One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest 1975

The Film:

It's the second of only three films so far to win the "Big Five" awards (and the first was way back in the mid-thirties). It's another personal favourite of mine and an absolute masterclass in acting and directing.

Jack Nicholson had already been around for a few years (this was his fifth nomination!) but this was the film that really cemented his place in Hollywood history (filed under "legend"). He is remarkable in this film and I am mainly looking forward to seeing it again for his performance.

My office-mate Mark (who has been mentioned here before, and probably will be again), on hearing that this was next on the list, just said "that's a very sad film". I can't disagree with that, but I do remember laughing once or twice last time I watched it. And it's a film that I enjoy. I'm not sure how those things can fit together.....

The Ceremony:

March 29th at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - hosted by Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, George Segal, Goldie Hawn and Gene Kelly. How incredibly 70s is that line-up?!

The whole thing kicked off with a song and dance number led by 72 year old Ray Bolger (sort of like Neil Patrick Harris at the Tonys, but without any irony whatsoever) and ended with Liz Taylor, Gene Kelly and a whole Marching Band! (it's all there on Youtube!)

Somewhere in the middle of all this an honorary award was presented to 83 year old Mary Pickford - one of the first Hollywood Megastars and the first female Hollywood Mogul. She received it from her home - and the footage of this (including a bit of a guided tour) is definitely worth checking out on Youtube!


Other Notable Winners That Night:

Cuckoo's Nest took all the big ones - so what was left for everyone else?

The Big Five (although technically there's only four here -
two producers and no screenwriters!)

To lighten the mood, the two Supporting Acting Awards went to comedy performances - George Burns in "The Sunshine Boys" and Lee Grant in "Shampoo". "Dog Day Afternoon" took the other Screenplay award whilst "Barry Lyndon" and "Jaws" were the only films other than Cuckoo's Nest to take more than one Oscar - the former mainly for artsy categories, the latter for Sound, Film Editing and *that* Score, giving John Williams his second Oscar, but first (of four) for Original Score.

It was also the first time (but definitely not the last!) that a British animator won an Oscar - the great Bob "Roobarb" Godfrey took the Animated Short Film award for "Great" - a half hour musical film about Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I vaguely remember watching it many years ago. Here's an excerpt:

Best Song:

Robert Altman's Nashville was nominated for five awards, including the two big ones. It won one, for Best Song, "I'm Easy" - written and performed by Keith Carradine (and performed with varying degrees of competence at many folkie evenings since!)

What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:

She's dead...

It goes without saying that we had the right winner on the night. I personally don't think any of the other nominees were ever really in contention. There's Altman's "Nashville" - which is one of his best, but is still very episodically Altman and more than a bit marmite because of it. Then there's Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" - overlong and overboring. "Dog Day Afternoon" is a really good film that still gets rave reviews today, but may have confused some of the Academy back in the day (by its dark "dramedy" tone as much as the transgender storyline). My runner-up award probably should go to Dog Day Afternoon, but I'm going to have to go all populist and give it to the other nominated film - the mighty Jaws. Because people still talk about it and watch it more than 40 years on. I was watching a Netflix thing the other day with Carol Burnett and a bunch of precocious young kids, and one of them (aged about 6) was obsessing about wanting to watch Jaws and be scared, but not wanting to watch it coz it might be too scary. For a film to still have that affect on someone who hasn't even seen it that long after it was released - well, it deserves something!

Our Verdict:

Earning every bit of that Oscar!

I think this is about the fourth time I've seen this film. I can confirm everything I said above - Jack Nicholson is remarkable, it is a very sad film, it made me laugh and I really enjoyed it. The seemingly impossible mix of all of those things is what makes it a truly great film. I have no doubt that I will watch it again sometime in the not too distant future.

Based (loosely and contentiously) on Ken Kesey's novel, the basic premise is that McMurphy is a habitual criminal who pleads insanity to try and get himself an easier sentence for his most recent crimes. He gets sent to a high security mental institution which is run by the cold and compassionless Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

Watching the World Series.

The film follows Mac as he gets his head around exactly what he has let himself in for. He meets a varied and interesting assortment of fellow patients (including several played by actors who went on to more famous roles in the 80s - Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Vincent Schiavelli, Michael Berryman) and he  bonds with them through a combination of treating them all as perfectly reasonable individuals and refusing to blindly follow Ratched's rules without questioning them.

Mmmmm Juicy Fruit!

The interactions with the other patients are brilliantly handled. Whenever Mac leads a little (or slightly bigger) rebellion, I'm willing them all on. Even though we know that Mac is inside for violence and statutory rape it is very difficult to not like him. (This seems to be a recurring theme in the 70s - the fourth year in a row that I'm cheering for criminals!) The relationship he builds up with Chief Bromden is brilliantly done - and a great example of how to deal effectively (Mac) and ineffectively (Ratched) with selective mutism.

The film has a dark note running all the way through it, which is shown subtly in the first half of the film in the character of Nurse Ratched. When Louise Fletcher won her Oscar she thanked everyone for hating her so much - and she plays the role with such coldness and controlled power that she could almost be classed as evil. (Although not quite)

Some villains are not quite as obvious as others -
but no less deadly!

Her attitude towards the patients - and to young Billy Bibbit in particular - leads to several tragedies in the second half of the film. All arguably entirely of her making, and certainly avoidable if she had behaved differently. The fact that we don't know the reason why she behaves the way she does, and that we don't really find out how the events have affected her personally, just adds to the cold and detached nature of the character. That's a credit to the screenwriter, director and actress! (Although there is a small part of me that would love to see a film following everything from Ratched's perspective - I sort of want to feel sympathetic towards her, but I'm given no reason to do so, so I can't. Which is both brilliant and frustrating!)

This film deserved every one of its awards and it is right up there in my Top Ten in this challenge. The ending is almost unbearably sad, but with just enough of a glimmer of hope to make the previous two hours worth every second. A triumph!