BEHIND ICONIC MOVIE

Inmates as extras, a legal battle with author Ken Kesey and a family feud between Michael and Kirk Douglas over casting... as One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest turns 50 ahead of a small screen series, PETER SHERIDAN reflects on one of the greatest ever films

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grave. "It's based on the book, and the book was told through the eyes of Chief Bromden," said producer Paul Zaentz, son of the original movie's co-producer Saul Zaentz. "So the television series would be told through his eyes.

The first season will end with McMurphy's mercy killing after a lobotomy leaves him a shell of his former self, and season two will follow the Chief after he escapes from the secure mental ward. Casting has not yet begun, but hopefully will not be as fraught as it was for the 1975 movie.

DeVito was the first actor cast: a former roommate of Michael, he had played psychiatric patient Martini in an off-Broadway revival of Cuckoo's Nest, and reprised the role for the film.

Louise Fletcher played cold, cruel Nurse Ratched, after the part had been turned down by stars including Anne Bancroft, Angela Lansbury and Colleen Dewhurst. The only Cuckoo's Nest spin-off so far has been the 2020 prequel series Ratched, which was axed after one season.