Cool Hand Luke Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
"What we've got here is failure to communicate."
Sometimes, "Nothing" can be a really Cool Hand.
On the chain gang, they'd seen every kind of man...but Luke became a legend.
No one can eat fifty eggs.
The man...and the motion picture that simply do not conform.
He was a cool customer. . .until the law made it hot for him!
Luke is sent to a prison camp, where he gets a reputation as a hard man. The head of the gang hates him, and tries to break him by beating him up. It doesn't work, and he gains respect. His mother dies, and he escapes, but is caught, escapes again, and is caught again. Will the camp bosses ever break him ?
| Paul Newman | Luke |
| George Kennedy | Dragline |
| J.D. Cannon | Society Red |
| Lou Antonio | Koko |
| Robert Drivas | Loudmouth Steve |
| Strother Martin | Captain |
| 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 |
| John McLiam | Boss Keen |
8.30 out of 10 (29733 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Working on a chain gang! One of the better old fashioned prison films of all time!
posted on 24 Aug 2009At it's time in 1967 "Cool Hand Luke" was clearly a masterpiece a work of art in it's time frame with it's main theme being to learn to adapt to the rules of conformity. Set in the rural south classy Paul Newman plays Luke a southerner who's rebellious and a loner. So upon his arrest for another petty crime it's off to a camp that's rural just like a work style road prison. The work is harsh ranging from digging ditches, shoveling dirt, and cutting and chopping hay. Along the way for Luke learning to adapt is a struggle, yet help is provided from fellow prisoner Dragline(George Kennedy)I must say that George gives a fine and likable performance by showing his character could be such an anti establishment role model. Very memorable is the accent and performance of camp captain played by Strother Martin who chills Luke with one of the most memorable and famous lines in cinema history "What we've got here is... failure to communicate" Though the film is not a modern day prison film and seems outdated to some the film is with rich humor and clever in it's own way. Especially during the chase scene when Luke uses pepper to throw off the smell of the chasing dogs. And the storytelling is powerful with the scenes of the inmates communicating by folk music and hymns. Overall a powerful film about trying to adjust to conformity, and it shows at the same time it's so hard when a strong detached and indifferent character like Luke is just so prone to the crime of non conformity.
"What we have here ,is a failure to communicate."
posted on 22 Aug 2009Cool Hand Luke DVD
Paul Newman plays Luke. A perennial loser who seems to have no purpose in Life since winning several medals in World War II. In the beginning of the movie Luke wanders aimlessly down a street cutting the "heads" off of parking meters and keeping some of the "heads" for the few coins in them.
Why he was cutting the heads off parking meters]
Luke: Small town, not much to do in the evenin'.
(This very same thing happened in Atlanta, Georgia last summer and nobody would tell the police who was doing it. Obviously someone had watched the movie.)
George Kennedy won Best-Supporting Actor Oscar as "Dragline", bull of the herd of prisoners. Dragline leads the group, running gambling and the small barracks "bank", and all the other prisoners follow his example and look to him as the source of what little self-respect they have.
My favorite line in this movie is when Luke has tried to escape and has been beaten senseless the warden stands over his bruised body and says
"What we have here, is a failure to communicate."
Highly recommended for fans of Paul Newman and George Kennedy.
Gunner March, 2008
newman's legacy
posted on 07 Aug 2009I remember this film vividly because when I first saw it, it was at a cinema in Paris--and this was my first time in the City of Light!! Also I was on my 3 day leave from the Air Force and when I saw that famous scene when warden Strother Martin beat Luke (Newman) after he says, "Boss, why are you so nice to me?" to which Martin utters the famous lines, "What we have here is a failure--to communicate", it rang in my ears as an ironic twist to my days in Basic training. The late Paul Newman, who died just this last Friday, the 26 of September, lived and died like his character, Luke, in defiance but always smiling. His defiance was in what people had pegged him for--the handsome movie star with beautiful blue eyes with a classical face. Instead he channeled this defiance into helping other less fortunate people than he was---the terminally ill children (the Hole in the Wall), relief funds for the people in the Gulf, various charities, etc. Also he lived away from Hollywood, in Connecticut where he and his family were just folks. But another reason I've seen this movie countless times is because it was shot near my hometown of Stockton, California---those crossroads in the film sure remind of the Valley. This film could stand as perhaps the best or if not one of the best, a great film in the Newman catalog--it pre-dated other rebel films like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Dog Day Afternoon" by almost a decade. If one could chose one film that is indicative of Paul Newman--this is it!!
Cool Paul Newman
posted on 31 Jul 2009So Luke goes to jail for being drunk, and unfriendly to parking meters, but what brought him to this point? It doesn't really matter that we don't learn this.Paul Newman gives his character great strength, and dignity, as he handles the burden of being worshipped by his fellow inmates, and persecuted, Christ-like, by the Bosses.George Kennedy is astonishing as the Big Man, among the inmates, who grows to worship the ground Luke walks on.There are so many Christ –like scenes, and references, that if you took a drink for each one found, you would soon be plastered.I can't be the only one who was reminded of The Great Escape either.This, though, is at heart a story about redemption, about how a man can be broken, in body, and spirit, but not stay that way.The Screenplay is a thought provoking tale, and the Actors, from the smallest role up to the largest, run with what they are given.I was startled, especially, by the performance of Ralph Waite.The Cinematography, and Direction, are outstanding.The unconventional ending will shock you, and give you much to think about in the context of the film as a whole.
