Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

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

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

François Truffaut (screenplay), Jean-Louis Richard (screenplay)

Stars:

Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Julie Christie	...	Clarisse / Linda Montag
Oskar Werner	...	Guy Montag
Cyril Cusack	...	Captain Beatty
Anton Diffring	...	Fabian / Headmistress
Jeremy Spenser	...	Man with the Apple
Bee Duffell	...	Book Woman
Alex Scott	...	Book Person: 'The Life of Henry Brulard'

Storyline

Based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name. Guy Montag is a firefighter who lives in a lonely, isolated society where books have been outlawed by a government fearing an independent-thinking public. It is the duty of firefighters to burn any books on sight or said collections that have been reported by informants. People in this society including Montag's wife are drugged into compliancy and get their information from wall-length television screens. After Montag falls in love with book-hoarding Clarisse, he begins to read confiscated books. It is through this relationship that he begins to question the government's motives behind book-burning. Montag is soon found out, and he must decide whether to return to his job or run away knowing full well the consequences that he could face if captured.

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Plot Keywords:

haircut | futuretro | memorizing a book | 1960s | near future | 

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Taglines:

What if you had no right to read?

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farenhajt 451

Filming Locations:

14 Linkway, Edgcombe Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglo Enterprises, Vineyard Film Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first forbidden book Montag reads is Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield. The child actor Mark Lester plays one of the two schoolboys who runs from Clarisse in fright the day of her dismissal. Lester would come to fame 2 years later playing the lead in Oliver!, a musical based on another Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Announcer: An Enterprise Vineyard Production. Oskar Werner, Julie Christie... in Fahrenheit four-five-one.

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Crazy Credits

The beginning credits are spoken instead of written on the screen.

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Alternate Versions

Originally Noel Davis (who plays Cousin Midge) did the opening voice over. In the current version it is done by Alex Scott ("The Life of Henry Brulard" Book Person).

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Wrong Movie Predictions About the Future (2013)

User Reviews

Engrossing, underrated sci-fi

From Ray Bradbury's novel about totalitarian society that has banned books and printed words in order to eliminate independent thought; Oskar Werner plays professional book-burner who becomes enraptured with stories. Possibly a bit too thin at this length, but a fascinating peek at a cold future (which the times have just about caught up to). Didn't get a warm reception from critics in its day, yet the performances by Werner and Julie Christie (in a dual role as both Werner's wife and a rebel acquaintance) are top notch. I was never a fan of director François Truffaut's too-precious stories of childhood, but this film, curiously his only English-language picture, is extremely well-directed; the sequence with the woman and her books afire is one amazing set-piece, with tight editing, incredible and precise art direction, and the camera in all the right places. Truffaut lets you feel the agony of book paper curling up black in a mass of orange flames, and the proud defiance of the woman as she herself strikes the match. Unforgettable. *** from ****