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 Charly
1968 - USA - 115 min. - Feature, Color
Director
Ralph Nelson
Genre/Type Science Fiction, Drama, Romance
From book "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
Produced by Cinerama Releasing Corporation / Cinerama Releasing
Corporation
/ Selmur Pictures
Plot Synopsis:
In 1961, Cliff Robertson starred in "The Two Worlds of Charley
Gordon," a TV
adaptation of Daniel Keyes' story "Flowers for Algernon."
Determined not to
lose out on the film version of this play , Robertson bought
up the movie
rights to Keyes' story so that he and he alone would star.
This
determination paid off in the form of the "Best Actor" Academy
Award for
Robertson in 1968. The star plays Charly, a 30-year-old mentally
retarded
bakery worker. Neurosurgeon Dr. Richard Nemur (Leon Janney)
and psychiatrist
Dr. Anna Straus (Lilia Skala) approach Charly and ask him
to participate in
an experiment. Previously, Dr. Nemur was able to accelerate
the intelligence
of a mouse named Algernon by performing a radical new form
of brain surgery;
could not such a procedure work on a human being? As a result,
Charly not
only achieves normal intelligence, but also becomes a genius.
Emboldened by
his new mental status, Charly proposes marriage to his very
receptive
special-ed teacher (Claire Bloom). Alas, Charly notices that
Algernon has
begun to regress . . . . and reasons, correctly, that soon
he will return to
his old developmentally challenged state. A winner in virtually
every
respect. -- Hal Erickson
Cast:
Cliff Robertson - Charly Gordon
Claire Bloom - Alice Kinian
Leon Janney - Dr. Richard Nemur
Lilia Skala - Dr. Anna Straus
Dick Van Patten - Bert
William Dwyer - Joey
Dan Morgan - Paddy
Barney Martin - Hank
Ruth White - Mrs. Apple
Frank Dolan - Eddie
Ralph Nelson - Convention speaker
Skipper McNally - Gimpy
Credits:
Ralph
Nelson - Director / Producer
Selig J. Seligman - Executive Producer
Stirling Silliphant - Screenwriter
Arthur Ornitz - Cinematographer
Franz Steininger - Editor
Frederic Steinkamp - Editor
John De Cuir - Production Designer
Ravi Shankar - Composer (Music Score)
Collin Walcott - Conductor
Charles Rosen - Art Director
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