One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Release date 19th November 1975
Country : USA
Running time : 134 mins
Genre : Drama
Starring Jack Nicholson
 Screenplay based on the novel by Ken Kesey
Directed by Milos Forman

    A free spirit Randle McMurphy confronts Nurse Ratchit a domineering woman who sticks to the rules. He eventually loses the battle but his belief in freedom inspires others.

A great anti-authority film which gets over its point beautifully through powerful acting. Nicholson's McMurphy was a career peak for him. The realism of the setting is also brilliantly maintained, these people don't seem like actors but real patients in a hospital.

 

Many of the extras were real mental patients but the actors got so into the spirit of the film that it was hard to tell them apart.

Kirk Douglas possessed the rights for many years but the time the film was made he was too old to star. His son Michael became the producer.

The part of Randle McMurphy was offered to Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman before Nicholson.