ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

Cliff Robertson gives a stand-out performance as Charly Gordon, a 30-year-old mentally impaired man who undergoes an experimental operation designed to increase his intelligence.

The story follows Robertson's progressive mental development, along with the corresponding emotional development which accompanies his new-found ability to understand the world around him.

Claire Bloom is excellent as Robertson's school teacher and the woman who becomes the focus of Robertson's long-delayed sexual awareness. Robertson's intelligence increases until he becomes a genius, but an unsuspected aspect of the experimental operation gives the plot a tragic twist.

The story is based on Daniel Keyes' short story Flowers for Algernon, which was later expanded to novel length. Both the literary and film versions are enormously touching, funny, and thought-provoking. The script by Sterling Silliphant is pure gold. Expertly directed by Ralph Nelson.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Rick]

Saw this in the theater when it was brand new and liked it a lot. I did think that Cliff Robertson's performance, Oscar or not, was just a mite overcooked.

I found him easy to believe as a genius, but his un-intelligent scenes were a little too precious for me.

Still a very good movie.

But. . . I tried showing it to my sons when they were young and they would have none of it. I don't think we got five minutes into the thing before I caved to their fervent demands that I turn it off.

Their complaints had nothing to do with story or performance. It was purely the look of the film that enraged them. My older son said it had that "70s look" (although, of course, it's actually a little older than that.) I knew what he meant. It's that gauzy, soft focus, desaturated colors thing, at least in part. He was right, it is a look shared by many movies of that period. It doesn't bother me. Matter of fact, it's kind of nostalgic for me. But for my sons, it was unpalatable.
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Man need not kneel before the angels,
Nor lie in death forever,
But for the weakness of his feeble will.

[Custer]

Here's my scan of the cover of the April 1959 issue of F&SF, where the story first appeared. The cover artwork, by Emsh, is for the story of course, though since Daniel Keyes was a comparatively new writer, his name isn't visible.



The short novelet "Flowers for Algernon" does lead off the issue. Let me quote the introduction by editor Robert P. Mills.

"Homo Superior has appeared in science fiction rather more frequently than Homo Inferior - which is hardly surprising in a field devoted to extrapolation. Daniel Keyes, who has been a seaman, briefly a science fiction editor, and an English teacher, proves himself a Writer Superior in the following poignant and curiously suspenseful story of Charlie Gordon,who has an I.Q. of 68, and a tremendous will to triple it."

This was the writer's fifth published story — he'd had "The Trouble With Elmo" in Galaxy the previous year, and three stories published in 1952. It made quite a stir, winning the Hugo for Best Short Fiction in 1960. The longer version was nominated for the Hugo for Best Novel in 1967 (losing out to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein), and won that year's Nebula, beating books by Asimov, Niven, Zelazny, Farmer, Pohl, Vance, Herbert, Niven, Anderson, and more . . . a strong year!

[Krel.]

I saw this at the show, I was nine, or ten at the time. I have absolutely no idea as to what made me want to see this movie at that age. Even stranger, I remember liking the movie.

A few years later, in school, I read "Flowers For Algernon" in one of those digest they used to handout in school. It was a surprise when I recognized it as the movie I had seen a few years before.

David.

[Custer]

Nice - I wonder if the digest you read was Stories from Science Fiction?



With Brian Aldiss, J.G. Ballard, H.G. Wells, Algis Budrys, Harry Harrison, Arthur C. Clarke, John Wyndham, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley, and Fredric Brown on board, it's an impressive line-up! That does seem to be a British publication, though perhaps there were other editions - over on the US side Stories of Suspense might qualify..

[Steve Joyce]

Don't know how many bulletin boards I've posted this on thru the years but I would give my eye teeth to view The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon, starring Cliff Robertson (the TV adaptation).

BTW, Charly is a fav tho' it comes across as dated in places.
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"There is a planet in the Solar System where the people are so stupid they didn't catch on for a million years that there was another half to their planet." - Kilgore Trout.

[alltare]

"The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" can be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/0DfrzQ2Z8vY .

It's an hour long.

