Charly

Goethe saw that it was Faust's

relentless search for objectives...

In the end, Faust was saved

because he ceaselessly strove...

for the goal he had never obtained.

That's very good, Mrs. Gardner.

"Go to night school." It's very good.

There's only one thing wrong.

It's the word "night."

I know it sounds like N-l-T-E.

But we spell it...

N-l-G-H-T.

Night. Okay?

I can never get that one word, that "school."

- That's wrong, isn't it?

- Yeah.

It's S-C-H-O-O-L, Charly, not S-K.

S-C-H-O-O-L.

Okay, everybody.

Next Wednesday, we study through Page 20.

Good night.

I should like you to work very hard.

Whenever you can...

You must come next Wednesday.

- Every week, okay?

- Thank you very much.

Good night, Miss Kinnian.

Charly, we missed you.

At the clinic.

The doctors wanted to do some tests.

Yeah. Well, I forgot.

I went to the library.

I've never seen so many books in my life.

Don't forget the clinic tomorrow night.

No. I'm gonna write it down

on my blackboard twice, I promise.

- Good night.

- Good night, Miss Kinnian.

Hello, darling. Thanks for waiting for me.

Good night.

For instance, apples and pears.

They're both alike

because they're both fruit.

- Do you understand?

- Yeah.

Okay, we'll begin. Shoes and gloves.

Charly, shoes and gloves.

- My rabbit's foot.

- That's good, Charly.

Shoes...

Shoes, gloves.

Shoes and gloves.

- You wear them.

- That's right.

Airplane, automobile.

Airplane...

Automobile.

You ride in them.

Morning, afternoon.

Charly, you don't have to worry

about passing or failing. Not these tests.

That's a very funny face, Charly.

Charly, I'm going to

show you some pictures.

Look at me.

What happened in this picture?

What do you see?

- Is there something missing?

- No.

I want you to make up a story

about these people.

I can't make up a story...

- About people I don't know, Miss Kinnian.

- Yes, you can.

You can make-believe.

Make up a story.

Is that a family?

That's a family.

Who is this?

- That's a father.

- Right.

If that is the father, then who is this?

That's a mother.

If that is the mother...

Do you remember your mother?

Yeah, sometimes I remember her.

I think I remember her.

Sitting on the edge of a bed...

putting her hand on my head and saying,

"He's burning up."

But, then, maybe...

that was a woman at the institute,

I don't know.

Probably a woman at the institute.

Charly!

It's 5:
00, Charly.

Forgot what you have to do?

Finish the floor.

Come on, Charly, think.

You were gonna take something home.

Yeah.

For a minute there, Charly,

you had me worried.

You're always thinking such deep thoughts.

How you gonna remember a little thing

like your landlady's birthday?

Yeah, Mrs. Apple is gonna be real happy.

And thanks for making me remember, Gimp.

What are pals for, Charly?

Give me the broom.

Me and the boys will help you clean up.

- Right, fellas?

- Right!

Come on, Charly.

Gimp, what gives?

We filled his pail with raw dough

this morning, full of yeast.

It growed. It got big.

It growed. It got big.

Yeah, Charly again.

He has a marvelous opportunity.

Is that a him or a her?

- We call him Algernon.

- Algernon.

- Please, set up Number Four.

- All right. You can take it away now.

Now, you come, Charly,

and I'll show you something.

Okay, dear. See you at 9:00. Bye.

Doctor, why are you using the mouse test?

We're simply using a laboratory animal,

Mrs. Kinnian...

to spur the subject on to his best effort.

Now you and Algernon

are going to run a race.

Well, I can beat him

'cause I'm bigger than he is.

It's not that kind of race.

- Charly, what does this look like?

- It's a puzzle.

Very good, that's right. Now watch.

We put Algernon in here to start.

Then we put some food in here,

at the finish.

And Algernon knows

he must find his way through the puzzle...

if he wants to get the food.

- And if he don't?

- Then he doesn't get to eat it.

He don't?

Don't worry, Charly. He won't go hungry.

Now, Charly...

this is a diagram.

Diagram? It's exactly the same

as Algernon's puzzle.

You'll take this pencil and draw...

from the start to the finish...

without going through any of the lines.

You'll start at the same time

Algernon does...

and we'll see who gets through first.

Do you understand, Charly?

Ready?

Start.

Very good.

He beat me.

He beat me. I didn't know mice are so smart.

Come on, Charly, cheer up.

How would you feel

if you was dumber than a mouse?

Good night, Miss Kinnian.

Charly, aren't you gonna ask me up?

I've never once seen your apartment.

I'd like to see it.

- Well, it's just a room.

- It doesn't matter.

It's upstairs.

Can you imagine, Monty?

Charly Gordon with a girl.

He better have her out by 10:00.

There will be no hokey-pokey in my house.

- It's just a room, Miss Kinnian.

- It's very nice.

Who are they?

That's Gimpy and the guys at the bakery.

They are my best friends.

Charly, may I have a glass of water, please?

Yeah. Would you...

- Would you like a soda pop?

- Yeah. That will be fine.

- How about you?

- No, that's okay.

- Would you like to sit down?

- Yeah, I would.

Grab a chair.

Thank you.

I'll sit in this chair.

It's little, but it's good.

I had a radio but it got busted.

- Charly?

- Yeah?

Can you keep a secret?

Yeah. I'm a good secret keeper.

That mouse you raced today.

Yeah, that Algernon.

He was very special.

He had an operation.

When it was over, he was smarter.

The doctors are ready

to try that operation on a man.

They're ready to choose someone now.

That's why you had all those tests.

Well, they should have told me.

I would have tried harder.

- Would you like an operation like that?

- Yeah.

Why?

I'd like to be smarter...

so that I could understand Gimpy

and the fellas at the bakery.

There's a lot of their words

I don't understand.

Just so I could get a little closer, you know.

I think we can get you

to race Algernon again.

I don't know.

Algernon is a smart little mouse.

Ready now? Start.

Take it easy. You ready? Start.

Well, here are the results.

His Performance IQ is 59...

Verbal 69, Full Scale 70.

Too low, at least for our first subject.

We have other retardates...

who might be more suitable.

I've never met one

who has Charly's motivation.

He came all by himself for two years

to night school...

to try to improve his reading.

That's all very well, Mrs. Kinnian.

But I think...

Isn't it true that the average retardate

is overly sensitive and sometimes hostile?

In Charly's working environment...

he is the butt of all kinds of jokes,

some of them cruel...

yet he always remains

cheerful and pleasant.

The fact remains he's a grown man.

Doctor, is the operation dangerous?

It need not involve

any unusual surgical risk.

It's the postoperative period

we're concerned about.

The younger our subject...

the less complicated

his emotional adjustment is apt to be.

There is one point in Charly's favor.

Mrs. Kinnian.

Whoever we decide on will have to be

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