Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Ray Bradbury (novel)
François Truffaut (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

14 November 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Aflame with the excitement and emotions of tomorrow!

Plot:

In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Fireman | Television | Book Burning | Dystopian

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Oskar Werner	...	Guy Montag
Julie Christie	...	Clarisse / Linda Montag
Cyril Cusack	...	The Captain
Anton Diffring	...	Fabian / Headmistress
Jeremy Spenser	...	Man with the Apple
Bee Duffell	...	Book Woman
Alex Scott	...	Book Person: 'The Life of Henry Brulard'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noel Davis	...	Cousin Midge - TV Personality
Gillian Aldam	...	Judoka Woman (uncredited)
Michael Balfour	...	Book Person: Machiavelli's 'The Prince' (uncredited)
Ann Bell	...	Doris (uncredited)
Yvonne Blake	...	Book Person: 'The Jewish Question' (uncredited)
Arthur Cox	...	Male Nurse (uncredited)
Frank Cox	...	Book Person: 'Prejudice' (uncredited)
Fred Cox	...	Book Person: 'Pride' (uncredited)
Judith Drinan	...	Book Person - Plato's 'Republic' (uncredited)
Kevin Elder	...	Robert - First Schoolboy (uncredited)
Joan Francis	...	Telephonist (uncredited)
Denis Gilmore	...	Book Person: 'The Martian Chronicles' (uncredited)
David Glover	...	Book Person: 'The Pickwick Papers' (uncredited)
Caroline Hunt	...	Helen (uncredited)
Edward Kaye	...	Judoka Man (uncredited)
Mark Lester	...	Second Schoolboy (uncredited)
Gillian Lewis	...	TV Announcer (uncredited)
Eric Mason	...	Male Nurse (uncredited)
Charlie McFadden	...	Nervous Man at Post Box (uncredited)
Roma Milne	...	Clarisse's Neighbor (uncredited)
Michael Mundell	...	Trainee Stoneman (uncredited)
Anna Palk	...	Jackie (uncredited)
Donald Pickering	...	TV Announcer (uncredited)
John Rae	...	Book Person: 'Weir of Hermiston' (uncredited)
Tom Watson	...	Instructor Sergeant (uncredited)
Chris William	...	Trainee Black (uncredited)
Earl Younger	...	Book Person's Nephew: 'Weir of Hermiston' (uncredited)

Directed by
François Truffaut

Writing credits
Ray Bradbury		(novel)
François Truffaut		(screenplay) and
Jean-Louis Richard		(screenplay)
David Rudkin		additional dialogue (uncredited)
Helen Scott		additional dialogue

Produced by
Lewis M. Allen	....	producer
Miriam Brickman	....	executive producer
Michael Dalamar	....	associate producer
Jane C. Nusbaum	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bernard Herrmann

Cinematography by
Nicolas Roeg

Film Editing by
Thom Noble

Production Design by
Syd Cain
Tony Walton

Art Direction by
Syd Cain

Costume Design by
Tony Walton

Makeup Department
Joyce James	....	hair stylist
Basil Newall	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ian Lewis	....	production manager
Tony Walton	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bryan Coates	....	assistant director

Art Department
Yvonne Blake	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Robert T. MacPhee	....	sound (as Bob McPhee)
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound mixer
Norman Wanstall	....	sound
Barry Gray	....	electronic sound effects (uncredited)
Graham V. Hartstone	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)
Charlie McFadden	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Otto Snel	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Les Bowie	....	special effects
Charles Staffell	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Alex Thomson	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yvonne Blake	....	assistant costume designer (uncredited)

Other crew
Kay Mander	....	continuity
Suzanne Schiffman	....	assistant to director

Production Companies

• Anglo Enterprises
• Vineyard Film Ltd.

Distributors

• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1966) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Film (1966) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Epoca (Argentina) (video)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1969) (USA) (TV)
• Rainbow Products Limited (1995) (Australia) (video)
• Seven Films (2009) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Universal Home Video (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures France (UPF) (1966) (France) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Home Video (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Väinän Filmi (1966) (Finland) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Rank Films Processing Division

Other Companies

• Bowie Films Ltd.  special effects facilities
• Synchro-Mondiale  post-synchronisation

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Anglo Enterprises

Trivia:

Amongst the actresses considered for the role of Clarisse/Linda Montag was Jean Seberg.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the books are being burned in the beginning of the movie, some books that are on the ground suddenly appear in the fire pit even though nobody moved them.

Quotes:

Guy Montag: Well, it's a job just like any other. Good work with lots of variety. Monday, we burn Miller; Tuesday, Tolstoy; Wednesday, Walt Whitman; Friday, Faulkner; and Saturday and Sunday, Schopenhauer and Sartre. We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That's our official motto.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fahrenheit 451, the Novel: A Discussion with Author Ray Bradbury (2003) (V)

visionary brilliance

Go figure that I had the privilege of seeing "Fahrenheit 451," for free, on a big screen a few years back (an independent Illinois art house had gotten hold of what was allegedly one of the last surviving prints), and at the time hadn't the foggiest concept of how PRIVILEGED an event it was. Sitting in a theater crowded with college students on a budget with nothing better to do, I watched this diverting little retro item, appreciated its subtlety, nuance, bold visual style, and 'got' the message that if we're not careful, we'll be mindless drones having our desires dictated by The Tube (in current times, that's hardly a profound statement).

Francois Truffaut's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel is a bold visual feast that presents a time that might seem 'retrograde' in the eye of a modern pop-culture snob, but ultimately projects what a conceivable 'future' might look like (and not that CGI malarkey served up in "The Matrix"). Interiors of houses are awash in odd colors and give shelter to appliances that don't look dissimilar from our own; TV screens embedded in living-room walls play programs which vacuous housewives interact with sometimes. The film is so relentlessly confident in its appearance that it withstands the test of time.

Though if "Fahrenheit 451" only had its storybook style to rely on, it would fade and be filed away as a mere technical achievement. Truffaut, working from strong source material, concocts a riveting parable about ignorance and the things we, as humans, take for granted. The story follows Guy Montag, an Everyman who is employed as a fireman--a connotation which entails ransacking residences in search of books (reading and writing have been outlawed in this world) and burning them. He has a medicated-smile wife (Julie Christie), a quiet home life, and is in line for a promotion, until a neighbor (Christie again) inspires him to question his motives for working such a sordid job.

One character argues that books cause depression, making people confront unpleasant feelings. "Fahrenheit 451" sometimes runs the risk of lending truth to that statement--in some ways, it is a bleak commentary on civilization, but at the same time grounded in a benevolent humanity that offsets Orwell's brutal, pessimistic world of "1984" (though both texts and films share similar themes). This humanity is underlined in an upbeat, even comic ending (the details of which I won't divulge here).

"Fahrenheit 451" is a spellbinding work of art, in good company with other incendiary works ("A Clockwork Orange" and "Fight Club" come to mind) that have defied the constraints of time and age.