[Custer]

Cliff Robertson played the main character in the TV version, "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon," which was apparently nominated for the Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation, in 1961, and returned seven years later for the movie version, which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. His return was no coincidence - frustrated at the progress of his career, Wikipedia says, Robertson had optioned the rights to the TV play he had appeared in. He hired William Goldman to write a script.

He had quite a career - Wikipedia notes that "His last well-known film appearances were from 2002–2007 as Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man film trilogy."

[Krel]

Cliff Robertson was one of the first, if not the first to fight the studios creative accounting practices on paying the actors profit sharing. This put a huge roadblock on his career.

David.

[Bogmeister]

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Cliff Robertson won the Oscar for his role as the title character — a mentally retarded man who undergoes a new experimental procedure which transforms him over the course of several weeks into a genius.

The reason that Robertson won is obvious: he essentially plays two different characters in this film and the differences are staggering. It's also startling to see such two opposites in one film. He depicts the gradual change in Charly as he becomes smarter.

This is not some lurid sci-fi/horror film (a la Frankenstein) or even very much of a sci-fi story, it's more of a psychological study of the human condition through the prism of such a radical metamorphosis — the change is in the mind, not the body. The sci-fi element is this miracle treatment, yes, but it's merely the catalyst for most of the story.

_____________________ Charly (1968) clip


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The most interesting scenes are when Charly begins to get smarter. Most of the stuff before and after is kind of dull, including his eventual romance with Claire Bloom's character (his doctor/psychiatrist), though there is always something of interest.

The film also relies way too much on that multiple-screen-images technique so prevalent in the late sixties in film. There's a montage when he runs off to find himself, joins a motorcycle gang and becomes a swinger. It's brief and comes off as silly — it should have conveyed a long stretch of time, but it fails.

There is, however, a riveting scene near the end when Charly is presented on stage to a large group of scientists. The main thing about this film is that it causes a viewer to think things over afterwards.

BoG's Score: 7.5 out of 10


BoG
Galaxy Overlord Galactus

[Pow]

There was also a TV~movie done that was pretty decent as I recall.

[Pow]

From Wiki & IMDB.

Cliff Robertson was frustrated at seeing roles that he performed in for television anthology shows, such as "The Days of Wine and Roses," be adapted for films with different actors cast in the lead role.

To that end, after Robertson first played Charley Gordon on the U.S. Steel Hour's anthology series "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon," he purchased the rights of the novel to make into a film with himself as Charlie.

Robertson hired William Goldman to write the screenplay on the strength of Goldman's script for the film "No Way to Treat a Lady." Cliff payed Goldman $30,000 out of his own pocket. Coincidentally, that movie starred Rod Steiger, who was married to Claire Bloom.

Cliff was unhappy with Goldman's screenplay, he then hired Stirling Silliphant to write a draft.

Robertson received only $25,000 for his role.

Before Charly gains his intelligence, he writes left handed---once he becomes brilliant, he write's with his right hand.

The movie was a critical and box office success.

The project was done again for television in 2000 as "Flowers for Algernon," starring Matthew Modine as Charlie Gordon.

[Pow]

Wikipedia gives a summation of the Daniel Keyes' novel. Here are some things not dealt with in the film.

When Charly gains his high intelligence, he begins to recall that his mother, Rose, physically abused him and wasted money on fake treatments for Charly.

His younger sister, Norma, resented him.

His father abandoned the family years ago.

Charly attempts to get closure with his family before his intelligence fades away.

Rose has dementia and only recognizes him briefly. She is being cared for by Norma in their recently depressed neighborhood.

Charly's father doesn't know him at all after so many years.

Unable to bear becoming dependent and pitied by his friends as his new high I.Q. begins to regress, Charly decides to live at the Warren State Home and Training School. No one there knows anything at all about his surgical operation.

He requests that someone from his past place flowers at Algernon's grave in the backyard of his former residence. -----------------------------------------------------------
Note: Whew! No wonder they did not include all of this depressing and heartbreaking stuff in Charly's life in the film.

Firstly, it would have taken up too much time from the central story.

Secondly, the film already has a sad ending to it. Packing in all of his dysfunctional family history could only make it worse.

[Bud Brewster]

[Bud Brewster]

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I love the movie, but I've never seen the TV version.

U.S. Steel Hour: "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" (2/22/1961)


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)