Charly | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ralph Nelson |
Screenplay by | Stirling Silliphant |
Based on | Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes |
Produced by | Ralph Nelson |
Starring | Cliff Robertson Claire Bloom Leon Janney Lilia Skala Dick Van Patten |
Cinematography | Arthur J. Ornitz |
Edited by | Fredric Steinkamp |
Music by | Ravi Shankar |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 106 minutes [2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $2,225,000 [3] |
Box office | $8,500,000 (rentals) [3] |
Charly (marketed and stylized as CHAЯLY) is a 1968 American science fiction drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on Flowers for Algernon , a science-fiction short story (1958) and subsequent novel (1966) by Daniel Keyes.
The film stars Cliff Robertson as Charly Gordon, an intellectually disabled adult who is selected by two doctors to undergo a surgical procedure that triples his IQ as it had done for a laboratory mouse that underwent the same procedure. The film also stars Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney, Dick Van Patten and Barney Martin. Robertson had played the same role in a 1961 television adaptation titled "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon," an episode of the anthology series The United States Steel Hour .
The film received positive reviews and was a success at the box office and later in home media sales. Robertson won Best Actor at the Academy Awards. [4]
Charly Gordon is an intellectually disabled man who lives in Boston. He has a desire to learn and has attended night school for two years, taking a class taught by Alice Kinnian. He learns to read and write, though his spelling and penmanship are poor and he is unable to spell his own name. He works as a janitor at a bakery, where his coworkers amuse themselves by taking advantage of his disability, and he enjoys playing with children at a playground.
Alice takes Charly to researchers Dr. Richard Nemur and Dr. Anna Straus, who have been investigating methods for increasing intelligence. Having successfully tested a surgical procedure on a lab mouse named Algernon, they are looking for a human test subject. They put Charly through a battery of aptitude tests and have him try to solve a series of paper mazes while Algernon runs through models of them. Charly consistently loses to Algernon, but is selected for the surgery.
After surgery, Charly loses to Algernon again and is frustrated at not immediately becoming smarter. After some time passes, he finally beats Algernon and his intelligence begins to increase. His coworkers tell him to operate a complex machine, hoping that he will break it so they can have the day off, but he successfully operates it. Embarrassed and frightened by his new intelligence, they persuade the bakery owners to fire Charly. Alice continues teaching him, but his intelligence continues to increase and eventually surpasses hers. Lacking emotional maturity, Charly becomes infatuated with Alice and confesses his love for her, but she sharply rejects his advances. He flees in an act of rebellion but eventually returns to Boston, and the two start to consider marriage.
Nemur and Straus present their research at a scientific convention. After playing the film of Charly's original aptitude tests, they bring him out for a question-and-answer session. He is now the intellectual equal or superior of everyone in the audience, but he has also developed a cynical view of humanity that the attendees mistake for humor. He reveals that Algernon has lost his enhanced intelligence and died, facts that the research team kept from him, and expects to undergo a similar decline. Fleeing the convention and seeing hallucinations of his previous self everywhere, Charly stops to help a busboy pick up a tray of dropped glasses after observing that he is intellectually disabled.
Charly overhears Alice, Nemur, and Straus discussing his situation and offers to assist in finding a way to preserve his intelligence, but their combined efforts prove fruitless. He falls into a depression and asks Alice never to visit him again. Some time later, Alice sees Charly playing with children on the playground, having fully regressed to his original level of disability.
