One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is regarded as one of the best 10 films ever made. It definitely made Jack Nicholson into a Superstar. The film released in 1975, swept the board at the Oscars. Winning Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenplay.
Based on the bestselling novel by Ken Kesey, it’s about a prisoner Randle Patrick McMurphy who is serving prison time for Statutory rape. He is then transferred to a mental institution. Mac uses this opportunity at the mental hospital to escape going back to prison. He hopes that he will be able to serve the rest of his sentence in the mental hospital. The mental hospital is not the pleasant environment that Mac thought it would be.
The ward is run by an unbending rule nurse Mildred Ratched. She pushes her patients to the limits with mental stress and unwanted medical treatments. The patients are afraid of Ratched and are more focused on her than their treatment plan. Mac immediately defines himself as a leader and gathers a group of other patients (Billy Bibbit, Charlie Cheswick, Martini, Dale Harding, Max Taber, Jim Sefelt, and Chief Bromden), encouraging their rebellion.
Just as a foot note. Michael Douglas (producer) originally wanted his father Kirk to play the role of McMurphy, but because of the length of time it took to bring it to the big screen. It was felt that he was too old to play the character.
