Filmed on a $3 million shoestring budget, Jack Nicholson was the cast’s only A-lister. To ink his signature, producers negotiated a box office share of the proceeds, on top of a $1 million cut. It paid off, the film cashed in with an astounding $160 million profit.
Jack Nicolson was already famous for his roles in “Easy Rider”, “Passenger”, and the list goes on and on. He has left his mark on the screen and is considered one of the best actors Hollywood has provided.
Like Father Like Son
Michael Douglas took over the project from Kirk Douglas. Entreating his father, “Let me run with this,” he took it as a passion project. Michael absolutely loved the book. “It was a brilliantly conceived story of one man against the system,” and he dreamed of bringing it to the big screen.
With Michael at the helm, they went about casting McMurphy. Jack Nicholson clinched it over Burt Reynolds, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brandon, and several others who didn’t make the cut.
The Casting
Casting Chief Bromden was a no-brainer. Will Sampson, a member of the northern Oregon Celilo tribe, was an unknown actor and park ranger. He was the only Native American screened who was large enough to fill the part. Size mattered. At 6’7”, he was plenty tall.
Since then, he has adorned our screens in "Alcatraz; The Whole Shocking Story" and "The White Buffalo". He was a known rodeo rider. In 1987 he tragically passed away after a long illness.
Read All About It
There was one incident in the movie that made the real-life headlines. During filming, a technician left one of the hospital windows open leading to a real patient, climbing over the bars and trying to escape. This resulted in him injuring himself.
The following day, The Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon reported the incident and titled the article "One flew OUT of the cuckoo's nest".
Behind the Scenes
As real patients took part in the movie, the awareness of being filmed would have interfered with its authenticity. The cameraman knew what to do to capture reality and many of the scenes were shot without people knowing.
When everyone around him thought he was playing around with angles and lighting, he was actually filming the surroundings, and later on, these snaps were added to the movie. This way he managed to bring reality onto the screen and turn the creation into a masterpiece.