 Kirk Douglas (I) (qv) starred in the 1963 Broadway production  after buying the film rights prior to publication; he later passed  the film rights to his son Michael Douglas (I) (qv), but kept a  percentage of the profits. Every major studio had declined to make  the film during the period he was trying to star in it.  Kirk Douglas (I) (qv) had met Milos Forman (qv) in Prague while  on a State Department tour and promised to send him the book after  deciding he would be a good director for the film; the book never  arrived, probably confiscated by communist Czech censors.  Ken Kesey (qv) wrote a screenplay for the production, but Forman  rejected it because Kesey insisted on keeping Chief Bromdens  first