Rating: PG
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 03/08/2005
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 104 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: MGM
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 as he'd done with
Days of Wine and Roses,
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 he reasons that he also will return to his old developmentally challenged state.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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