch.  Again, I'm not going to give away the ending, but if someone offers you a tasty snack of soylent green, you might want to take a pass on it.

Surprisingly, Three Stars from The Grandstander.

More World Cup Comments

Allow me to follow up on THIS POST from June 26 as the 2026 FIFA World CUP heads into the quarterfinals round.

The Round of 16 matches were completed last night, and seven of the eight matches were tightly contested and tremendously exciting to watch.

• France defeats Paraguay 1-0 on a penalty kick goal by Kylian Mbappe
• Morocco defeats Canada 3-0
• Spain defeats Portugal 1-0 on a goal in stoppage time
• Norway defeats Brazil 2-1 with both goals being scored by Erling Haaland, and the "Viking Row" becomes the signature fans event of the tournament
• England 3 - Mexico 2 at Aztec Stadium, where the Mexican National Team never loses.  The English scoring came from stars Jude Bellingham with two goals and Harry Kane with a penalty kick.  There was ten minutes of stoppage time in this one, and the furious attacks by Mexico and the defense by England in those extra minutes was beyond exciting
• Switzerland and Colombia finished 0-0, and the match was won by the Swiss on penalty kicks
• And in perhaps the best match of this round, Argentina 3 - Egypt 2.  Egypt scored at 15' and 67' to hold a 2-0 lead.  It looked like the defending champions, and their great star, Lionel Messi, who had actually had a penalty kick blocked early in the match, were on the ropes and were about to be sent home.  Then Cristian Romero of Argentina scores at 79' and the Giant was awoken.  The game was then tied at 83' on an impossible goal by who else but Messi, and Enzo Fernandez then scored two minutes into stoppage time.  It was an almost indescribable match to watch.

Then there was the one game that was not so great:  Belgium 4 - USA 1.

We all know the backstory on this one. The suspension of American player Folarin Balogun because of a red card he was given in the previous match was reversed after the American President made a phone call to FIFA prexy Gianni Infantino asking that the red card and suspension of Balogun be "reviewed".   I had been wondering for months leading up to the World Cup, and I am sure that I was not alone, just what the American President was going to do to insert his grubby presence into the event and embarrass the country yet again in the eyes of the world.  He didn't let us down. By making yet another event into something about himself, the President managed to make the USMNT, which had been celebrated and almost heroic in their performance up to this point, into villains and a team that the whole world then began to root against.  All the good will generated by America and Americans leading up to this point evaporated thanks to the 47th President.

Belgium, motivated beyond measure by the this chain of events, proceeded to swamp the USA 4-1, and the match wasn't even THAT close.  Belgium is undoubtedly a better team, and would no doubt have won this match anyway, but thanks to the interference of the American President and the shady machinations of FIFA, they turned into a steamroller and the USA never had a chance.

Had the US won this game, it would have been seen as tainted in the eyes of the world, and the team's victory would have carried an orange asterisk next to it that would never have been erased.  Oh, and if the USA  had won, guess who would have taken credit for it?  At least that travesty has been avoided

I loved the Belgian's team response of "Overturn This" to FIFA after the match and their mocking victory dance to "YMCA". 

So, after twenty-seven consecutive days of soccer, the World Cup takes a one day break before the quarterfinals begin tomorrow.  I have reproduced the bracket at the top of this post.  The betting favorites, per Fan Duel, are France, Spain, England, and Argentina.  Each match will no doubt be tense and exciting, and each will probably be decided by one goal.  At least one of them will probably go into extra time, and maybe even have to be decided by penalty kicks.  

If any match does not go according to chalk, I think that it will be the one between England and Norway.  I look forward the Harry Kane and Erling Haaland matchup.

My prediction is that this will produce a final four (my apologies to the NCAA for using this trademarked term, which is why used lower case F's) that will lead to a Championship matchup between France and Argentina, just like four years ago.

Some of the Stars that will be on display over the next three days:

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland. Kylian Mbappe

Harry Kane, Lamin Yamal

On The Occasion Of Our 250th Birthday

The Grandstander is going to take a break from the Fun & Games of Life upon which he usually opines and turn serious and introspective for a moment.  He'll be back for his usual nonsense soon.  Please bear with me.

