In 1949, a radio drama adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four aired on NBC’s University Theater, starring David Niven and featuring commentary by James Hilton. The broadcast, opening with a warning about its disturbing content, resonated deeply in a world still reeling from WWII and the threat of Soviet Communism. Orwell’s chilling tale of government surveillance and totalitarianism was as haunting then as it remains today.
