George Orwell on Screen

<p> British author and essayist George Orwell shot to fame with two iconic novels: the anti-Stalinist satire <I>Animal Farm</I> and the dystopian masterpiece <I>Nineteen Eighty-Four</I>.</p><p> A few years after his death in 1950 the CIA bankrolled screen adaptations of both novels as Cold War propaganda. Orwell's depiction of a totalitarian police state captivated the media in the 1980s. Today mounting anxieties about digital surveillance and globalization have made him a hot property in Hollywood.</p><p> Drawing on interviews with actors writers directors and producers this book presents the first comprehensive study of Orwell on film and television. Beginning with CBS's 1953 live production of <I>Nineteen Eighty-Four</I> that mirrored the McCarthy witch hunts the author covers 20 wide-ranging adaptations documentaries and biopics including two lost BBC dramatizations from 1965.</p>