Movie Club: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

When free-spirited petty crook Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) arrives at the state mental hospital, his contagious sense of disorder jolts the routine. He’s on one side of a brewing war, soft-spoken, cooly monstrous Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) on the other. At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward. This electrifying adaptation of Ken Kesey’s acclaimed bestseller swept all five major 1975 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Actor (Nicholson), Actress (Fletcher), Director and Adapted Screenplay. Raucous, searing and with a superb cast that includes Brad Dourif, Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd in his film debut, it soars.

Movie Club is a new series designed to spark conversation through literary adaptations and films with Hudson Valley ties! For each edition: read the book (optional but encouraged), watch the film with us, and stay for a lively discussion led by educator Vic Messick.