FAQ for
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be found here.

Yes. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1962 novel by American author Ken Kesey (1935-2001). The novel was adapted for the movie by screenwriters Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman.

It is a line from the book. When Chief Bromden receives electroshock therapy, he says a line from a nursery rhyme as part of his pained babble: "...one flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo's nest." The full verse is "Wire, briar, limber-lock, Three geese in a flock, One flew east, one flew west, And one flew over the cuckoo's nest." This scene is not in the movie.

The most notable difference is that the story is told from the point-of-view of Chief Bromden (Will Sampson) not from that of Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson).

After receiving a frontal lobotomy, McMurphy is in a catatonic state. Realizing that his friend can no longer escape with him, Chief Bromden sets him free from the asylum by suffocating him with a pillow. Bromden then picks up the water fountain, which McMurphy tried to throw out the window earlier in the film. Bromden succeeds, and escapes from the hospital.