Talk:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)

The Rosenham Experiment
It would probably be relevant to work in some reference to the Rosenhan experiment into the article. While the novel is older than the experiment, the movie would probably never have been filmed without the public focus on the experiment.
 * Do you have a source for your speculation that "the movie would probably never have been filmed without the public focus on the experiment." If so, go ahead and add it. Otherwise, it's irrelevant. Cresix (talk) 02:03, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Pleased with the Plot section?
Is everyone okay with the Plot section of this article? There are many little phrases that make it long—and some that make it wrong. I'm posting this starting point here in hopes we can make the Plot section of the article a little tighter—and more accurate.

"In 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a recidivist criminal serving a short sentence on a prison farm for statutory rape, is transferred to a mental institution for evaluation. He hopes to avoid hard labor and serve the rest of his sentence in a more relaxed environment. Although he is anti-authoritarian with a history of violence, McMurphy exhibits no overt signs of mental illness.

McMurphy's ward is run by steely, unyielding Nurse Mildred Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who employs subtle humiliation, unpleasant medical treatments and a mind-numbing daily routine to suppress the patients. McMurphy finds that they are more fearful of Ratched than they are focused on becoming functional in the outside world. McMurphy establishes himself immediately as the leader; his fellow patients include Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif), a nervous, stuttering young man; Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick), a man disposed to childish fits of temper; Martini (Danny DeVito), who is delusional; Dale Harding (William Redfield), a high-strung, well-educated paranoid; and "Chief" Bromden (Will Sampson), a silent six-foot-seven Native American believed to be deaf and mute.

McMurphy's and Nurse Ratched's battle of wills escalates rapidly. When McMurphy's card games win away everyone's cigarettes, Ratched confiscates the cigarettes and rations them out. McMurphy calls for votes on ward policy changes to challenge her, and organizes a pickup game of basketball against the orderlies. He makes a show of betting the other patients he can escape by lifting an old hydrotherapy console—a massive marble plumbing fixture—off the floor and sending it through the window; when he fails to do so, he turns to them and says, "At least I tried."

McMurphy steals a hospital bus, herds his colleagues aboard, stops to pick up Candy (Marya Small), a party girl, and takes the group on a deep sea fishing trip. On the boat he tells them: "You're not nuts, you're fisherman!" and they begin to feel faint stirrings of self-determination. Soon after, however, McMurphy learns that Ratched and the doctors have the power to keep him committed indefinitely. Sensing a rising tide of insurrection among the group, Ratched tightens her grip on everyone.

During one of Ratched's group humiliation sessions, Cheswick's agitation boils over and he, McMurphy, and the Chief wind up brawling with the orderlies. They are sent up to the "shock shop" for electroconvulsive therapy. While McMurphy and the Chief wait their turn, McMurphy offers Chief a piece of gum, and Chief murmurs "Thank you". McMurphy is delighted to find the Chief is neither deaf nor mute, and discovers that he shares his distaste of the hospital establishment but stays silent to deflect attention. After the electroshock therapy, McMurphy shuffles back onto the ward feigning catatonia, before humorously animating his face and loudly greeting his fellow patients, assuring everyone that the ECT only charged him up all the more and that the next woman to take him on will "light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars."

But the struggle with Ratched is taking its toll, and with his release date no longer a certainty, McMurphy plans an escape. He phones Candy to bring booze and her friend Rose (Louisa Moritz) to the hospital late one night. They enter through a window after McMurphy bribes the night orderly, Mr. Turkle (Scatman Crothers). McMurphy and Candy invite the patients into the day room for a party; the group breaks into the drug locker, puts on music, and enjoys a bacchanalian rampage. At the end of the night, McMurphy and Chief prepare to leave with the girls by climbing out through the window. McMurphy says goodbye to everyone, and invites an emotional Billy to escape with them; he declines, saying he is not yet ready to leave the hospital—though he would like to date Candy in the future. McMurphy insists Billy have sex with Candy right then and there, and Billy (and Candy) agree. They retire to a private room. The effects of the alcohol and pilfered medication take their toll on everyone, including McMurphy and the Chief, whose eyes slowly close in fatigue.