In the days leading up to July 4, 2026, our Semi-Quincentennial, as it is officially categorized, I found myself looking back to fifty years ago when we celebrated the nation's Bicentennial.  I was 24 years old at the time, and I certainly remember all of the hoopla that surrounded the event.  Remember the "Bicentennial Minute" that aired every night on national television for two years leading up the July 4, 1976?  I do.  It was a happy and a joyous occasion.  Gerald Ford was the President of the United States at the time.  The circumstances of how Jerry Ford became our 38th President were in fact a testimony to our system of government and our Constitution. 

I found myself thinking of President Ford over these past several days, and I honestly had no memory of him as it related to the events surrounding the Bicentennial celebrations. I figured that he no doubt made a Presidential speech somewhere to celebrate the occasion, but I know that he did not make the occasion all about himself.  Didn't demand, say, that the government issue celebratory currency with his likeness upon it.

President Ford speaks in Philadelphia

July 4, 1976

Well, the internet which didn't exist in 1976, made it very easy to learn about what the President did that day.  He traveled to Philadelphia and stood before Independence Hall where he delivered THIS SPEECH to the American people.  The speech lasted for all of eighteen minutes.  At no point did the President talk about himself or make any mention of his immediate predecessors, or of any other contemporary government figures.  At no point did he talk about Jerry Ford. He even made it a point, as he began his remarks, to thank Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp and Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, neither of whom were of the same political party as Ford, for their hospitality in extending to him the invitation to speak in Philadelphia.

I urge you to click on the link above and take the eighteen minutes to listen to Ford's remarks of July 4, 1976.  I have only read about the comments made in a 75 minute speech last night by the 47th President, but I am confident in saying that America would have been better served had the national news outlets simply replayed President Ford's speech from fifty years ago.

World Cup 2026 Comments

Before I start, a comment about last night's USA 3-2 loss to Turkiye.  Both the US position in the group (first place) and their slotting in Knockout round of 32 were known so the game meant nothing to the USA, win, lose, or draw.  And that's how they played it.  They rested guys to avoid injuries and for reasons involving yellow cards (which I think I understand, but am not totally sure about), and only played their best player, Christian Pulisic, for thirty minutes, and as a substitute at that.  It looked like the match was destined to be a draw, but then Turkiye scored, literally, on the last play in seven minutes of stoppage time.  Seemed like a devastating way to lose a game to me.  I only hope that this loss doesn't rob the USMNT of the momentum that was built up over their two earlier wins in group play.

Now for the what I really wanted to write today.

Over the past fifteen days I have found myself enjoying this FIFA World Cup Tournament more that I ever anticipated.  Let me spell it out in bullet point form.

WHAT I HAVE LIKE ABOUT 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP

• The Stars.  Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, among others, have delivered beyond imagining.  Messi has all five of Argentina's goals, including a hat trick in the first game.  He established the all time record for career goals scored in World Cup play with 18. Mbappe, with four goals now stands at 14 career goals will surely pass Messi someday, possibly even this year depending on how the tournament plays out.
• The Coverage.  There have been anywhere from three to six games to watch on television everyday for the last two weeks.  You could - and I often have - been watching World Cup matches on any given day from 1:00 in the afternoon to midnight.
• The Announcers. Many if not most of the play-by-play announcers have been British, and, all due respect to the Jim Nantzes, Ian Eagles, Al Michaels', and Joe Bucks of the USA, no one can turn a phrase like the Brits.  Maybe it's the accents. Example:  One announcer, when chiding some player's somewhat relaxed style of play said that "he needs to put down his brandy and cigar and start playing some proper football."  Pitt needs to hire that guy to replace Bill Hillgrove.
• The Pagentry.  The packed stadiums, the way the teams march on to the field before the matches, the flags and the anthems.  Can't be beat.
• The Game Itself.  By watching so many games in such a concentrated period of time, I have come to appreciate its  nuances. Like how the defenders play. Like many Americans, I would always say "why don't they score more...why don't they shoot more....why don't they even try to score?", and I have come to learn that the reason for all that is that they CAN'T shoot or score more and it is because of the defensive play of these elite teams.   
• Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Fox Studio hosts.
• The Fans From Other Countries. The Tartan Army from Scotland who completely overtook Boston with their marching and bagpipes, literally drinking Boston taverns dry, and taking over Fenway Park at a Red Sox game and singing in unison for the entire nine innings.  The Norwegians and their "Viking Row".  The thousands of people from countries that you, or at least I, would never have expected to travel to North America to attend these matches.  The singing and the organized cheering throughout the matches.  I heard some guy on a national radio sports show say that when you witness this, you realize that we in America just don't know how to be fans.  He might be right.
• The News Reports About The Visitors.  Social media has been awash with stories and reels about how wonderfully all of these folks from other countries have been received here in America.  The hospitality and kindness of the Americans.  And how the visitors have been in awe of things like American fast food restaurants, Buc-ee's stores, and, of all things, ranch salad dressing.  I was afraid that the current leadership of America would somehow manage to suck all of the joy out of hosting this global event, but, happily, it hasn't happened.  At least not yet.
• A Look at the Stars:

