Face the telescreen
May 6, 2007 6:03 AM Subscribe
Nineteen Eighty-Four (YouTube) Nigel Kneale's BBC adaptation of the Orwell classic; made in 1954, with Peter Cushing as Winston Smith.
Heh, did Orwendell really think something like this could happen?
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:45 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:45 AM on May 6, 2007
I didn't know anything about this, thanks! Wikipedia has more info about the original BBC broadcast. It's easy to see from just the beginning of the 2nd part how powerful it must have been at the time. No wonder some folks in the government were worried.
And the interview you linked is great, too:
They were all broadcast live. Nothing could be recorded in those days except by aiming a movie camera at the television screen. It was at least another 10 years before they had any kind of recording medium. Consequently my early work like The Creature was wiped. It is a horrid experience to find that your favourite piece has gone.
What a loss. It must have been such an exciting, creative time, working in early television, and it's truly awful that so much of the stuff is lost forever.
posted by mediareport at 8:16 AM on May 6, 2007
And the interview you linked is great, too:
They were all broadcast live. Nothing could be recorded in those days except by aiming a movie camera at the television screen. It was at least another 10 years before they had any kind of recording medium. Consequently my early work like The Creature was wiped. It is a horrid experience to find that your favourite piece has gone.
What a loss. It must have been such an exciting, creative time, working in early television, and it's truly awful that so much of the stuff is lost forever.
posted by mediareport at 8:16 AM on May 6, 2007
Thanks.... Youtube'rs got an interesting selection of other videos: here's Animal Farm (8 parts)
posted by acro at 8:57 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by acro at 8:57 AM on May 6, 2007
Thanks, Abiezer! I am an Orwell junkie. At first I thought there was no way I was watching a whole movie on YouTube. And now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish watching a whole movie on YouTube.
posted by sneakin at 9:33 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by sneakin at 9:33 AM on May 6, 2007
I'm thankful the colorization bastards never found this gem.
posted by Mblue at 10:26 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by Mblue at 10:26 AM on May 6, 2007
All copyright violations?
posted by A189Nut at 9:48 AM on May 6 [+]
[!]
isn't the beeb public?
posted by eustatic at 11:32 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by A189Nut at 9:48 AM on May 6 [+]
[!]
isn't the beeb public?
posted by eustatic at 11:32 AM on May 6, 2007
Thanks so much for finding this. I think this is the same one that was supposedly funded by the CIA with Winston shouting "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!" in the end.
I'll have to watch all of it later though.
posted by champthom at 11:33 AM on May 6, 2007
I'll have to watch all of it later though.
posted by champthom at 11:33 AM on May 6, 2007
This is incredible -- I had been looking for this very programme for years, even on YouTube. However putting "1984" in a search query at YouTube is an exercise in futility: 52,700 results. Search engines suck sometimes.
posted by rolypolyman at 11:43 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by rolypolyman at 11:43 AM on May 6, 2007
I found some torrents here and there (search for 1984 and cushing)... I'm not getting any activity from them. I wonder if we can get a torrent or a downloadable copy somewhere so I can make a DVD.
posted by hodyoaten at 11:58 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by hodyoaten at 11:58 AM on May 6, 2007
Weird, I was re-reading Ted Rall's 2024 the other day.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:59 AM on May 6, 2007
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:59 AM on May 6, 2007
I think this is the same one that was supposedly funded by the CIA with Winston shouting "DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!" in the end.
I think the version you have in mind is the one directed by Michael Anderson, referred to by Kneale in the interview linked above. I've not seen it, but it appears it had a happy ending added. I'd heard of the CIA funding a version of Animal Farm; is the same true for 1984?
I had read about the funding of independent leftist intellectuals through fronts like the Congress for Cultural Freedom. I see Orwell is mentioned here, but not exactly what was funded.
posted by Abiezer at 1:19 PM on May 6, 2007
I think the version you have in mind is the one directed by Michael Anderson, referred to by Kneale in the interview linked above. I've not seen it, but it appears it had a happy ending added. I'd heard of the CIA funding a version of Animal Farm; is the same true for 1984?
I had read about the funding of independent leftist intellectuals through fronts like the Congress for Cultural Freedom. I see Orwell is mentioned here, but not exactly what was funded.
posted by Abiezer at 1:19 PM on May 6, 2007
Oh wow! Thanks, Abiezer!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2007
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:28 PM on May 6, 2007
A189Nut: All copyright violations?
In UK law, copyright for recordings and broadcasts (as opposed to novels, lyrics and scores) dates from recording/broadcast date, not author's death. So 1954 recordings and broadcasts are public domain in the United Kingdom. This may be different in your domicile. I am not a lawyer.
posted by alasdair at 6:53 AM on May 7, 2007
In UK law, copyright for recordings and broadcasts (as opposed to novels, lyrics and scores) dates from recording/broadcast date, not author's death. So 1954 recordings and broadcasts are public domain in the United Kingdom. This may be different in your domicile. I am not a lawyer.
posted by alasdair at 6:53 AM on May 7, 2007
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posted by octothorpe at 6:24 AM on May 6, 2007