Review of Fahrenheit 451 (1966) by Daniel P — 23 Aug 2013

This film first appeared in theaters in 1966. The Vietnam War was just getting under way. The Pentagon was beefing up its disinformation campaign that was later documented in David Halberstam's book The Best and the Brightest. The film is based on a novel by Ray Bradbury, first published in 1953, when the hysterical Red Scares of McCarthyism were near their peak.

The friction had a couple of effects on the film. Truffaut, eager to begin filming wrote the screenplay before fully mastering English. Even Truffaut was disappointed in the end with the stiff, flat dialog. For Truffaut, Fahrenheit 451 was his first, and last, English-language film. This may have contributed to the flatness of the characters.