— Ch. 1 · Thirteen Years Of Struggle —
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film).
~6 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Kirk Douglas announced his company Joel Productions had acquired the rights to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1962. He intended to star as McMurphy and produce both a stage play and film adaptation. The project stalled for over a decade before filming began in January 1975. George Roy Hill was originally hired to direct based on Dale Wasserman's stageplay script. Douglas struggled to find any studio willing to finance the movie with him attached. Jack Nicholson tried to buy the rights himself but lost out to Douglas. Michael Douglas eventually convinced his father to let him produce the film after years of delays. Richard Rush optioned the project in 1973 but could not secure major studio financing. Hal Ashby replaced Rush as director only to be replaced by Miloš Forman later that year. Forman fled Czechoslovakia due to political pressure from the Soviet Union. He met Douglas in Prague during an Eastern Bloc tour years earlier. The two fell out of contact when Czech authorities placed Forman under surveillance. They finally reunited when Douglas sent Forman a copy of the novel while he was suffering a mental health crisis in New York City. Forman read the book and immediately flew to California to discuss production. He told producers he saw the story as real life from his own experience growing up under Communist rule.
Recasting And Casting Struggles
Principal photography began the 13th of January 1975, inside the Oregon State Hospital in Salem. The facility remained operational even though original buildings have since been demolished. Dean Brooks served as hospital director and appeared as Dr. John Spivey in the film. Brooks identified patients for each actor to shadow during rehearsals. Some cast members slept on the wards overnight while filming. Many of these background extras were criminally insane according to producer Kirk Douglas. Forman used three cameras simultaneously for group therapy scenes to capture authentic reactions. This technique cost more than usual but allowed for genuine interactions between actors. Haskell Wexler started as cinematographer before being replaced by Bill Butler. Wexler claimed his firing resulted from his work on a documentary about radical groups. Forman stated artistic differences caused the change. Both Wexler and Butler received Academy Award nominations for their work. Nicholson refused to speak directly to Forman during production. He only communicated through Butler throughout the entire shoot. The budget exceeded two million dollars initially but reached four point four million total. Saul Zaentz personally financed the difference by borrowing against Fantasy Records.
Randle McMurphy feigns mental illness to avoid hard labor at a work farm. He arrives at an institution dominated