Great Last Ever Movie Performances - Edward G Robinson – Soylent Green

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We saw him go down in a blaze of gunfire in many classic gangster movies, especially 1931’s Little Caesar, which defined the whole genre. His end in Soylent Green (1973) was much more relaxed and it may be the most beautiful advert for voluntary euthanasia ever filmed. In a very grim over-populated dystopian future, with intense water and food rationing, the miracle soya-food Soylent Green seems to be a real life-saver, but a chain of events set in motion by a routine seeming crime investigation will lead Charlton Heston to a horrible truth. He is finally led to it by his flat-sharing elderly friend, Sol, played by Robinson, who decides to kill himself, leaving word for Heston to follow his body to its final resting place after he dies. Given the population crisis, euthanasia is legal, and takes place in medical booths, where the patient / client dies painlessly, listening to Beethoven’s Pastoral 6th Symphony while being shown soft-focus wall-screen projected photos of deer, forests, meadows and mountain streams. These no longer exist in the world as the city concrete has swallowed all the land, so Charlton Heston’s emotional reaction to seeing his friend dying is amplified by his only ever look at the beauty of nature. is It’s a truly gorgeous way to leave the World, with a sinister price for the living left behind. . Of course, the body fares worse after death, as it is packed off to be processed into what Soylent Green really is, human flesh. The population are unaware that they are now cannibals. After such a tough, violent screen career, Robinson seems to deserve his relaxed pastoral departure – so much better than bleeding out slowly from bullet wounds, or the painful cancer of the bladder that claimed him in real life soon after filming was completed. Let’s be glad Robinson didn’t leave us after Mooch Goes To Hollywood in which a stray dog, Mooch, heads to Hollywood with dreams of becoming as famous as Lassie. His dream is assured as Zsa Zsa Gabor and various Hollywood luminaries including Robinson (playing himself) welcome the dog (who went on to play Benji on TV). Vacuous and pointless. The dog is simply carried round Hollywood by Gabor while everyone pats and strokes it, saying how adorable it is. Robinson, along with many other stars including Richard Burton, doesn’t even get his name in the credits. A short film from 1971 that witlessly makes a better case for euthanasia than Soylent Green. Youtube, Charlton Heston witnesses Robinson’s Pastoral euthanasia in Soylent Green Arthur Chappell