Movie Description
Milos Foreman's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, based on the novel by Ken Kesey and the play by Dale Wasserman, presents a biting and ultimately tragic satire about mental institutions and the human spirit. A disturbing, witty, and electrifying drama, the film won the 1975 Academy Award for Best Picture. R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a misbehaved con who shirks authority, finds himself in an asylum after faking insanity to get out of work detail in prison. The vivacious troublemaker soon finds himself in a worse kind of prison--one presided over by the repressed, terrifyingly quiet Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), whose set of rules and regulations are meant to suppress patients' psychotic outbursts, and their spirits. It's not long before McMurphy is reaching out to his new inmates, trying desperately to bring life to an otherwise dead atmosphere. To Ratched, however, Nicholson's free spirit is as dangerous as a schizophrenic impulse. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is brilliantly acted by an ensemble that includes Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, and Danny DeVito.
| Credits | | Producer: | Michael Douglas, Saul Zaentz | | Cast: | Brad Dourif, Dean R. Brooks, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Mwako Cumbuka, Nathan George, Vincent Schiavelli, William Duell |
| Details | | Edition: | Standard and letterbox |
Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Audio:
Widescreen - 1.85:1
Full Frame - 1.33:1
Audio:
Dolby Digital Stereo - English
Dolby Digital Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Interactive Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Text/Photo Galleries:
Production Notes, Theatrical release: November 20, 1975.
Filmed on location at the Oregon State Mental Hospital in Salem, Oregon.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is number 20 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST was added to the Library of Congress National Film Registry in 1993.
On November 3, 1963, the stage adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel was brought to Broadway, starring Kirk Douglas as McMurphy. (Gene Wilder also appeared in the show.)
The film marked the debut of actor Brad Dourif.
Estimated budget: $4.4 million.
The production was aided by the labor of inmates of the institution where they were filming.
Danny De Vito and Christopher Lloyd, who played two of the patients, later worked closely together on the television show Taxi, which also featured guest appearances by Vincent Schiavelli, another inmate in CUCKOO'S NEST. All three actors also appeared in Forman's MAN ON THE MOON.
Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, and Burt Reynolds were all considered for the role that ultimately went to Jack Nicholson. Kirk Douglas, producer Michael Douglas's father, had played McMurphy onstage and was interested in the part for the film; Douglas told Newsday in January 2001, "I think my dad was disappointed that I hadn't given him the role."
Anne Bancroft, Colleen Dewhurst, Ellen Burstyn, Angela Lansbury, and Geraldine Page were all offered the role that ultimately went to Louise Fletcher.
The film played in theaters in Sweden for 11 consecutive years.
Editorial Reviews
"...[A] masterpiece..."
Los Angeles Times - Kevin Thomas (09/23/1999)
"...Nicholson's performance is one of the high points in a long career of enviable rebels..."
Chicago Bulletin - Roger Ebert (02/02/2003)
"...[Nicholson's] flamboyant performance is balanced perfectly by superb character turns from Brad Dourif, Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito..."
Sight and Sound - Geoffrey Macnab (12/01/2002)
"Nicholson's manic and slightly corrosive charm motors this study of one roistering inmate's effect on an entire mental institution."
Premiere - Premiere Staff (04/01/2004)
"Milos Forman's masterpiece."
Total Film - Daniel Webb (03/01/2004)
Awards
1975Academy AwardsBest ActorJack Nicholson, 1975Academy AwardsBest ActressLouise Fletcher, 1975Academy AwardsBest DirectorMilos Forman, 1975Academy AwardsBest Film EditingSheldon Kahn, 1975Academy AwardsBest Picture, 1975Academy AwardsBest Screenplay Adapted from Other MaterialBo Goldman, 1975Academy AwardsBest Screenplay Adapted from Other MaterialLawrence Hauben
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