Messi

Mbappe

USMNT

Haaland

WHAT I HAVE NOT LIKED ABOUT THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP

• Alexi Lalas as a Fox Studio host.  I made comment in Facebook that pairing Lalas with Henry and Zlatan would be like doing a documentary on the New York Yankees and having it hosted by Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Phil Linz.  The guy is a total putz.
• The general stink of greed, graft, and corruption that surrounds anything associated with FIFA.  Example:  Corporate names of American stadiums are verboten, so SoFi Stadium and MetLife Stadium have now become "Los Angeles Stadium" and "New York-New Jersey Stadium", and so on.  That's okay on the face of it, yet, the pitches themselves on which the matches are played are surrounded by electronic ad boards that run constantly throughout the match hawking some corporate sponsor or another.  Also, have you noticed that when a player of coach is interviewed after a match, they stand in front of a backdrop that is plastered with forty of fifty corporate logos.  Not even the International Olympic Committee, which is pretty shady itself, allows that.
• Alexi Lalas.
• Speaking of the FIFA punjabs, the TV cameras caught a shot of FIFA major domo Gianni Infantino and some of his henchmen during one of the recent matches:

• Doesn't it look like they're having a great time?  Probably wondering about what country or government they're going to shake down next.  As my old buddy, the late great Chuck Spatafore would have put it, they look like the Nuremberg Jury.
• Oh, and did I mention Alexi Lalas?

Okay, big match today involving France and Mbappe versus Norway and Haaland.  Can't wait for that.  Group play ends tomorrow and the Knockout Rounds begin with one match on Sunday followed by five straight days with three matches each that will whittle the field down to sixteen teams.

Keep on enjoying the futbol, everyone!

A Vacation Ten Miles From Home

Intriguing headline headline is it not?  

Some background.

On Wednesday, June 10, a longstanding friend of Linda's was getting married.  A wedding is a private affair between the husband and wife, so I'm not going to mention any names, but the backstory for this one could have been a Nora Ephron screenplay.  To wit:

• The bride and groom were each other's date for their high school senior prom in 1970!
• As often happens, life took them their separate ways, they married, had children and grandchildren, and, sadly, lost their spouses after long and loving marriages.
• Not sure how it happened, but they somehow got back together, and, long story short, they got married last week.
• When I first met this couple four years ago, I was amazed to learn that the groom grew up on block away from me on Saline Street in Squirrel Hill.  He went to Allderdice High School, I went to Central Catholic, so we never knew each other, but we no doubt crossed paths with each other at Murray Pharmacy, the Lorretto Avenue Giant Eagle, and Mineo's Pizza many times in our formative years.  Only in Pittsburgh, amiright?

The wedding was a traditional Jewish wedding, and this was the first time that either Linda or I ever attended a Jewish wedding, and we absolutely loved it.  The music, the prayers, the participation of the attendees was very moving, and the wedding reception was an absolute blast.  So much fun.  How great it was to experience this event.  

