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Soylent Green (1973)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 1:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has 46 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
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~ According to the book "Future tense: The cinema of science fiction" by John Brosnan, Harry Harrison showed up one day on the set and passed out copies of the source book to the cast and crew. He also gave Edward G. Robinson pointers on his character.

Note from me: I read Make Room! Make Room! in 1969, but I was less impressed by it than by may favorite Harry Harrison novel, Death World. I started reading a paperback of it one morning during my first class of the day while I was in high school. I was so enthralled by the book that I spent the whole day reading it — hiding it from my teachers in class! Laughing

~ In the theatrical trailer further dialogue from the end sequence can be heard from Charlton Heston that does not feature in the film. The film itself goes to freeze frame & the soundtrack is cut, in the trailer Heston's further pleas can be heard.

Note from me: Here's the trailer.


__________Soylent Green (1973) Official Trailer


__________


~ 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 Granddaddy (1970).

Note from me: I'm pretty sure this item is bogus, for two reasons. First of all, it sounds ridiculous. And second, the name of the series was "Make Room for DADDY" . . . not Granddaddy! Rolling Eyes

~ Detective Thorn's words, near the end, "Ocean's dying, plankton's dying..." turned out to be frighteningly correct and, in 1973, prophetic. It's now commonly accepted that civilized humans have reduced the mass of fish in Earth's ocean by some 90%, and a 2010 study reported that phytoplankton - one of our planet's two lungs - "has declined more than 40 percent since 1950 and the rate of decline is increasing."

Note from me: This is downright depressing . . .

~ Principal photography for the New York skyline was shot in 1970, before construction on the World Trade Center was finished. Due to this, the towers aren't featured in any shots of the skyline. Therefore the film inadvertently predicts 9/11 by showing a future New York City without the towers.

Note from me: And that's depressing, too . . .

~ When Thorn discovers 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 it would be his last film, and his death scene was the last scene he ever filmed. He died ten days after shooting wrapped.

Note from me: One the strongest elements of this movie involves the scene in which Robinson is allowed to see an HD panoramic video of the world before the environment was ruined. The impassioned reaction to it by both Heston and Robinson is very moving.


___________________ Sol Death Soylent Green


__________

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~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Eadie
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
~ 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 Granddaddy (1970).

Note from me: I'm pretty sure this item is bogus, for two reasons. First of all, it sounds ridiculous. And second, the name of the series was "Make Room for DADDY" . . . not Granddaddy! Rolling Eyes

WRONG!

The Danny Thomas Show (titled Make Room for Daddy for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS.

The show ended in 1964, but Danny Thomas, Marjorie Lord, Angela Cartwright, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson, Amanda Randolph and Hans Conried returned in 1965 for a two-hour-long "reunion" special on NBC, The Danny Thomas TV Family Reunion, considered the first TV reunion show, and Make More Room for Daddy, which aired as an episode of The Danny Thomas Hour in November 1967. Shortly after filming the second special in 1967, Randolph died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 70. A CBS reunion special, Make Room for Granddaddy, was aired in 1969. The special did so well that it was picked up as a series by CBS, but Thomas considered its assigned time slot to be too quiet and pulled the show.

ABC brought it back on a weekly basis in 1970, in Make Room for Granddaddy. For the series premiere, Sherry Jackson reprised her role of oldest daughter Terry. No mention was made of her husband Pat Hannigan. Instead, for this new version of the series, Terry's husband was named Bill, who was a soldier. In this episode, Terry left her son, six-year-old Michael (played by Michael Hughes), in the care of grandparents Danny and Kathy so she could join Bill, who was stationed overseas. In addition to Lord, Hamer and Cartwright, the only other returning regulars were Sid Melton as Charley Halper and Hans Conried as Uncle Tonoose. During that season, new characters were played by Stanley Myron Handelman and former football player Roosevelt Grier. Pat Carroll did not reprise her role of Bunny Halper and her character was never mentioned on this series. The show lasted only one year, producing 24 episodes; its cancellation came at a time when the networks were purging content favoring older, rural and other less affluent viewers after the loss of a half-hour [The 7:30 to 8;00PM time slot — Eadie.] of daily program time in 1971. According to Lord, the series faced many obstacles, including the unprofessionalism and inexperience of the child actor Michael Hughes, the absence of Sheldon Leonard as producer/director to control Thomas and improve the quality of the scripts, and the fact that ABC switched the time slot of the show from Wednesday nights at 8:00 Pm to Thursday nights at 9:00 PM. As a result, the ratings went from mediocre to poor.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well, hell . . . I stand corrected. Embarassed

In my humble defense, I served as a Security Policeman in the Air Force from October 1967 until 1971, stationed in South Korea for a year and West Germany for a year-and-a-half. So by the time I got back home in late 1971, Make Room for Granddaddy (which you mentioned only lasted one year) was just a fading memory in the minds of American television audiences.

