Jack Nicholson as Randle P. McMurphy
From the acclaimed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) directed by Miloš Forman, about a recidivist petty criminal who feigns mental illness in order to have his sentence commuted to a state psychiatric hospital, but finds the system beats him down in manners which are in many ways much more harsh and cruel than the prison system.
Cuckoo’s Nest won the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, Screenplay), the first time since It Happened One Night in 1934, a feat not repeated until 1991, by The Silence of the Lambs.
The best selling novel by Ken Kesey was adapted for the stage in 1963 by a production driven by Kirk Douglas, playing the McMurphy role. Hollywood legend has it that by the time the film was produced under Douglas’ son Michael in the seventies, Douglas Jr decided against casting his father in the role as he was too old to play the character. Kirk got over his anger and disappointment, and we missed out on his shameless hamming, as that of James Caan, Brando, and Hackman; all considered, who would have each bought a different dynamic to the role, (and in terms of Brando perhaps a touch of genuine nuttiness).
Jack announced himself with this role as the true contender for actor of his generation, after strong performances in Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail and Chinatown over the preceding five years. The film also presented us with a number of brilliant performances from the supporting cast including William Redfield (who was dying from cancer), Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, and novice actor Will Sampson as The Chief. Filmed in the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, the cast playing the patients eventually slept in the ward beds their characters used as props. Danny DeVito became concerned they were in fact, all going mad. The role of Chief Psychiatrist Dean R. Brooks was played Dr. John Spivey, the actual head of the hospital.
Having the ability to elevate a mediocre film to a good film through his performances alone, in the brilliance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nicholson still shines brightest, especially next to the quiet malevolence of Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched, who won the academy award for best Actress in the role.
Described as “A film of almost elemental force”, as clichéd as it sounds it will make you laugh out loud, and if you’re not seriously stunned or on the verge of tears by the final scene you’d have to be dead from the neck-up.
(Click on the image for a large-scale version; hold apple/control and wheel your mouse to fit in screen)
From the acclaimed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) directed by Miloš Forman, about a recidivist petty criminal who feigns mental illness in order to have his sentence commuted to a state psychiatric hospital, but finds the system beats him down in manners which are in many ways much more harsh and cruel than the prison system.
Cuckoo’s Nest won the five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, Screenplay), the first time since It Happened One Night in 1934, a feat not repeated until 1991, by The Silence of the Lambs.
The best selling novel by Ken Kesey was adapted for the stage in 1963 by a production driven by Kirk Douglas, playing the McMurphy role. Hollywood legend has it that by the time the film was produced under Douglas’ son Michael in the seventies, Douglas Jr decided against casting his father in the role as he was too old to play the character. Kirk got over his anger and disappointment, and we missed out on his shameless hamming, as that of James Caan, Brando, and Hackman; all considered, who would have each bought a different dynamic to the role, (and in terms of Brando perhaps a touch of genuine nuttiness).
Jack announced himself with this role as the true contender for actor of his generation, after strong performances in Five Easy Pieces, The Last Detail and Chinatown over the preceding five years. The film also presented us with a number of brilliant performances from the supporting cast including William Redfield (who was dying from cancer), Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito, Scatman Crothers, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, and novice actor Will Sampson as The Chief. Filmed in the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, the cast playing the patients eventually slept in the ward beds their characters used as props. Danny DeVito became concerned they were in fact, all going mad. The role of Chief Psychiatrist Dean R. Brooks was played Dr. John Spivey, the actual head of the hospital.
Having the ability to elevate a mediocre film to a good film through his performances alone, in the brilliance of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Nicholson still shines brightest, especially next to the quiet malevolence of Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched, who won the academy award for best Actress in the role.
Described as “A film of almost elemental force”, as clichéd as it sounds it will make you laugh out loud, and if you’re not seriously stunned or on the verge of tears by the final scene you’d have to be dead from the neck-up.
(Click on the image for a large-scale version; hold apple/control and wheel your mouse to fit in screen)
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