One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Released: November 19, 1975

Studio: United Artists

Genre: drama

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 112.00 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 503.03 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Milos Forman

Screenwriting: Bo Goldman, Lawrence Hauben

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Brad Dourif, Will Sampson, Michael Berryman

Review:

The story, based on the 1962 novel by Ken Kesey, is “a compelling, socially-conscious portrait of mental institution patients pitted against a tyrannical, sinister head nurse.” ^FS Jack Nicholson is Randle P. McMurphy, “a free-spirited, ebullient, rebellious convict [who] feigns insanity to avoid a jail sentence” ^FS for statutory rape.

He “sparks new life in the downtrodden inmates, giving them purpose and self-worth.” ^A07 “His heroic, crazed struggles against oppression, conformity and the manipulative, authoritarian nurse symbolize the rebellious ‘60s era.” ^FS However, he “must call on all his emotional resources to stay sane.” ^VD “He is taken down and pays the ultimate price for his messianic, outrageous non-conformity with a zombie-producing lobotomy. The strong and silent Indian (Sampson) that he has befriended relieves his pitiful misery.” ^FS

“Art and life entwined in this film…While a mental institution served as the foundation of the story, cast and crew worked with extras and supporting crew members who were actually patients at the Oregon State Mental Hospital.” ^MSN “One of the best films ever made, with endless classic scenes.” ^VD