This CliffsNotes-style reduction of Orwell's "1984" has its moments, thanks to the stark lighting and sets, and the in-your-face didactic nature of the drama as presented. All the big ideas are spoon-fed to the viewer, which is refreshing in a way, although clearly contradicting the central issues concerning brainwashing of society.
Casting Eddie Albert and Norma Crane in the leads seems folly at first, but their very ordinariness actually fits. Lorne Greene is superb as the villain, especially his stentorian voice, perfect for the duplicitous role, even though somehow America found it so soothing as papa Cartwright.
So many small details stand out 70 years after broadcast. The costuming especially underscores the anti-Communist bent of both Orwell and America when this was performed. Today's authoritarians are a more varied set of people, ranging from Putin to Trump. Certain concepts, especially Freedom, have been double-thinked and double-talked to death over this timespan.
When Greene teaches Eddie not to believe his own lying eyes, it is so similar to the daily antics of Trump, Bannon and Steven Miller (among innumerable enablers) in trying to dupe people into believing whatever nonsense the Donald blurts out. His use of a sharpie to alter a map regarding matching his prediction to the actual outcome of a hurricane's landfall is strikingly like the alteration of newspapers (a function that is Eddie's job) to agree with outcomes to make Big Brother's predictions all come true retroactively. And in a less partisan but equally dangerous fashion, the surveillance society is already here.
After watching, I was curious as to the career of Scottish writer Wlliam Templeton, who gets the "written by" credit for this TV version. Mainly working in pedestrian TV assignments, he did contribute to the script of Carol Reed's classic film "The Fallen Idol", but amusingly his final screen credit came in 1966, writing the commentary for "The Naked World of Harrison Marks", a British nudie/cutie movie. That's show biz!
Casting Eddie Albert and Norma Crane in the leads seems folly at first, but their very ordinariness actually fits. Lorne Greene is superb as the villain, especially his stentorian voice, perfect for the duplicitous role, even though somehow America found it so soothing as papa Cartwright.
So many small details stand out 70 years after broadcast. The costuming especially underscores the anti-Communist bent of both Orwell and America when this was performed. Today's authoritarians are a more varied set of people, ranging from Putin to Trump. Certain concepts, especially Freedom, have been double-thinked and double-talked to death over this timespan.
When Greene teaches Eddie not to believe his own lying eyes, it is so similar to the daily antics of Trump, Bannon and Steven Miller (among innumerable enablers) in trying to dupe people into believing whatever nonsense the Donald blurts out. His use of a sharpie to alter a map regarding matching his prediction to the actual outcome of a hurricane's landfall is strikingly like the alteration of newspapers (a function that is Eddie's job) to agree with outcomes to make Big Brother's predictions all come true retroactively. And in a less partisan but equally dangerous fashion, the surveillance society is already here.
After watching, I was curious as to the career of Scottish writer Wlliam Templeton, who gets the "written by" credit for this TV version. Mainly working in pedestrian TV assignments, he did contribute to the script of Carol Reed's classic film "The Fallen Idol", but amusingly his final screen credit came in 1966, writing the commentary for "The Naked World of Harrison Marks", a British nudie/cutie movie. That's show biz!
