Welcome to the Ward

A nice rest in a state mental hospital beats a stretch in the pen, right?

Randall P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a free-spirited convict with lightning in his veins and glib on his tongue, fakes insanity and moves in with what he calls the "nuts."

Immediately, his contagious sense of disorder runs up against numbing routine. On one side is McMurphy; on the other is soft-spoken Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). At stake is the fate of every patient on the ward.

He fits in frighteningly well, and his different point of view actually begins to cause some of the patients to progress. Nurse Ratched becomes his personal cross to bear as his resistance to the hospital routine gets on her nerves.

As the conflict of wills escalates, and as some of the other patients begin expressing themselves under McMurphy's inspiration, he is finally lobotomized for being a "danger" to himself and others.

Themes