down. Julia runs to his aid and suffers the same fate. Development In 1954, Peter Cushing and André Morell starred in a BBC-TV made-for-TV adaptation which was extremely popular with British audiences, leading to the production of the 1956 film version. Donald Pleasence had also appeared in the BBC television version, playing the character of Syme, which for the film was amalgamated with that of Parsons. The script was co-written by William Templeton, who had previously adapted the novel for the US Studio One TV series in 1953. During the development process, the character O'Brien, the antagonist, was renamed "O'Connor", due to the shared surname of the actor Edmond O'Brien. Emmanuel Goldstein is changed to "Kalador". Like the earlier film adaption of Animal Farm, 1984 was secretly funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Cast Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith Michael Redgrave as General O'Connor Jan Sterling as Julia David Kossoff as Charrington Mervyn Johns as Jones Donald Pleasence as Robert Parsons Carol Wolveridge as Selina Parsons Ernest Clark as Outer Party Announcer Patrick Allen as Inner Party Official Michael Ripper as Outer Party Orator Ewen Solon as Outer Party Orator Kenneth Griffith as Prisoner Release For the US market, 1984 was distributed in 1956 on a double feature with another British science fiction film, The Gamma People. Reception The New York Times reviewer A.H. Weiler called this film adaptation "a stark, sober and thoughtful, if not altogether persuasive, film." He said the "director and the scenarists have adapted the book 'freely.' But they have retained its essential spirit and ideas in the film." A Boston Globe reviewer said that "the film had the same sense of bleak horror and black apprehension that Orwell developed when freedom was allowed to die." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, however, compared the film to the BBC adaptation, but stated that it was "lifeless". See also List of films featuring surveillance List of films that depict class struggle References External links 1950s dystopian films 1950s English-language films 1950s science fiction drama films 1956 drama films 1956 films British black-and-white films British science fiction drama films Columbia Pictures films Films about freedom of expression Films about mass surveillance Films based on Nineteen Eighty-Four Films directed by Michael Anderson Films scored by Malcolm Arnold Films set in 1984 Films set in a fictional country Films set in the future Films shot at Associated British Studios 1950s British