UW Cinematheque | Soylent Green (1973)

Heston stars as a New York police detective in the nightmarish year of 2022, investigating the murder of a wealthy industrialist (Joseph Cotten). The city is a vastly overpopulated sweatbox frequently rocked by riots when there are shortages of the only sustaining foodstuff, derived from soybeans and lentils (yeah, sure it is). Heston’s investigation, aided by a researcher/scholar pal (Robinson in his final role), leads him to the devastating secret of “soylent green.” Veteran director Fleischer’s vision is today considered a sci-fi classic that ranks with the Heston-starrer Planet of the Apes.