Also Ran

By J. C.

LOGAN'S RUN

Directed by MICHAEL ANDERSON Screenplay by DAVID ZELAG GOODMAN

In the great domed city in the year 2274, a hedonistic paradise of the young is in full swing. Anyone who reaches age 30 is in trouble: the little red jewel planted in the palm of the senior citizen's hand starts flashing, signaling that it is time to be "reborn in the fiery ritual of carrousel." This ceremony requires one to rig oneself out in long robes and a perforated plastic mask, then stand peaceably in the middle of what appears to be a centrifugal-force machine. Soon the participant starts soaring toward the top of the dome, where a glowing white stone incinerates him in mid-flight Bodies explode in the air like percussion caps, making quick, clean flashes The more youthful spectators clap and yell "Renew! Renew!"

It is hard to imagine that even in such a benumbed society anyone could believe this flying flameout will guarantee a fresh start in life. Some indeed do not believe it. When their turn comes to climb aboard the carrousel, the skeptics take it on the lam, running through the innards of the domed city, scrambling madly for the "outside." Generally, however, these runners are recaptured by the Sandmen, who pack nasty ray pistols that look like the 23rd century equivalent of the electric cattle prod.

Logan's Run is a nitwit sci-fi saga about a Sandman named Logan (Michael York) who is dispatched by computer central to track down some runners who have managed to slip through security and strike out for a secret place known as "sanctuary." Logan is accompanied on his run by a comely young thing (Jenny Agutter) and sped on his way by the knowledge that computer central has mysteriously shortened his life span and has set the jewel in his palm blinking like a beacon.

Unstable Solution. The movie, silly but affable, has some rather short sighted social notions, and its portrait of an oppressive future society looks no more menacing than the California beach culture run riot. Everyone is bland and pretty, decked out for pleasure in outfits that look like togas designed by Frederick's of Hollywood. The special effects are rather more elaborate, but not necessarily more convincing. When our hero and heroine encounter a cuddlesome old hermit (Peter Ustinov) living on the outside in the gutted U.S. Capitol, they seem to be trapped in some unstable photographic solution, shifting in and out of focus as if the whole image were being washed around in a developing pan. The great domed city of the future is rather too obviously a model-- it looks like part of an electric train set-- and its main thoroughfare resembles a suburban shopping mall. Indeed, pushing their vision of the future to its limits, Director Michael Anderson and MGM actually shot these scenes on location-- at a merchandise mart in Dallas.

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