Until today, I'd never even heard of it. Rolling Eyes

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~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 6:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Author Harry Harrison was 50% pleased with the film adaptation of his book.

I'm guessing that 50% satisfaction by an author regarding his book adaptation to film or television is considered a huge win.

Soylent steaks are referred to in HH's book but not Soylent green specifically.

Edward G.Robinson was almost totally deaf while making the film.

Shooting was suspended for a week when director Richard Fleischer's father,Max Fleischer of the famed Fleischer Brothers animation studio,passed away on September 11, 1972 at the age of 89.

SG was the last film shot at the MGM Studio backlot. Sadly,the studio backlot was entirely razed in 1973.

I've always been fascinated by the wonderful film studio backlots used in movie and TV productions.

I bought a superb book covering the history of the MGM backlot.

MGM's backlot was considered the finest of all the studio backlots of that era. The book certainly is darned impressive with its detailed photos of the magnificent exterior sets they created.

I mourn the loss of these important pieces of film and television history when a backlot is torn down.

Along with the fact that these backlots were so fantastic that they would have been terrific to use to this day.

Many of the ''western streets'' used for film and TV westerns have been demolished even if the rest of the backlot of a studio remains standing.

With so few western genre productions many of the Hollywood studios decided it did not make a lot of sense to leave their western town sets standing any longer.
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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately studio backlots and studio ranches have fallen victim to California's high real estate taxes. The loss of filming in CA. (also due to high taxes) has caused the studios to down size. Several years ago Fox donated their fantastic ranch to the state because of the taxes. Fox also sold of most of their back lot during the 60s and 70s trying to recover from the financial loss from "Cleopatra".

Every movie studio used to have a large ranch. At one time they had western town and ranches, along with a cattle herd. One of the few, if not the only surviving ranch is Disney's Golden Oak Ranch. It survives by being rented out to other movie studios. The covered bridge seen in so many TV show is located there.

David.
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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Universal Studios still have their western street, and I believe that Paramount may still have a western street.

Old Tuscon Movie Studio still stands in Arizona. It was built originally for a William Holden-Anne Sheridan western film in the late 30's or early 40's.

It has served Hollywood movie and television productions for many decades. Rio Bravo, El Dorado, were just a few of the many,many western movies shot there.

The NBC TV show The High Chaparral filmed there.

Now with so many productions based in Vacouver, B.C. (Hollywood North) the C.A.Motion Picture Park is utilized for western themed films and TV shows.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2020 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote




The Old Tuscon Movie Studio was used in the movie comedy/western THREE AMIGOS. At the site they still (At least a few years ago when I visited it!) have a recreation of the fall from the top of the old Spanish church from that film.









After the filming of “Arizona,” Old Tucson lay dormant under the desert sun. Old Tucson was revived only briefly for the film “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (1945), starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Hollywood once again took notice of Old Tucson, which soon became a favorite filming location, hence the nickname “Hollywood in the Desert.” In 1947 Gene Autry starred in “The Last Roundup,” followed in 1950 by Jimmy Stewart in “Winchester ’73” and Ronald Reagan in “The Last Outpost.”



During the 1950s the Western movie era was in full swing nationwide. In that decade alone Western classics such as “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1956) with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, “The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold” (1957) and “Cimarron” (1959) with Glenn Ford were filmed at Old Tucson.



Western film legend John Wayne, who soon became friends with studio owner Robert Shelton, starred in four movies at Old Tucson and each production added buildings to the town: “Rio Bravo” (1959) added a saloon, bank building and doctor’s office; from “McLintock!” (1963) came the McLintock Hotel; “El Dorado” (1967) left Old Tucson Studios with a facelift on Front Street; and from “Rio Lobo” (1970) came a cantina, a granite-lined creek, a jail and Phillip’s ranch house.







The stampede of movie productions during those early years include “The Deadly Companions” (1961) starring Brian Keith and Maureen O’Hara; “Lilies of the Field” (1962) starring Sidney Poitier; “Have Gun Will Travel” (1962); “Arizona Raiders” (1964) starring World War II hero Audie Murphy, and “Hombre” (1966) with Paul Newman, and episodes of television series such as “Bonanza” (1966, ’71, ’72), “Death Valley Days” (1966-69) and “High Chaparral” (1966-’71).



In the decade that followed, Old Tucson experienced tremendous growth.

