Cool Hand Luke (1967)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Stuart Rosenberg

Writers:

Donn Pearce (screenplay) and
Frank Pierson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 November 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

"What we've got here is failure to communicate."

Plot:

A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison.

Plot Keywords:

Pig | Betting | Forced Labor | Chili Powder | Axe

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Oct. 12

10:00 PM

TCM

US Showtimes:

(register to personalize)

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Luke
George Kennedy	...	Dragline
J.D. Cannon	...	Society Red
Lou Antonio	...	Koko
Robert Drivas	...	Loudmouth Steve
Strother Martin	...	Captain
Jo Van Fleet	...	Arletta
Clifton James	...	Carr
Morgan Woodward	...	Boss Godfrey
Luke Askew	...	Boss Paul
Marc Cavell	...	Rabbitt
Richard Davalos	...	Blind Dick
Robert Donner	...	Boss Shorty
Warren Finnerty	...	Tattoo
Dennis Hopper	...	Babalugats

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Spain:7 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (certificate #21450) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970)

Filming Locations:

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Company:

Jalem Productions

Trivia:

While passing by the prison camp set, a San Joaquin County building inspector thought it was a recently constructed migrant worker's complex, and posted "condemned" notices on the buildings for not being up to code.

Goofs:

Continuity: While Luke's mother is smoking a cigarette, it gets smaller when the camera switches angles.

Quotes:

Captain, Road Prison 36: Now, I can be a good guy, or I can be one real mean sum-bitch.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-05-21)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Plastic Jesus

Cool Hand Luke great movie to watch during Oscar month

Paul Newman (Old Blue Eyes) stars as Cool Hand Luke Jackson, a war hero, who gets himself in trouble with the law, and is repeatedly beaten both mentally and physically savagely by the main boss of the prison he is in.

The main boss hates Luke for several reasons: Everyone likes Luke. He is the typical rebel , yet he has a certain aura around that people love. Even the people working in the prison like Luke.

The boss also hates Luke, because he keeps escaping out of prison, which makes the prison's security and himself look bad.

The movie from beginning to end, is one of the entertaining and powerful movies by Newman.

Throughout the movie, we see Luke's exploits including his status as "Cool Hand" which basically says that he can do anything.

There is no better scene that shows this that Luke's bet that can he eat 50 eggs in one hour. This scene is terrific and humorous to watch, time and time again. George Kennedy plays Greg Dragline, Luke's best friend and prison inmante.

Dragline's love of Luke is evident through the whole movie. Whenever, Luke is mistreated Dragline is there to try to pick up his spirits. Whenever, Luke is beaten severely for trying to escape the prison, Dragline is one of the first friends that is there to pick him up and attend to him.

Then of course, this Oscar worthy film has the memorable tunes and lines that all audiences all familiar with:

"What We Got Here is a familiar to Communicate" is Paul Newman, legendary and household line that critics and audiences remember. This line has also been used in over a hundred, movies and tv shows including comedies, crime drama movies and much more. The line is a piece of cult phenomena and America which symobolizes a bad situation.

Paul Newman was nominated for Best Actor for this film, but didn't win.

Newman over his career has been nominated over 10 times for this award: "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" , "Malice", "Nobody's Fool", are several of the great movies that NewMan has been nominated for.

"Cool Hand Luke" stands as one of the American movies ever made. It represents the abusive and mistreatment that a couple of prisons have.

It also represents an intelligent and popular fellow who all through his life had one bad situation after another, yet like Greg points "Ah Luke, always had that great smile."

Luke's character in a way is a reflection on individuals like himself, whose life have been filled with pain and aggravation yet people like these never give up.

An Oscar worthy film, during this month of oscars.