In which 1975 film directed by Milos Forman did Jack Nicholson play the lead character Randall McMurphy?
Jack Nicholson 1975, with his role as Randle P. McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The movie was an adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel, and was directed by Miloš Forman and co-produced by Michael Douglas. Nicholson plays an anti-authoritarian patient at a mental hospital where he becomes an inspiring leader for the other patients. Playing one of the patients was Danny DeVito in an early role. Nicholson learned afterwards that DeVito grew up in the same area of New Jersey, and they knew many of the same people. The film swept the Academy Awards with nine nominations, and won the
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film) but was unable to find a studio willing to make it with him. Eventually, he gave the rights to his son Michael Douglas, who succeeded in getting the film produced—but the elder Douglas, by then nearly 60, was considered too old for the McMurphy role, which ultimately went to 38-year-old Jack Nicholson. Douglas brought in Saul Zaentz as co-producer. The film's first screenwriter, Lawrence Hauben, introduced Douglas to the work of Miloš Forman, whose 1967 Czechoslovak film "The Firemen's Ball" had the sort of qualities they were looking for. Forman flew to California and went through the script page by