Do you remember these facts about “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)?

In 1975, the world was treated with one of the best cinematic wonders in terms of one flew over the cuckoo’s nest. Starring Jack Nicolson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, Danny DeVitto, and Brad Douriff, it shows the hidden and complex world inside a psychiatric facility in the 1960s.

Nicolson stars as Randy McMurphy who fakes mental illness to save himself from the harsh world of prison life. But when he enters the psych hospital, he is met with Nurse Ratched who is ruthless, frightening and intimidates all patients to make their life hell. Randy rebels against her and the story continues. The movie beautifully captures the struggles of patients and their journey to getting some fun back in their life.

The movie was a hit and won tons of Oscar awards. To watch this and other similar movies visit https://happygreenbeans.com/similar/1975/5111270764314624.html. Here are some facts about this classic film which may interest you. Let’s check them out.

1. A well-known studio wanted to make changes to the ending

When producers Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz were looking around for distributors, 20th Century Fox Studio was their first choice. They were interested too, but on the condition that the movie’s ending should change. The studio wanted a happy ending where McMurphy was alive. But the producers proceeded with their vision, and later United Artists studio distributed the film.

2. Louise Fletcher and Jack Nicolson wasn’t the first choice for the film

Kirk Douglas wanted to play the lead role of Randy McMurphy himself. He has performed the role on stage and wanted to continue the legacy. But it was ten years later that the work on the movie began.  By that time, his age didn’t fit the character.

The director of the film, Formon, considered tons of people for the lead role including Marlon Brando, Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman before finalizing Jack Nicolson.

The case was the same for Louise Fletcher. Angela Lansbury, Anne Bancroft, and Colleen Dewhurst were other choices for the same role as Louise, but she was the final choice.

3. The movie is not the only adaption of the book by Ken Kesey

Netflix is producing the second and most recent adaptation of the book. It focuses on Nurse Ratched and has a dark and supernatural twist to it. The TV series premiered on 18 September 2020.

4. Louise Fletcher was excited about the part and changed the perception of the director of the character.

Forman, the director wasn’t sure about casting Fletcher as she didn’t exhibit evilness. But Louise was excited about the role, and it helped with the new perception of the character. The director understood that the character of Nurse Ratched didn’t show visible evilness because she didn’t believe that what she was doing was bad. Thus, he decided that casting Louise was a perfect choice.

5. Ken Kesey, the author hated the film

Ken Kesey was part of the movie initially, but he stopped. Afterwards, he said that he didn’t like the fact that the movie was not from the perspective of Chief, a prominent character in the film. He felt that the producers were butchering his classic novel and vowed never to see it.

6. A lot of actors in the film didn’t belong to the industry

Oregon State Hospital was the place where the production team shot the psych facility scene. It was here that they found most of the actors who played prominent characters. Dr Dean Brooks, who was then in charge of the hospital, was appointed to play the character of Dr Spivey, who assessed the mental health of Nicolson’s character. It wasn’t a small role either, but Dr Brook never returned to the acting business after this one stint.

Mel Lambert was another commoner who played a part in the film. Lambert was a local businessman, and he introduced Will Sampson to the team who played the character of Chief and continued this path of acting.

7. Louise Fletcher is unable to watch the movie

She auditioned for the role for about six months and received an academy award for her portrayal of the evil nurse. But in an interview in 2012, she opened up about being unable to watch the movie anymore. She said that ‘with age, it becomes painful to watch something so inhumane’.

These facts blew my mind. The film leaves you with tons of feels and questions. The acting, direction, sound, and cinematography, everything was perfect, making it a classic.