sentences: "Soylent Green" (1973), the first major American example, portrays a dystopian, near-future world via a self-evidently noir detection plot; starring Charlton Heston (the lead in "Touch of Evil"), it also features classic noir standbys Joseph Cotten, Edward G. Robinson, and Whit Bissell.The movie was directed by Richard Fleischer, who two decades before had directed several strong B noirs, including "Armored Car Robbery" (1950) and "The Narrow Margin" (1952).