The short story Flowers for Algernon had been the basis of "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon", a 1961 television adaptation in which Robertson had also starred for The United States Steel Hour . [5] Robertson had starred in a number of television shows that were turned into films with other actors playing his roles, such as Days of Wine and Roses . He bought the rights to the story, hoping to star in the film version as well. [6]
Robertson originally hired William Goldman to write the screenplay on the strength of Goldman's novel No Way to Treat a Lady , paying him $30,000 out of his own pocket. [7] However, Robertson was unhappy with Goldman's work and then hired Stirling Silliphant to write a draft. [8]
Robertson received $25,000 for his role in the film. [9]
The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on June 28, 1968. [1] It then opened at the Baronet Theatre in New York City on September 23, 1968. [1]
The film was a hit, earning $7.25 million in theatrical rentals during its release in North America, and it earned an additional $1.25 million in theatrical rentals overseas, making it the 16th-highest-grossing film of 1968. [10] After all costs were deducted (including $1,325,000 paid to profit share), the film reported a profit of $1,390,000, making it one of the few successful films made by Selmur/ABC Pictures. [3]
Vincent Canby called the film a "self-conscious contemporary drama, the first ever to exploit mental retardation for...the bittersweet romance of it"; he called Robertson's performance "earnest" but points out that "we [the audience] are forced into the vaguely unpleasant position of being voyeurs, congratulating ourselves for not being Charly as often as we feel a distant pity for him." Canby calls Nelson's direction "neo-Expo 67", referring to the use of split screen to "show simultaneously the reactions of two people facing each other and conversing" and the use of "little postage stamp-sized inserts of images within the larger screen frame." [11] Time magazine called Charly an "odd little movie about mental retardation and the dangers of all-conquering science, done with a dash of whimsy." While "the historic sights in and around Charly's Boston setting have never been more lovingly filmed", "The impact of [Robertson's] performance...is lessened by Producer-Director Ralph Nelson's determination to prove that he learned how to be new and now at Expo '67: almost every other sequence is done in split screens, multiple images, still shots or slow motion." [12] Screenwriter Maurice Rapf [13] called Robertson's performance "extraordinary" and called "astonishing" his on-screen "transformation from one end of the intellectual spectrum to the other"; Rapf took issue with what he called the "pyrotechnics of the camera" and the "flashy opticals", calling the effects "jarringly out of place" and better suited for a "no-story mod film like The Knack ." [14]
Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, writing "The relationship between Charly (Cliff Robertson) and the girl (Claire Bloom) is handled delicately and well. She cares for him, but inadequately understands the problems he's facing. These become more serious when he passes normal IQ and moves into the genius category; his emotional development falls behind. It is this story, involving a personal crisis, which makes Charly a warm and rewarding film." By contrast, Ebert pointed out "the whole scientific hocus-pocus, which causes his crisis, is irrelevant and weakens the movie by distracting us." [15]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "Rotten" score, with 55% of 20 critics giving the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.2/10. [16]
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly listed Charly among its "25 Best Movie Tearjerkers Ever." [17]
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Actor | Cliff Robertson | Won | [18] |
Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | Ralph Nelson | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Drama | Nominated | [19] | |
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Cliff Robertson | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Stirling Silliphant | Won | ||
Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | Ralph Nelson, Stirling Silliphant, and Daniel Keyes | Nominated | [20] |
Laurel Awards | Top Drama | Nominated | ||
Top Male Dramatic Performance | Cliff Robertson | Nominated | ||
National Board of Review Awards | Top Ten Films | 4th Place | [21] | |
Best Actor | Cliff Robertson | Won |
In the late 1970s, following a period of extended unemployment after having alerted authorities to illegal activities committed by Columbia Pictures president David Begelman, Robertson wrote and attempted to produce Charly II, to no avail. [22]
Charly was released on Region 1 DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on March 31, 2005. [23]
William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories: first for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and then for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).
Clifford Parker Robertson III was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Charly.
Ralph Nelson was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing Lilies of the Field (1963), Father Goose (1964), and Charly (1968), films which won Academy Awards.
D.A.R.Y.L. is a 1985 science fiction adventure film directed by Simon Wincer and written by David Ambrose, Allan Scott, and Jeffrey Ellis. It stars Mary Beth Hurt, Michael McKean, Kathryn Walker, Colleen Camp, Josef Sommer, and Barret Oliver. It follows a seemingly normal young boy who turns out to be a top secret, military-created robot with superhuman abilities.
Papillon is a 1973 historical adventure drama prison film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. was based on the 1969 autobiography by the French convict Henri Charrière. The film stars Steve McQueen as Charrière ("Papillon") and Dustin Hoffman as Louis Dega. Because it was filmed at remote locations, the film was quite expensive for the time ($12 million), but it earned more than twice that in its first year of release. The film's title is French for "Butterfly", referring to Charrière's tattoo and nickname.
