Charly

I saw this movie at the drive-in when I was 12. I recall finding it to be a touching tragedy. I used to volunteer with "the special ed class", and found the students there to be gentle and grateful and affectionate, and could never understand how the other kids could make fun of them the way they did. But that only explains how and why this touched me personally, even at the age of 12.

Reviews some 30 years after this film was made are very critical, calling it 'schlock', and criticizing the simplification of a complex issue. However, over the last 30-40 years, society has become more enlightened about both mental retardation, but also about what science can and cannot do. It was easier to suspend belief and go with the concept.

At the time, this movie conveyed something new about how a mentally retarded person might view their situation....that alone made this film unique; lots of people never even considered the feelings of the mentally retarded, so this film surely opened some eyes.

And way ahead of it's time (I'm sure this was never considered in making the film), because it conveys the feelings and reactions of someone who is losing their intellectual capacity....such as those suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. At that time, little thought was given by the average person about the feelings of either the mentally retarded, or people with Alzheimer's or dementia.

I'm sure the book was better than the movie; that almost always goes without saying. However, movies reach audiences that books sometimes don't, and this movie reached a new audience.

I'm afraid too many reviewers are unable to see an older movie and not hold it to the same standards, socially, scientifically and a cinematography standpoint. Cinema has evolved, as has society and science, and it's quite interesting to watch "Charly" with that in mind.

The film is wonderful in many aspects. The acting is first-rate; Oscars usually aren't handed out on a whim. Cliff Robertson delivered the performance of his career in this film.

There are elements of science fiction and psychological action in the film. You have been warned. These segments are well done and add to the film as opposed to creating a negative side-track.

I suggest that anyone watching Charly first read at least part of Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon" for basic background. The film makes more sense after reading the novel.

All in all, Charly is a worthwhile experience. Some may not like the film, but I find it to be one of the best of the 1960s.

Charly is a very touching sci-fi film about a retarded man Charly Gordon (Cliff Robertson) who can barely perform the menial job of sweeping up in a bakery and is the continual butt of jokes and ridicule by the bakers. He is chosen to participate in an experiment and is given treatments to boost his IQ. Alice Kinninan (Claire Bloom) plays one of the scientists who helps Charly to learn. Charly is based on the story Flowers For Algernon and the screenplay was by Stirling Silliphant (In The Heat of the Night.) Cliff Robertson won a best actor Oscar for Charly. The film is intelligent, poignant, and extremely moving. You'll need a box a Kleenex with your popcorn for this one.

Cliff Robertson acting job for playing Charly Gordon is amazing. It is a must see movie, just for that reason alone. The movie shows what it is like to live in the world of a mentally handicapped person. It shows how our society treats those people. It shows how Charly changes into a well, and very intelligent person. It also shows the friendship Charly has with the mouse. Who is the first to have the brain operation. Which is designed to improve the function of the brain. Also it shows the love Charly develops for this teacher Clair. However in the conclusion. The brain operation which made him a mentally well person, is a failure in the end. Sad ending of the movie. However the movie is considered a classic in my mind. Very well put together, and very well acted. I haven't read the book, this movie is based on.

Cliff Robertson earned an Academy Award for playing the title role based on the novel by Daniel Keyes entitled "Flowers for Algernon." His portrayal is heartbreaking and you can't help but feel for the character who is the butt of so many jokes by his so-called colleagues and friends at his workplace, a bakery. Seinfeld's Barney Martin and Dick Van Patten play his co-workers. The divine Claire Bloom (who should be made a Dame) is the sympathetic attractive teacher. Ruth White plays the landlady in one of the last film roles before her death in 1969 from cancer. The setting is filmed on location in Boston, Massachusetts.