Nurse Ratched arrives the next morning and discovers the scene: the ward completely upended and patients passed out all over the floor. She orders the attendants to lock the window, clean up, and conduct a head count. When they find Billy and Candy, the other patients applaud and, buoyed, Billy speaks for the first time without a stutter. Nurse Ratched then announces that she will tell Billy's mother what he has done. Billy panics, his stutter returns, and he starts punching himself in the crotch; locked in the doctor's office, he kills himself. McMurphy, enraged at Nurse Ratched, chokes her nearly to death until orderly Washington knocks him out.

After some time has passed, the patients in the ward play cards and gamble for cigarettes as before, only now with Harding dealing and delivering a pale imitation of McMurphy's patter. Nurse Ratched, still recovering from the neck injury sustained during McMurphy's attack, wears a neck brace and speaks in a thin, reedy voice. The patients pass a whispered rumor that McMurphy dramatically escaped the hospital rather than being taken "upstairs".

Late that night, Chief Bromden sees McMurphy being escorted back to his bed, and initially believes that he has returned so they can escape together— which he is now ready to do since McMurphy has made him feel "as big as a mountain". However, when he looks closely at McMurphy's unresponsive face, he is horrified to see lobotomy scars on his forehead. Unwilling to allow McMurphy to live in such a state—or be seen this way by the other patients—the Chief smothers McMurphy with his pillow. He then carries out McMurphy's escape plan by lifting the hydrotherapy console off the floor and hurling the massive fixture through a grated window, climbing through and running off into the distance."

As I said, it's a starting point.—HarringtonSmith (talk) 09:37, 4 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Does anyone object if I replace the existing "Plot" section with this one above?—HarringtonSmith (talk) 05:28, 12 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Obviously this page is not on many watchlists anymore. At this brief moment I have no big objections to the transfer of this version but you should be ready for others to remove plot points that you thought that you were shortening the article and they think are too much detail. MarnetteD | Talk 06:28, 12 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks for responding MarnetteD—I'm glad someone's watching! I would hope that people do trim it up. I did a quick trim myself. Thanks again.—HarringtonSmith (talk) 17:38, 12 December 2010 (UTC)


 * Copied revision into article (with several more minor trims). I left the old version there, hidden, until everyone is satisfied.—HarringtonSmith (talk) 05:48, 20 December 2010 (UTC)


 * See my separate entry on this. All good, except for Harding, who is not paranoid, but a closeted homosexual. This is made clear in Kesey's book. At that time, it was considered a mental disorder. The actor, William Redpath, certainly highlights this aspect of Harding, and it is inferred throughout the film by other characters as well as by Harding himself (albeit by way of an elaborate denial where no direct accusation has been made). Hanoi Road (talk) 16:36, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

Citation Needed
It is my understanding that in the novel we are never told the setting of the events occurring in the book, but this article states that the novel took place at the same mental institution that was used for the filming of the movie. I think this is false. It would be greatly appreciated if someone would investigate. Ebmonkey2 (talk) 16:31, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Juicy Fruit
Chief actually mumbles "Thanks" after being handed the gum. McMurphy hands him a second piece in an attempt to get him to say something else, and that's when Chief says "Juicy Fruit," proceeded by a conversation between the two. I don't know if anyone cares to edit this tidbit in, under "Plot." At current, it's not exactly factual. -- Charles Stover 08:21, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Ran at cinema in Sweden for 11 years?
Stumbled upon a link to this article, mentioning the film's record run at the cinemas in Stockhom, Sweden. Now that fact has been deleted, as it was unsourced.

''The film was shown in Swedish cinemas for nearly 11 years – between early 1976 and winter of 1986/1987 – which is still a record. When Forman learned this, he said, "I'm absolutely thrilled by that... It's wonderful."''

However, here is a source for at least part of the deleted paragraph... Whether it's still a record, or what Forman's litteral reaction was isn't cited, but according to the linked source the movie was shown for 573 weeks (until 1987). Might be an interesting trivia fact for the article.