In 1970-71 alone it hosted 15 film productions including “Dirty Dingus Magee” (1970) with Frank Sinatra and Joe Kidd (1971) starring Clint Eastwood, who later returned to Mescal for “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976).

Paul Newman visited Mescal as well and returned to Old Tucson for “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean” (1972).



Other films shot at Old Tucson during this period include “Death Wish” (1974) starring Charles Bronson, “The Last Hard Men” (1975) with Charleton Heston and James Coburn, “The Villain” (1978), which starred Kirk Douglas and Ann Margaret, and “The Frisco Kid” (1979) starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford, fresh from his stint as Han Solo in “Star Wars.”

The 1980s saw major films as well, most notably “Three Amigos” (1986) starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short.




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ralfy
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Soylent Green Predicted 2022, Including Impossible Meat Substitutes"

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/soylent-green-predicted-2022-meat-substitutes/


Quote:
The food shortage prediction is actually true, depending on economic and geographic factors. Mass production means we make enough foodstuff to feed the entire world population, with a surplus. Yet some people starve and others suffer from obesity. The one-percenters don’t shoot themselves off into the stratosphere in the film’s 2022; they isolate themselves in luxury penthouses.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Ralfy, that is a terrific post.

I read the whole article and it is mesmerizing. The fact that Soylent Green predicted a global population of 7 billion by 2022 and we actually hit 7.9 in 2021 is frightening. Shocked

Thanks for sharing this important information with us, Ralfy. Keep up the good work.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A very belated thank you, Gord Green, for those marvelous photos of the famous Old Tucson Movie Movie Ranch.

From: An Ambush of Ghosts, A Personal Guide to Favorite Western Film Location.

The orders came to Jim Pratt, construction superintendent, on a hot July day in 1939: Build us a city in the desert...do it in 40 days.
With that note came three complete sets of blueprints (one weighed over 36 pounds!) and Pratt went to work.

AOG: When construction actually began on July 22, 1939, not even the planners of Old Tucson could have known that this movie set would be ranked as the second most popular visitor attraction in Arizona.

AOG: Old Tucson, an authentic frontier town of the mid-19th Century, was born on an artist's drawing board at Colombia Pictures in Hollywood. It was designed as the setting for the first big outdoor movie of the time, Arizona, starring Jean Arthur and William Holden.

AOG: Calling upon the Arizona Pioneers Historical Society, old maps and photographs, designers began Old Tucson's life with a clay model. Referring to city maps of more than 100 years ago, they laid out stores, houses, saloons, the mission and other buildings exactly as Tucson was then. Even the streets ran in the same direction!

AOG: More than 200,000 adobe bricks were created out of materials at hand to give this movie set an authentic flavor.

AOG: Then, disaster struck. The advent of World War II in September 1939 almost eliminated the foreign market for the film, and work ground to a halt.
However, Colombia Pictures officials compared the foreign market problem to the money already spent, changed their minds, and Arizona was completed by mid June 1940.

AOG: When Colombia Pictures finished Arizona in 1940, they donated the $250,000 set to Pima County and it served, off and on, as a movie location site until 1959.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 24, 2022 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Well, bless my sun-bleached bones, partner! Them's some mighty interestin' facts about that old Western town those Hollywood city slickers built!

Much oblidged, Hombre!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actor Dick Van Patten told a poignant story about his working with Edward G. Robinson on Soylent Green.

Dick plays the usher who escorts the Wilson character to the room where he will die.

Van Patten was in such awe of working with Robinson that he muffed his line a few times and the director had to call cut.

Dick's line was "Right this way, Mr. Roth," as Dick is escorting Sol Roth to the room wkere he has chosen to end his life.

Dick accidentally called him Mr. Robinson for two takes. Finally, Dick addressed him correctly as Mr. Roth.

The very next day Charlton Heston called the cast to Stage 9 at MGM where they were filming Soylent green. He announced that Edward G. Robinson had passed away at his home last night.

Van Patten was flabbergasted because he realized that he was playing a scene where Robinson's character dies; and incredibly that night, Robinson did really pass.
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ralfy
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PostPosted: Wed May 17, 2023 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The Greatest Horror of ‘Soylent Green’ Isn’t Soylent Green — It’s This"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/the-greatest-horror-of-soylent-green-isn-t-soylent-green-it-s-this/ar-AA1a4O33

Warning: spoilers


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Quote:
But there’s something in Soylent Green that feels even more wrong than the realization that humanity has been engaging in involuntary cannibalism. It might not be as gruesome, but it’s certainly just as harrowing and a lot more daunting in just how much it speaks about the nature of humanity in such a world. This horror is the assisted suicide clinic in which Sol Roth (Edward G. Robinson) chooses to end his life.
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