by Jack Mackenzie
In the year before Star Wars, a Science Fiction film made a scene with its costumes – or lack thereof!
Science Fiction films of the 1970’s weren’t exactly subtle. Beginning with the Planet of the Apes movies, a sub genre of SF cinema began to emerge which has been dubbed “Shattered Earth”. This type of film included some classics as well as some forgettable efforts.
Films like The Omega Man, THX 1138, Z.P.G., The Final Programme, Soylent Green, Phase IV, A Boy and His Dog, and The Ultimate Warrior explored dystopic visions of the future either after some sort of holocaust level disaster or in a repressive society that was designed in response to, or in order to prevent, said disaster.
In 1976 Logan’s Run was one of the last notable films of this school and it was arguably the most successful and most memorable (after the Planet of the Apes films).
The special effects, the model work and the production design all push Logan’s Run to the top of the heap of a less than reputable sub-genre of film. The story, as unsubtle as it was, caught the imagination of audiences enough to warrant a television series spin-off, if not an actual sequel. It was as successful a Science Fiction film as there could be before Star Wars came and changed the game.
But it was the costume design (or lack thereof) that really caught some people’s attention at the time.
Up until Logan’s Run costumes in Science Fiction films were generally relegated to either bulky spacesuits, formless white prison garb or elaborate outfits that featured over sized jewelry and odd helmets or other head dresses.
Logan’s Run, chose to go with a “less is more” approach. And in the case of some costumes there was a lot of emphasis on the “less”.
Bill Thomas was the costume designer for Logan’s Run. He was an Academy Award-winning designer who had over 180 credits. He designed for films like Babes in Toyland, Spartacus and The Happiest Millionaire. His approach to the costumes of Logan’s Run was to stick to fabrics and aesthetics of the time, which is why the film today seems hopelessly outdated. The film has a distinctive 1970’s feel to it.
The costumes worn by the Sandmen, the police force of the futuristic city, the ones who catch the runners, made quite an impact, despite their simplicity. A black form fitting outfit with a grey band across the chest is as minimalist as it gets for a distinctive uniform, but the outfits are striking especially when compared with the costumes worn by the rest of the cast.
Which was not much.
The costumes worn by the citizens of the City, the futuristic home of the last of humanity, all under thirty, all white, are very revealing. The “California” sensibility is redolent throughout the population (this despite the fact that much of the City scenes were filmed in Dallas, Texas). The clothing is sparse. The skirts are short. The sleeves are practically non-existant and the materials are synthetic fibers like lycra and spandex. These materials were considered “fashion forward” at the time. Satin was also used along with cotton and sheer materials.
Very sheer. And, as is usual in these kinds of films, there are no bras in the future.
Most of the costumes for the movie were modified from pieces bought in retail stores like tunic shirts and wrap dresses. Once the base outfit was chosen, costumers would sew on patches of brightly colored fabric cut into geometric shapes to make them look futuristic.
In order to make the costumes “pop” all that was needed was a light spray of adhesive and a dusting of glitter or sequins. Accessories also played a huge part in the finished product. Jewelry and belts were the perfect “finishing off” of the costumes. The bigger and more elaborate the better.
The costumes from the movie resemble a lot of the “wild” clothing that was worn in the disco clubs of the day and later became the fashion of the early 80’s, like off the shoulder tops and wide belts.
As revealing as the costumes from Logan’s Run are they were originally designed to be much more revealing. But that would have meant spending much more on makeup for exposed skin.
One outfit in particular stands out from the pack. This was worn by Jennifer Agutter who played Jessica, the female lead. It consisted of a piece of fabric which barely covers the actor’s front and back and leaves her sides exposed. All that holds the front and back pieces together is a small length of chain.
Again, there is clearly no underwear in the future.
Jenny Agutter, not surprisingly, wasn’t wild about that outfit. “Logan’s Run was fairly embarrassing,” she stated in an interview. “But I’m thrilled that I’ve been a part of it all.”
Now, you have to understand that when this film was released in theaters it was not given an R rating. It was rated PG, which meant Parental Guidance was suggested. In 1976 I was eleven years old and I know that I went to see this film in our local theater (more than once, actually) without my parents. Myself and a group of like-minded friends (The oldest of which would have been thirteen, maybe) paid real money to see it at least twice if not more times. Given the amount of nudity and near-nudity that Logan’s Run featured I can only surmise that a small town cinema was likely more interested in ticket sales than in safeguarding the moral purity of the town’s youth.
There is one scene in particular where Logan and Jessica are chased by Francis and the other Sandmen. From the New You shop (which featured a scantily clad Farrah Fawcett and a silver suited Michael Anderson Jr.) Logan 5 and Jessica 6 dash through the Love Shop, which amounts to nothing more than an open-air brothel in which an orgy is in progress. A notable extra in this scene is Ashley Cox who also plays the timid girl who touches the Peter Usinov’s face at the very end. A future Playboy model, she appears nude at the beginning of the Love-Shop scene, making a grab at Logan.
Now, for an eleven year old that scene was custom designed to blow my mind.
But even before that scene there is a lot of frank talk about sex and sexuality. It is, after all, a hedonistic utopia in which the last of humanity is living. There’s just one catch.
The film was made during the “sexual revolution” of the late 1960s/1970s. Nods to the new sexual freedom are found throughout. When Logan returns home, just after he and Francis have killed a runner, he seeks “companionship” on something called “the circuit”. The first companion offered is male, which is clearly not an accident. Logan politely smiles at the young man, shakes his head, and tries again. Then, when Jessica arrives from the circuit, and isn’t immediately interested in coupling, Logan asks whether she prefers women.