Differences between Movie and Novel
I really don't care that the section detailing this (which did have a link to a source, unlike what the deleter says) was deleted, since I rewrote it slowly and sold it to a content farm. BUT there should be a section. Other movies adapted from novels have such sections, and some of them have no footnotes (attributions) at all. Shemp Howard, Jr. (talk) 23:35, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Unnecessary sentences
I noticed that in the plot there is some dialogue actually quoted. In all, save for one instance, the dialogue is completely unnecessary and should be removed.216.58.83.16 (talk) 01:51, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

Awards and Honors
I added a finish to this sentence which was promptly removed - even though the link is provided, the sentence gives a brief summary. As it was deleted, the sentence is actually incomplete, even without punctuation. I think that the sentence was accurate and should be returned because of felicitousness.

Either way, the current correction should be, itself, edited to conform to grammatic standards.

AS IS: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won all of the "Big Five" Academy Awards at the 48th Oscar ceremony

AS PROPOSED: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won all of the "Big Five" Academy Awards at the 48th Oscar ceremony, one of only three films to achieve such a feat, the other two being It Happened One Night (1934) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

goej (talk) 04:28, 5 July 2014 (UTC)


 * We don't need all of the names of the other films in that section - it just clutters things up. A) adding them is WP:OR B) The names of the films is not relevant to this article. C) It is relevant at the article about those that have won the "big 5" and we have a link to the article about their winning the awards for readers who want to know their names. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 04:37, 5 July 2014 (UTC)


 * OK aside from my first message the item did not belong above the table. I have moved the relevant link into the section above where the 48th Oscar awards were already mentioned. BTW I am not sure what this word (felicitousness) is supposed to be. Also the grammar here "won all of the "Big Five" Academy Awards" is a bit dodgy as it says the same thing twice. MarnetteD&#124;Talk 04:57, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Comedy-drama?
According to Rotten Tomatoes, its genres are "Drama, Classics, Comedy". I too felt it to be quite light in tone. Kailash29792 (talk) 08:23, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

National Film Registry mention
I have no idea why continues to remove this paragraph in the reception section. It is clearly significant for any film to be put on that registry. Yes it states it in the lead as well but that is the point. The lead is supposed to be a summary of the entire article. Removing it from the reception section only leaves it in the lead which is not appropriate. --Majora (talk) 22:51, 13 September 2016 (UTC)
 * I didn't restore it because there wasn't a source attached, but I do agree that it is significant enough to mention.LM2000 (talk) 22:58, 13 September 2016 (UTC)
 * There wasn't a source because it kept being removed. Sorry bout that. I readded it. --Majora (talk) 23:02, 13 September 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks, didn't know that. It deserves to stay and I'll keep an eye on it.LM2000 (talk) 23:40, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Title capitalization
Hi. Why isn't the title of this article 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)' with 'over' as uncapitalized? Four-letter prepositions (like 'over') aren't capitalized as per MOS:TITLECAPS. Thanks, CelestialWeevil (talk) 23:16, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Dale Harding
It is obvious that the Harding character is a closet homosexual and this is hinted at by other patients during the film. There is a memorable scene in which he makes a shrill, semi-hysterical denial of this, and his predicament seems to fuel his anger and arrogance. I wonder whether referencing this is relevant. He is a key character, and defined by his ongoing denial. Most reviews of the film - including one by Ebert - arrived at the same conclusion. Hanoi Road (talk) 22:11, 2 August 2020 (UTC)

Chief Bromden
Some time ago, I qualified Bromden's charade with the qualifier that he is not a "deaf mute". This is one of the core points of the film. I will make the edit again. The source is the film itself, where this is made perfectly obvious (he later speaks, and can hear). I would ask anyone who reverts this to make a case to the contrary, rather than simply vandalising a correction. Hanoi Road (talk) 02:28, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Media Effects
— Assignment last updated by Srpasq (talk) 20:07, 18 March 2024 (UTC)