On this date in 1975 Milos Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Danny DeVito premièred at the Sutton and Paramount. 10 things you might not know about it:
The film was based on a novel by Ken Kesey, published in 1962. The title comes from a nursery rhyme which appears in the book: “Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn, Apple seed and apple thorn, Wire, briar, limber lock, Three geese in a flock. One flew East, One flew West, And one flew over the Cuckoo's nest.”
The book was made into a stage show in 1963, with Kirk Douglas in the leading role. Douglas owned the rights, and wanted to make a film of it at the time with director Miloš Forman. Douglas posted a copy of the book to Forman, but it never arrived. It was possibly confiscated by customs but neither party knew that. Hence Forman was annoyed with Douglas for not sending the book and Douglas was annoyed with Forman for not acknowledging receipt. It was only when Kirk’s son Michael decided to have another go at making the movie that the misunderstanding came to light.
Kirk Douglas had always fancied playing Randle Patrick McMurphy himself, but by the time the film was being made, he was too old. Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, and Burt Reynolds were all considered for the part before it finally went to Jack Nicholson. Likewise, several actresses were considered for the part of Nurse Ratched before it went to Louise Fletcher including Anne Bancroft and Angela Lansbury.
At first, Forman envisaged Nurse Ratched as “the personification of evil,” but the part evolved to suit Louise Fletcher so that in the end, she’s just the tool used by an evil system, believing that she’s actually helping people by doing her job.
Nurse Ratched didn't have a first name in the book. Louise Fletcher chose "Mildred".
The filming location was a real hospital. The actors lived in the psychiatric ward during filming and got to know real patients. As part of the process of getting to know their characters, Forman had the actors take part in ad lib therapy sessions, and secretly filmed them. Some of that footage ended up in the film.
Many of the people who appear in the film aren’t actors. Dr. John Spivey is actually facility superintendent Dr. Dean Brooks; Mel Lambert (Harbor Master) is a car salesman who happened to sit next to Michael Douglas on a plane; Will Sampson (Chief Bromden) was a Park Ranger in Oregon selected for the part because he was the only Native American the casting department could find who was big enough to play the character. Patients in the hospital used as a location appeared as extras and some got jobs as part of the crew. One was cured of a lifelong stutter as a result.
Jack Nicholson and Forman fell out over a plot point and refused to speak to each other for much of the production process. Any necessary communication was carried out by cinematographer Bill Butler as a middleman.
The rigours of filming and separation from his future wife got to Danny DeVito so much that he invented an imaginary friend to talk to. Becoming concerned that he might actually be going mad, DeVito sought medical advice and was told he was fine as long as he was aware that the friend was imaginary.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is one of only three films to win all of the “Big Five” Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. The other two are It Happened One Night in 1934 and The Silence of the Lambs in 1991.
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Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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