Directed by: Milos Forman
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco, William Redfield
Genres: Drama
Other mistake: The movie is a time piece set in the year 1963. After McMurphy jumps the fence, there is an orange/red Ford Pinto in the scene. Ford Pinto's weren't introduced until 1970. (00:51:27)
Other mistake: In the scene where the Chief smothers McMurphy, when the Chief pulls the pillow away from McMurphy's face, you can see McMurphy's tongue moving up and down even though he is supposed to be dead. (02:03:45)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where McMurphy gets upset while playing blackjack, he gets up and walks towards the nurses' quarters to turn down the volume on the record player. Martini and Bibbit are still sitting at the card table while McMurphy is walking towards the nurses' quarters but when he gets inside, Martini is already leaning against the counter of the nurses' quarters with Bibbit close behind him. (00:27:00)
McMurphy: What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin'? Well you're not! You're not! You're no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets, and that's it.
Trivia: In the scene where Doctor Spivey is interviewing McMurphy, this whole scene is improvised. Spivey (Dr. Dean Brooks) is the ACTUAL doctor of the institute in real life, and was simply told to interview Jack Nicholson (McMurphy) as if he was a real patient. Nicholson had to improvise and get from the beginning of the scene to the end.
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Answer: It's better explained in the novel, where the Chief is the narrator. Essentially, he played deaf and dumb, so he'd be left alone by the Nurse and the staff; seeing what they did to the other patients, he figured the less he was noticed, the better. In this way, he is privy to a lot of the seedier goings-on, since they don't think he can hear what they're saying or tell anyone what he's seen.