1984 (1956 film) 1984 (1956 film) 1984 is a 1956 British black-and-white science fiction film, based on the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell, depicting a totalitarian future society. This is the first cinema rendition of the story, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Edmond O'Brien as protagonist Winston Smith, and featuring Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling, and Michael Redgrave. The character O'Brien, the antagonist, was renamed "O'Connor", due to the shared surname of the actor Edmond O'Brien. The film was distributed in 1956 on a double bill with another British sci-fi film, "The Gamma People". After the customary distributor agreement expired, the film
Once a Hero (novel) Once a Hero (novel) Once a Hero is a science fiction novel by Elizabeth Moon. It is the first of the three books of the Esmay Suiza trilogy in Moon's fictional Familias Regnant universe, following the three of the Heris Serrano trilogy. Chronologically, "Once a Hero" directly follows "Winning Colors", even overlapping partially, but the focus distinctly shifts to young Esmay Suiza, who came to prominence after successfully leading a mutiny against her traitorous captain and intervening to decisive effect in the Battle of Xavier (as "Winning Colors" records). Suiza is not immediately praised and feted for her heroism, however,