"1984" is an episode of the

American television Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...

series ''

Westinghouse Studio One ''Studio One'' is an American anthology drama television series that was adapted from a radio series. It was created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. It premiered on November 7, 1948, and ended on Se ...

'' broadcast September 21, 1953, on CBS. Starring

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor. He is known for his roles on stage and screen and received nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Albert made his actin ...

Norma Crane Norma Crane (born Norma Anna Bella Zuckerman; November 10, 1928 — September 28, 1973) was an American actress of stage, film, and television best known for her role as Golde in the 1971 film adaptation of ''Fiddler on the Roof''. She also sta ...

and

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Adama in ...

, it was the first adaptation of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's 1949 novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''.

Production and transmission

The adaptation was written by William Templeton, directed by Paul Nickell, and produced by

Felix Jackson Felix Jackson (born Felix Raphael Joachimson; June 5, 1902 – December 4, 1992) was a German-born American screenwriter and film and television producer. Biography Jackson was born in Hamburg. He was a city editor in Germany at 21, then a dra ...

for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

'' series. Music was by

Alfredo Antonini Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the e ...

and the title drawing was by

Dong Kingman Dong Kingman (, 31 March 1911 – 12 May 2000) was a Chinese American artist and one of America's leading watercolor masters. As a painter on the forefront of the California Style School of painting, he was known for his urban and landscape p ...

. Broadcast on September 21, 1953, it was the first screen adaptation of the novel. Running to just under 50 minutes, it is a much-shortened version of the novel's narrative, with some changes, such as the character of

Emmanuel Goldstein Emmanuel Goldstein is a fictional character and the principal enemy of the state of Oceania in George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. The political propaganda of The Party portrays Goldstein as the leader of The Br ...

being changed to "Cassandra". Templeton co-wrote the 1956 film version, in which the character was similarly renamed as "Cellador". An uncredited

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's '' North by Northwest'' (1959). His career breakthrough c ...

is very briefly glimpsed in one scene.Williams, Joe. "Oceania is the place to be…" (''Willceau Illo News'', August 13, 2012)
/ref>

Cast

as Winston *

Julia Julia may refer to: People *Julia (given name), including a list of people with the name *Julia (surname), including a list of people with the name *Julia gens, a patrician family of Ancient Rome *Julia (clairvoyant) (fl. 1689), lady's maid of Qu ...

as O'Brien * Noel Leslie as Charrington * Truman Smith as Parsons * Midge Donaldson as Female Telescreen Voice * Robert M. Culp as Male Telescreen Voice * Victor Thorley as

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; , , sometimes referred to as Alexandra; ) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecy, prophecies but never to be believed. In modern usage her name is e ...

* Peter A. Ostroff as Syme * Janice Mars as Singer * Susan Hallaran as Selina * Fred Scollay as Man in Cell * Vincent Vanlynn as Prison Officer *

Don Hollenbeck Don Hollenbeck (March 30, 1905June 22, 1954) was a CBS newscaster, commentator, and associate of Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly. He was the writer and producer of ''CBS Views the Press'', a Peabody Award-winning radio show that critique ...

as Narrator *

Betty Furness Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. Early years Furness was born in Manhattan, the daughter of wealthy business executive George Choate Furness ...

as Commercial spokeswoman

DVD release

In 2008,

Koch Vision Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company ROW Entertainment in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Inte ...

released the ''Studio One Anthology'', containing "1984" and 16 other episodes from the series, as well as an interview with director Paul Nickell.

References

External links

* 1953 American television episodes Works based on Nineteen Eighty-Four Television episodes based on works Studio One (American TV series) Television shows based on works by George Orwell {{US-tv-episode-stub