One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Timing: 2:13 (133 min)

8.412/10
11342

8.508/10
384155

8.6/10
1200000

All about film

Video 31

Photo 108

Actors and characters

Release date

1975-11-19

Country

United States

Production

United Artists, Fantasy Films

Genre

Drama

Budget

$3 000 000

Revenue

$108 981 275

Website

Director

Miloš Forman

Actors

Jack Nicholson, Brad Dourif, Louise Fletcher, Danny DeVito, William Redfield, Scatman Crothers, Christopher Lloyd, Will Sampson, Dean R. Brooks, Michael Berryman
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Saul Zaentz, Michael Douglas

Operator

Haskell Wexler

Composer

Jack Nitzsche

Artist

Audition

Jane Feinberg, Mike Fenton

Editing

Lynzee Klingman, Sheldon Kahn
All team (42)

• The film is based on Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1962).
• Ken Kesey wrote his book inspired by his work at a California state hospital for veterans.
• Kirk Douglas held the rights to the film adaptation for a long time, but his son, no less famous Michael Douglas, ultimately took on the project. Nevertheless, Kirk retained the right to receive a percentage of the profits.
• Among the contenders for the role of Randle Patrick McMurphy were such famous actors as James Caan, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Burt Reynolds. Ultimately, the role was offered to Jack Nicholson.
• Kirk Douglas wanted to play one of the roles, but by the time the project was launched, he had aged too much.
• The most difficult moment in the creation of the film was that no serious film studio wanted to take on such a dubious project. Kirk Douglas met Miloš Forman in Prague, where he told him about his plans and immediately offered him the position of director.
• Ken Kesey, the author of the novel of the same name, wrote a screenplay for the film, but it did not appeal to Forman, as the narrative was told from the perspective of Bromden. After that, an offended Kesey stated that he would never watch the adaptation of his own novella 'in such a perverted form.' Moreover, he even sued the film's producers, but his claim was dismissed.
• Many years later, Ken Kesey lay in his own bed, flipping through TV channels in search of something interesting to watch. Unexpectedly, he came across a rather curious film. Only a few minutes passed before he realized what the picture was, and immediately switched to another channel.
• Most of the extras were actually mentally ill patients. Each member of the film crew was assigned 2-3 patients so that they could find something resembling mutual understanding with the patients.
• Louise Fletcher received the role only a week before filming began. This event was preceded by about six months of continuous auditions. Miloš Forman couldn't decide to cast this actress in the project, but after viewing other candidates, he repeatedly invited Louise to auditions until he finally made a final decision.
• Besides Louise Fletcher, Anne Bancroft and Ellen Burstyn also competed for the role of Nurse Mildred Ratched.
• Before starting the filming process, Miloš Forman gathered the entire film crew and showed them the film “Titicut Follies” (1967).
• This film marked the big-screen debut of Brad Dourif (best known as the voice of the killer doll Chucky in the 1988 film *Child's Play*) and Christopher Lloyd (Dr. Brown from the 1985 film *Back to the Future*).
• Milos Forman's film was the second in history to win all the major awards at the Academy Awards ceremony: 'Best Picture,' 'Best Director,' 'Best Adapted Screenplay,' 'Best Actor,' and 'Best Actress.'
• Throughout the filming process, actor William Redfield was seriously ill. Several months after completing work on the project, William passed away.
• Will Sampson argued with Forman about the concept of the Chief Bromden role and ultimately played it his own way.
• In English, there is a common expression 'cuckoo's nest' meaning 'mental hospital.'
• Alexander Morfov staged the play "Eclipse" based on the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the Lenkom Theater.
• With the exception of the fishing scene (which was filmed last), the entire film was shot sequentially. The fishing scene was filmed in the smallest harbor in the world, located in Oregon.
• Forman did not want to film the fishing scene at all, as he believed it would destroy the feeling of confinement experienced by the patients within the hospital space.
• The film is based on Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1962).
• Miloš Forman’s film was the second in history to win all the most significant awards at the Academy Awards ceremony: "Best Picture", "Best Director", "Best Adapted Screenplay", "Best Actor", and "Best Actress".
• In English, there is a set expression "cuckoo's nest" which means "mental institution".
• Alexander Morfov staged the play "Eclipse" based on the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the Lenkom Theatre.