Charly (poster title: CHA?LY) is a 1968 film which tells the story of a mentally retarded bakery worker. The film stars Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten.

The movie was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. In turn, the novel was based on a short story of the same title, by the same author. The movie was directed by Ralph Nelson.

Cliff Robertson won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work in this movie.

Robertson had appeared in many television versions of screenplays that had gone on to be made into movies starring other actors (most notably Days of Wine and Roses, which had starred Jack Lemmon). When he starred in the The Two Worlds of Charly Gordon, a 1961 television adaptation of Flowers for Algernon, he bought the movie rights so that he would be certain to star in the film version as well.

Plot

A mentally retarded bakery worker, Charly (Cliff Robertson), becomes a subject of an experiment to increase his mental capacity. After he reaches genius level, he becomes sophisticated and charming; however, he realizes that the treatment is temporary, and that he will soon revert to his previous mental ability. Laboratory tests showed that similar procedures performed on lab rats (Algernon) had only temporary benefits lasting a few weeks, with the rat reverting to the previous state. Charly senses his mental faculties slipping away.

External links

1968 filmsFilms featuring a Best Actor Academy Award winning performance Films directed by Ralph NelsonFilms based on science fiction booksFilms set in MassachusettsAmerican filmsEnglish-language filmsCharly Charly