Okay, now about that vacation.  The wedding took place at the William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, and when we got the invitation, we decided that we would make it an in-week getaway for us, and we booked a room for two nights at the William Penn, one of the great big city old-time luxury hotels, the kind that they just don't build anymore.

We checked in on Wednesday morning, and that day, of course, was spent with the wedding and the events surrounding it, but we awoke on Thursday morning (still not believing the 29 point comeback of the Knicks the might before) and decided to explore our home town.  We decided to walk into town and take a look at the newly remodeled Market Square.  In all honesty, we were unimpressed with the new look Market Square.  It was also 89 degrees so the several block walk was a killer.  We had a great lunch at the City Works Restaurant in PPG Place.  We then took a slow walk back in the heat, with a stop at a Milk Shake Factory.   Back to the William Penn for a mid-afternoon cocktail, then dinner at the Ritual House in the Union Trust Building.  Back to the Tap Room at the William Penn where we watched both the Stanley Cup playoff game and the Pirates-Dodgers game.  We concluded this getaway with breakfast at the William Penn's Terrace Room, where you can get the best Eggs Benedict anywhere, before checking out and heading home, but not before stopping at the new Arts Landing space and taking in the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

All in all, a terrific 48 hour whirlwind for Linda and Bob.

I will close by offering a commentary on a paradigm change that I found amazing.  I worked in dahntahn Pittsburgh for over thirty years.  To me, it was a bustling place with people shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalks and lots and lots of jammed traffic on any given business day between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, where a pedestrian took his life into his hands merely trying to cross a street.  I know that things changed when the COVID-19 pandemic closed things down and people began working remotely, but I was still shocked when I saw that the sidewalks were not crowded, and vehicular traffic was virtually non-existant.  Let me show you.

Here is a picture that I took from our hotel room at midnight on Wednesday.  Our room overlooked Mellon Square Park and Smithfield Streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

Pretty picture and no traffic, but it was midnight, so why would there be?  This next picture was taken at 8:30 on Thursday morning.  Gotta be lots and lots of traffic going into work, right?

Nope.  You could have fired a cannon down Smithfield Street and not hurt anyone.  Just wait until evening rush hour at around 5:15 though.  That will no doubt be a madhouse.

Not so much.  At least I see a bus there at Seventh and Smithfield by what used to be Gimbels. Maybe there were some people on that.

Despite all of that, both the City Works for lunch and the Ritual House for dinner were filled.  Where did they come from?

I know that both the city fathers and the business leaders are doing what they can to get people out of their remote locations and back into those office buildings, but will it ever again be like the City I worked in in the 80's, 90's and 00's?  Like I said, the whole scene amazed me.

To Absent Friends - Gene Shalit

 

Gene Shalit

1026-2026

Legendary movie and entertainment critic and regular on the Today Show Gene Shalit died this weekend at the age of 100.  Tributes to Shalit and the amazing way that he had with words and puns in his film reviews have been all over the media in the days following his death ("Ishtar ishterrible"), and they are great fun to read.

Tis post will be my story of one of his reviews  that sticks in my mind.  It was in 1977 for the Paul Newman hockey movie "Slap Shot".  Shalit didn't care much for the movie and I remember happening to be watching the Today Show when he said:

"Slap Shot is has an R rating, which means that no one under 18 can see this movie unless accompanied by a parent.  Any parent that would take a kid to this movie deserves to be slapped.  Or shot!"

How great was that?

RIP Gene Shalit.

They Are The Champions

Both the NBA and the NHL wrapped up their Championship Series this weekend, and both results were quite satisfactory in our home.