This is the scene where Jennifer Agutter is scene wearing the aforementioned revealing outfit.
Bill Thomas’ costume designs for this film have been criticised as being uninspired. Clearly, however, Thomas was a master at his craft. On the day of shooting that scene, director Michael Anderson and producer Saul David decided that Logan should look more “casual” for the first scene in his apartment. Costume designer Bill Thomas threw together Logan’s black house robe in about two hours while the set was being lit. Michael York kept the robe as a souvenir after filming.
There is a lot of futuristic looking furnishings in Logan 5’s apartment which today looks rather dated. That is because much of it was actually commercially available furnishings.There is a striking “terraced” leather sofa found in Logan’s residence, for instance, was not a unique production design item. It was, in fact, a commercially available – though expensive – home furnishing of the era. It was created in 1973 by Swiss designer Ubald Klug for the de Sede furniture company.
Aside from the dash through the Love Shop with the extras all completely unclothed (although production stills, if closely examined, will reveal that some of the extras wore skin coloured body stockings) the other scene that includeds plenty of titilation (at least for my eleven year old self) was a scene that comes later. Logan and Jessica have left the city and have to swim through the bowels of the city. They find giant machines and eventually make their way to a frozen cavern wherein they encounter the robot, Box.
Roscoe Lee Browne both voiced and performed Box the robot on-set. The robot’s costume was clunky, clumsy and unweildy. So unweildy, in fact that if Brown fell over while wearing it, it was impossible for him to right himself. Consequently, the robot’s appearance is less than impressive despite Brown’s vocal performance.
The ice cave sequence was actually filmed in the middle of the summer in Los Angeles. Box shows off people, former runners, that have been frozen in the ice. These were extras who were spray painted white. They were all naked and had to stand perfectly still for several minutes at a time for each take.
During this scene Logan and Jessica take off the wet clothes they are wearing and change into furs provided by Box. This results in a quick flash of nudity, but apparently the original script called for more of that.
According to John Obendorfer, a scene in the original shooting script was written based on a scene from the novel. “They actually did shoot a version of the novel scene where Box has Logan & Jessica pose nude, kissing, while Box quickly makes an ice sculpture. It was deleted from the release for ratings reasons, presumably because it would result in an R-rating,” Obendorfer says. “Film clips of this scene were a hot property among SF fans in ‘77-’78, and I saw several floating around at STAR-San Diego dealer tables. I don’t remember about Michael York, but Jenny Agutter definitely did a full-frontal nude shot.”
This has been partly corroborated by an article in Cinescape Magazine, according to Curt Wiederhoeft. “Apparently, they filmed Jenny Agutter peeling off her clothes SEVERAL times. She claims that this ‘knickers reel’ floated around Hollywood for a while.”
Before you get the idea that Logan’s Run was just wall-to-wall nudity, I should point out that there actually was a storyline through the picture. One that, at the time, was very relevant to what was going on in the outside world. The subject of rampant pollution and world population growth was very much on people’s minds. That, plus the emergent “youth culture’ combined to create what amounts to a great cautionary tale, told in a not so very subtle fashion.
The film’s opening prologue states: “Sometime in the 23rd century…the survivors of war, overpopulation and pollution are living in a great domed city, sealed away from the forgotten world outside. Here, in an ecologically balanced world, mankind lives only for pleasure, freed by the servo-mechanisms which provide everything. There’s just one catch: life must end at thirty unless reborn in the fiery ritual of the Carousel”.
This is before the film even begins. Science Fiction ideas had to be delineated to audiences in no uncertain terms, because Hollywood thought that moviegoing audiences at the time were too dumb to catch on. I used to disgree with that assessment of people’s intelligence before the Internet came along and changed my mind. Nevertheless, that’s the conceit of the picture.
The Carousel costumes were little more than spandex jumpsuits worn under white robes and finished off with an ice-hockey mask. But they were colourful and the scenes of those struggling to renew while floating around a great coliseum are fun to look at, especially since most of them get blasted by laserbeams before they can make it to the top.
Incidentally, In the original script by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, there was no ‘Carousel.’ Folks on lastday went into a Sleepshop, as in the novel. A test scene of this was filmed, but when the movie hit a huge production delay (and appeared dead), the Sleepshop scene was appropriated by the director of Soylent Green for Edward G. Robinson’s death scene. When production on Logan’s Run cranked up again, the Carousel element was added.
And, as we all know, Carousel is a lie.
By the standards of 1976, Logan’s Run was considered fairly successful for a science-fiction film, enough to spawn a short-lived 14 episode American CBS television series which aired during the 1977-78 television season. Obviously for television the costumes had to be “toned down” and suggestions of sexuality were glossed over or couched in double entendre so the kids couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Despite that, the costume worn by Heather Menzies, who played Jessica 6 in the series, was very short indeed. “They have to be careful with the camera with this costume,” Menzies is reported to have said in an interview. “When I bend over they’re in trouble.”
Logan’s Run was the seminal film of the “Shattered Earth” cinema sub genre. But it was also an influential film in regards to design and intent. For all its flaws and its datedness the film is fondly remembered by Science Fiction film enthusiasts today, particularly those young, star struck filmgoers like I was, hungry for any film that featured ray guns and robots.
And, as is ubiquitous in Hollywood, the skimpier the outfits, the better.
