Central Oregon Daily News’ “Destination Oregon” recently traveled to Salem to highlight the 50th anniversary of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The film that won five Academy Awards was set at Oregon State Hospital in Salem.
Author Ken Kesey’s book about the institutional overreach and the dehumanization of the mentally ill was kryptonite to many mental institutions who did not want to be associated with this controversial cultural issue. So when Hollywood came looking for a place to make the movie, there were no takers.
“The story goes that they looked around the West Coast to find a place that would welcome them and they kept getting rejected because of how the movie dealt with mental health issues and people did not want to be associated with it,” Oregon Film Executive Director Tim Williams said. “Cut to the Oregon State Hospital.”
Dr. Dean Brooks ran the Oregon State Hospital at the time and he had a different reaction to Kesey’s book.
