Description
From the British Film Institute:
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR
Dual Format Edition: DVD & Blu-Ray.
WITH OPTIONAL SUBTITLES
No of discs: 2. Black & White. Social Science Fiction. Running Time: approx 113 mins. Year: 1954.
Director: Rudolph Cartier.
Cast: Peter Cushing, André Morell, Yvonne Mitchell and Donald Pleasence.
This television adaptation of George Orwell’s novel was first broadcast in 1954. Featuring totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repression of people, it is based on Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany. Winston Smith, a worker at the Ministry of Truth, secretly hates the ruling Party and dreams of rebellion. He writes his thoughts in a hidden diary and begins a forbidden relationship with his colleague Julia. The novel was adapted for television by Nigel Kneale, a prolific scriptwriter, who created The Quatermass Experiment. Peter Cushing played Winston Smith, in one of his first major roles. He became a film star, as did co-star Donald Pleasence. Yvonne Mitchell, (Turn the Key Softly) and Wilfrid Brambell, (Steptoe and Son) also starred. The music was played live by a full orchestra, following the action on a screen.
Extras:
Audio commentary by TV historian Jon Dear; Nigel Kneale: Into the Unknown (2022); Late Night Line-Up (BBC,1965): cast and crew review this adaptation of Orwell’s classic; The
Ministry of Truth (2022): the BFI’s Dick Fiddy discusses the drama with TV historian Oliver Wake. Image Gallery. Illustrated booklet.
