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George Pal (War of the Worlds, When Worlds Collide, Seven Faces of Dr. Lao) was the first movie producer to attempt to make Logan's Run. According to Wikipedia, however, Pal doesn't exist. Even in the "official" Wikipedia bio, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pal , the notation for Logan's Run requests a citation.
The problem, of course, about anecdotal evidence is that even if you are the one who George Pal told the anecdote to, nobody believes you because Pal is long gone and can't smile and say "Oh, yes, that's true!"
Now Bill (William F.) Nolan is still alive, and thanks to him and Sunni Brock (who, at my request, asked Nolan for the "truth") we have our verification.
And I quote:
“Pal was the first producer, at MGM, to option Logan’s Run for filming. Pal was ready to shoot the film in Brasilia – it’s an ultra-modern city, they were relocating the capitol. Pal was using the book’s 21-year death age, but before he could get it to production, his option at MGM ran out. Pal’s choice for the screenplay was to be written by Richard Maibaum, the 007 writer.”
In the late 19s0x, Pal told me how disappointed he was that the he never got to make the film. One can only suppose that it might have been a much better film than what we got. Pal was a meticulous guy, and I'm only guessing, of course, but his vision of the future would have been pretty interesting.
It's always harder to get films started than anyone thinks in this era of narcissistic digital movies and the great "I'll write a screenplay and get paid $3 million bucks" sweepstakes entered by anyone who thinks they can spell.
So, Wikipedia, now you have your citation. I hope someone will add it in and that the Fascist editors at Wikipedia won't delete it for lack of "verification."
