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.