The New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973 in five games over the San Antonio Spurs in what can only be described as astonishing fashion.  Here was their Playoff run:

• Fell behind two games to one to the Hawks in the first round then won three straight games to advance to the second round
• Swept the 76ers in the second round
• Swept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals; in Game 1, the Cavs led by 22 points with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game, and the Knicks tied it and won it in overtime
• Defeated Spurs in five games to win The Finals

But that last bullet point doesn't even begin to describe just HOW the Knicks won those five games.  The Spurs had double digit leads in all five games, and could have, and perhaps should have, won all of the games that they lost.  After losing the first two games, the Spurs rallied to win the third game in Madison Square Garden, and appeared to have a Game Four win in their hip pockets, a win that would have tied the series.  They held a 27 point lead over the Knicks at the half, and got that lead up to 29 points in the third quarter.  No NBA teamed ever overcame a 29 point deficit in an NBA Finals game.  Until this past Wednesday.

The Knicks kept chipping into the lead, while the Spurs, with perhaps the most dominant low post "big man" in all of basketball, Victor Wembanyama, kept attempting , and missing, long range jump shots and three point attempts.  The Spurs still held a seven point lead with a minute to play, but the Knicks kept at it, and the Spurs kept missing shots, and it all came to an end when OG Anunoby tipped in a missed shot by Jaylen Brunson with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Knicks an unbelievably improbable 107-106 win.  

OG Anunoby becomes Bobby Thomson in Game 4!

We watched that game unfold from our hotel room at Pittsburgh's William Penn Hotel (why we were there will be the subject of another post coming in the next day or two), and simply could not believe what we were seeing.  As I often say, a game like that one is why you follow sports.

The real star of the Knicks was Jalen Brunson, who was named MVP of the Series.  After the Knicks fell behind by double digits is Game 5, Brunson willed the Knicks to overcome the deficit and scored 45 points in New York's 94-90 win.  He'll never have to pick up a check in a New York City restaurant for the rest of his life.

MVP

A couple of comments on two other key figures in these Finals.

I was tremendously impressed with Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown, and after pulling off that unprecedented comeback in Game 4, how could you not be, but more than that, his calm demeanor on the sideline throughout all of these games stood in sharp contrast to his coaching counterparts on all levels of basketball.  He never whined or screamed at the refs.  When he had a beef, he would calmly address it to the official in question.  Most of the time, he stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets.

In a profession that is filled with Danny Hurleys, it's refreshing to see a guy like Mike Brown on the sidelines.

Make no mistake, the San Antonio Spurs are a very good team.  Led by their star player, 22 year old Victor Wembanyama, and other young stars like Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, the Spurs will be back on this stage again and will win NBA championships over the next five to eight years.  Wemby is a force of nature and when you see how he can dominate a basketball game at this point in his career, it boggles the mind to think of how much better he will become as he matures, and I use the word "mature" purposefully here.  I love watching him play, but it was disappointing to see some of the, shall we say, churlish behavior on his part both on the court (Is he a dirty player?)  and in post game interviews and interactions with other players.  Hell, he's only 22 years old, so let's all hope that he outgrows some of that stuff as he gets older.  He will be, if he isn't already, the Face of the NBA, and he needs to realize that there is some responsibility that comes along with that. 

*****

One night later, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to win the  NHL's Stanley Cup in six games.

I can sum up our actions to this by restating these comments from my June 2 post:

"Our rooting interest will be with the Hurricanes, not only because of her preseason wager, but because her sons  Jeffrey and Justin and their families reside in Raleigh now and are Hurricanes fans, and because she wants to see ex-Penguin Jordan Stahl win another Cup."

So the Canes checked all the boxes for Linda and I throughout this series, and Jordan Stahl even won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Series!   Oh, and the "pre-season wager" referred to above was a five dollar bet that Linda asked me to place for her back on October 3 that yielded a $52.50 payout on FanDuel.

*****

In other sports news, the FIFA World Cup kicked off last Thursday, and on Friday the USA began play in their Group with a rousing 4-1 win over Paraguay.

It was great fun to watch, and in fact, this whole tournament has been and will continue to be fun to watch play out over the next thirty-four days.  Every day during group play there will be as many as four games matches being contested, and it has been fun to watch throughout these first five days of competition.  I won't be glued to every contest, but I will be watching certain matches with great interest, like when the USA plays, or when Argentina, led by the great Lionel Messi, plays.  Their first match is Tuesday night.   The USA takes on Australia on Friday night.