Charly

For other uses, see Charly (disambiguation).

Charly
movie poster from 1968
Directed by	Ralph Nelson
Produced by	Ralph Nelson
Screenplay by	Stirling Silliphant
Based on	Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Starring	Cliff Robertson Claire Bloom Leon Janney Lilia Skala Dick Van Patten
Music by	Ravi Shankar
Cinematography	Arthur Ornitz
Editing by	Fredric Steinkamp
Studio	ABC Motion Pictures Robertson and Associates Selmur Productions
Distributed by	Cinerama
Release date(s)	September 23, 1968 (1968-09-23) (New York City[1])
Running time	106 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Charly is a 1968 American film directed by Ralph Nelson. The drama stars Cliff Robertson (in an Academy Award-winning performance), Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten and tells the story of a mentally retarded bakery worker who is the subject of an experiment to increase human intelligence. The movie was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

Plot

Charlie Gordon (Cliff Robertson), a mentally retarded man with a strong desire to make himself smarter, has been attending night school for two years where he has been taught by Alice Kinnian (Claire Bloom) to read and write. However, his spelling remains poor and he is even unable to spell his own name.

Alice takes Charlie to the "Nemur-Straus" clinic run by Dr. Richard Nemur and Dr. Anna Straus. Nemur and Straus have been increasing the intelligence of laboratory mice with a new surgical procedure and are looking for a human test subject. As part of a series of tests to ascertain Charlie's suitability for the procedure, he is made to race Algernon, one of the laboratory mice. Algernon physically runs through a maze while Charlie uses a pencil to trace his way through a diagram of the same maze. Charlie is disappointed that he consistently loses the races. Nevertheless, he is given the experimental surgery.

After the surgery, Charlie is initially angered that he is not immediately smarter than he was before and still loses in races against Algernon. Eventually, however, he beats Algernon in a race and then his intelligence starts increasing rapidly. Alice continues to teach him, but he soon surpasses her. Charlie's co-workers also try to tease him by making him work on a machine that they know he won't be able to work. When Charlie shows he can work the machine, his co-workers don't like that he is smart now and can not be teased anymore. They petition Charlie and he loses his job at the bakery. Charlie also starts staring at Alice's bottom and breasts as well as drawing and painting abstract nude figures of her. He also questions whether Alice loves her fiancé. One night, Charlie follows Alice back to her apartment and sexually assaults her, pulling her to the floor and kissing her forcefully until she breaks free by slapping him.

The film then uses a montage sequence to show Charlie with a mustache and goatee riding a motorcycle, kissing a series of different women, smoking and dancing. At the end of the sequence, Charlie has returned home and Alice comes to visit him, both having learned during their time apart that they want to be together. A further montage sequence shows Charlie and Alice running through woods and kissing under trees accompanied by a voice-over of the two of them talking about marriage.

Straus and Nemur present their research to a panel of scientists, including a question and answer session with Charlie. Charlie is aggressive during the session and then reveals that Algernon has just died, causing Charlie to believe that his own increased intelligence is only temporary. After suffering visions of his intelligence fading and of the Charlie from before the operation following him, Charlie decides to work with Nemur and Straus to see if he can be saved. Charlie discovers that there is nothing that can be done to prevent his own intelligence from fading. Alice visits Charlie and asks him to marry her, but he refuses and tells her to leave.

Alice watches Charlie playing with children in a playground, having reverted to his former self.

Cast

• Cliff Robertson – Charlie Gordon
• Claire Bloom – Alice Kinian
• Lilia Skala – Dr. Anna Straus
• Leon Janney – Dr. Richard Nemur
• Ruth White – Mrs. Apple
• Dick Van Patten – Bert (as Richard Van Patten)
• Edward McNally – Gimpy (as Skipper McNally)
• Barney Martin – Hank
• William Dwyer – Joey
• Dan Morgan – Paddy

Production history

The novel had been the basis of The Two Worlds of Charly Gordon, a 1961 television adaptation that Robertson had also starred in for CBS's U. S. Steel Hour;^[2] Robertson bought the rights to the story, hoping to star in the film version as well.^[3]

Reception

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."^[4] 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."^[5] Screenwriter (and Hollywood blacklist target^[6]) Maurice Rapf^[7] 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."^[8]

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying "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."^[9]

Decades later, Entertainment Weekly listed Charly among its "25 Best Movie Tearjerkers Ever."^[10]

Awards

At the 40th National Board of Review Awards, Charly was fourth in their list of "Top Ten Films" of 1968, and Cliff Robertson was chosen the year's "Best Actor."^[11]

At the 41st Academy Awards, Robertson won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, under some controversy: less than two weeks after the ceremony, Time magazine mentioned the Academy's generalized concerns over "excessive and vulgar solicitation of votes" and said "many members agreed that Robertson's award was based more on promotion than on performance."^[12] The film was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, losing to 2001: A Space Odyssey.^[13]

Proposed sequel

In the late 1970s, following a period of extended unemployment that followed an act of whistle-blowing against David Begelman, the then-president of Columbia Pictures, Robertson wrote and attempted to produce Charly II, to no avail.^[14]

Home video release

Charly was released on Region 1 DVD by MGM Home Video on March 31st, 2005.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Charly (1968): Original Print Information". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/22803/Charly/original-print-info.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
2. ^ "Charly (1968): Notes". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/22803/Charly/notes.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
3. ^ Karen, Zraick (September 11, 2011). "Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson dies in US at 88". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_vP2gIpcUU3NA8YrU1rBcURyVsQ?docId=8b801a15cf2b4089a0ba17c4f4379fef. Retrieved September 12, 2011. 
4. ^ Vincent Canby (September 24, 1968). "The Screen: Cliff Robertson in Title Role of Charly". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03E1D61339E433A05757C2A96F9C946991D6CF. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
5. ^ "Cinema: Medical Menace". Time. October 18, 1968. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902474,00.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
6. ^ "Maurice Rapf, 88, Screenwriter and Film Professor". The New York Times. 2003-04-18. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/arts/maurice-rapf-88-screenwriter-and-film-professor.html. 
7. ^ [1]
8. ^ Maurice Rapf (November 1, 1968). "Is Charly Cuter Than Necessary?". Life. http://books.google.com/books?id=FUkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
9. ^ Roger Ebert (December 31, 1968). "Charly". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19681231/REVIEWS/812310301/1023. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
10. ^ "25 Best Movie Tearjerkers Ever". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20049041_20073910,00.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
11. ^ "Awards for 1968". National Board of Review. http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=1968. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
12. ^ "The Trade: Grand Illusion". Time. April 25, 1969. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,840086,00.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
13. ^ "1969 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1969-hugo-awards/. Retrieved 2011-03-25. 
14. ^ Michelle Green (December 5, 1983). "Hollywood's Mr. Clean Shot Down David Begelman; Now the Actor Has Pulled His Career Out of a Nose Dive". People (Time Inc.) 20 (23). http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20086490,00.html. Retrieved 2011-03-25. "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." 

External links

• Charly at the Internet Movie Database
• Charly at AllRovi
• Charly at Rotten Tomatoes