Daniel Keyes was an American writer who wrote the novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.
Sleep-learning or sleep-teaching is an attempt to convey information to a sleeping person, typically by playing a sound recording to them while they sleep. Although sleep is considered an important period for memory consolidation, scientific research has concluded that sleep-learning is not possible. It appears frequently in fiction.
The Best Man is a 1964 American political drama film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner with a screenplay by Gore Vidal based on his 1960 play of the same title. Starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson and Lee Tracy, the film details the seamy political maneuverings behind the nomination of a presidential candidate at their party's national convention. The supporting cast features Edie Adams, Margaret Leighton, Ann Sothern, Shelley Berman, Gene Raymond and Kevin McCarthy. Lee Tracy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance and it was his final theatrically released film.
"HOMR" is the ninth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The 257th episode overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 2001. In the episode, while working as a human guinea pig, Homer discovers the root cause of his subnormal intelligence: a crayon that was lodged in his brain ever since he was six-years-old. He decides to have it removed to increase his IQ, but soon learns that being intelligent is not always the same as being happy.
David Begelman was an American film producer, film executive and talent agent who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s.
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas is a 1968 American romantic comedy film directed by Hy Averback and starring Peter Sellers. The film is set in the counterculture of the 1960s. The cast includes Joyce Van Patten, David Arkin, Jo Van Fleet, Leigh Taylor-Young and a cameo by the script's co-writer Paul Mazursky. The title refers to writer Alice B. Toklas, whose 1954 autobiographical cookbook had a recipe for "Haschich Fudge". The film's eponymous theme song was performed by sunshine pop group Harpers Bizarre.
Rolling Thunder is a 1977 American psychological thriller film directed by John Flynn, from a screenplay by Paul Schrader and Heywood Gould, based on a story by Schrader. It was produced by Norman T. Herman, with Lawrence Gordon as executive producer. The film stars William Devane alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Haynes, James Best, Dabney Coleman, and Luke Askew in supporting roles.
Ace Eli and Rodger of the Skies is a 1973 American adventure comedy film directed by John Erman from a screenplay by Claudia Salter. The film centers on a barnstorming pilot and his son as they fly around the United States in the 1920s, having adventures along the way. One of the driving forces behind the production, Robertson was a real life pilot, although Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Tallman flew most of the aerial scenes. The film was the first feature credit for filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who wrote the story.
Last of the Mobile Hot Shots is a 1970 American drama film. The screenplay by Gore Vidal is based on the Tennessee Williams play The Seven Descents of Myrtle, which opened on Broadway in March 1968 and ran for 29 performances.
No Way to Treat a Lady is a 1968 American psychological thriller film with elements of black comedy, directed by Jack Smight, and starring Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal, and Eileen Heckart. Adapted by John Gay from William Goldman's 1964 novel of the same name, it follows a serial killer in New York City who impersonates various characters in order to gain the trust of women before murdering them.
Flowers for Algernon is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, later expanded by him into a novel and subsequently adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960. The novel was published in 1966 and was joint winner of that year's Nebula Award for Best Novel.
Limitless is a 2011 American science-fiction thriller film directed by Neil Burger and written by Leslie Dixon. Loosely based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn, the film stars Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert De Niro, Andrew Howard, and Anna Friel. The film follows Edward Morra, a struggling writer who is introduced to a drug called NZT-48, which gives him the ability to use his brain fully which helps him vastly improve his lifestyle.
Masquerade is a 1965 British comedy thriller film directed by Basil Dearden based on the 1954 novel Castle Minerva by Victor Canning. It stars Cliff Robertson and Jack Hawkins and was filmed in the U.K. and in Spain.
No Way to Treat a Lady is a 1964 novel by William Goldman.
Flowers for Algernon is a 2000 American-Canadian television film written by John Pielmeier, directed by Jeff Bleckner and starring Matthew Modine. It is the second screen adaptation of Daniel Keyes' 1966 novel of the same name following the 1968 film Charly.
Hoping to capitalize on his 1968 Oscar-winning role in Charly, playing a mentally retarded man who becomes, briefly, a genius, he wrote and began peddling Charly II, only to have the film's backers pull out.