Jon Monsarrat review: depressing and slow
posted on 31 Jul 2009I think I get it. Like "A Simple Plan" and "Leaving Las Vegas", Cool Hand Luke is a well-done well-acted, fantastic film that will send you into a bleak depression. The theme basically is that if you're pig-headed and do stupid things, life will smack you around.How much cooler Luke might have been if his unflappable pig-headedness had been aimed in the right direction by some brains. Maybe he would never have ended up in prison. That made it hard for me to identify with the protagonist.So I think I get it, but in 40 years films have seen a lot more pizazz. The pace was pretty slow and I have to admit I was bored. Unlike One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest there isn't a lot of colorful personalities or plot twists, it's pretty straightforward.Who should see this film:-- People who love classics only.-- It isn't safe for people like me who are curious but don't normally go for classics if they're too arty. See "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" or "Catch-22" instead.Since I use ratings to decide what to see, I think they should reflect the impact a film has today, not when it first came out. I'm sorry, I felt Cool Hand Luke was aging and will give it a 5 out of 10.
New Deluxe Edition standard and Blu-ray DVDs due out on September 9th, 2008!
posted on 20 Jul 2009Warner Home Video has announced the release of a new Deluxe Edition of Cool Hand Luke on standard DVD and Blu-ray, with new special features. There will be a making-of featurette called "A Natural-Born World-Shaker: Making Cool Hand Luke," which the press release describes as "an in-depth look at the creation of an uncompromising classic." There will also be an audio commentary with Paul Newman biographer Eric Lax, and the theatrical trailer. Only the theatrical trailer and some text production notes are on the old DVD.
Cool Hand Luke is the story of a man (Newman) who, by a minor offense combined with stubborn if at times casually guided will, gets himself into increasingly deep trouble in a tough Southern prison. It's played as part comedy, part gritty drama. Luke's cool, fearless, devil-may-care attitude and escapades make him an icon among his fellow prisoners, until he is brought to abject desperation, ultimately rising again and falling to become a legend.
The film is famous for a hard-boiled egg eating contest and, especially, a quote that has entered the pantheon of movie quotes: "What we have here is a failure to communicate." The title character's nickname comes from another quote, made after he bluffs to win at poker: "sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand," a quote that has ironic punch in the context of the movie as a whole. Newman was nominated for an Oscar, and George Kennedy won one for his supporting role. Strother Martin is unforgettable as the twisted prison captain.
I enjoy this movie, but I've never completely loved it the way many do. Parts of it never seemed quite real to me (not "uncompromising" either), not with the truthful feel the similarly themed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has, for example. But it is a classic, with memorable characters, scenes, and storyline. I'd probably give it four or four and a half stars, but I'll round up for the new special features, which I look forward to.
The new SD Deluxe Edition is here. The Blu-ray edition is here.
Before America was ready...
posted on 16 Jul 2009In '67, this country was still content and happy. No MyLai or murder of MLK, no riots at the Dem Convention, or assassination of Bobby. Life was good...so we thought. This was a movie about a rural chain gang prisoners and how he and his buddies passed time. Sure, Luke was a hero, but not the model of resistance that he truly was revealed to be in little of the next couple of years. Today, Lucas Jackson is still the coolest, far cooler then Dean, Travolta, or Cruise. No character since has personified "cool". He makes DeNiro look like high school! Luke was fearless because we was right, not to mention very righteous, because he knew he was going to die someday, and he didn't exist simply to justify being alive. The end parts of the film are painful because we see that authority will try to break resistance, kill what it cannot break. Yet dying is a part of resistance. Today, we need a Luke Jackson; but to be like Luke, you gotta know that NO ONE gets out alive.
A true 60's classic, gets ****
posted on 13 Jul 2009Brilliant, well-acted story of a rebel prisoner Newman, who challenges the rules of the ruthless chain gang he serves in. A breakthrough film of the decade that blends a bit of comedy and violence together. Considered by many fans and critics to be Newman's finest performance. Kennedy won a supporting actor Academy Award for his role. This was sort of based on Warner's earlier chain gang film, I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932), with Paul Muni.
Cool Newman & Great Strother Martin!
posted on 07 Jul 2009A well-made Stuart Rosenberg film with signature role for Newman as the offbeat loner Luke Jackson. A fine performance. Jo Van Fleet is wonderful as his mother (in one brief scene) and Strother Martin is incredible as always as the Warden. George Kennedy won an Oscar and plays his usual mule-headed, low IQ bully type (but he is effective\A 7 out of 10. Best performance = Strother Martin. Dennis Hopper interesting as Babaloogotts. Other great characters (Harry Dean Stanton, J.D. Cannon, Warren Finnerty, Morgan Woodward, Luke Askew, etc.). Joy Harmon has revealing presence washing a car. Everybody should enjoy this one.
One of the top ten films ever made
posted on 19 Jun 2009This is an absolute perfect movie in every way.Storyline,acting,settings---everything is perfect.Hollywood used to make great movies like this before it became the special effects driven computer generated movie making schlock capitol of the world.The great Paul Newman plays a prisoner locked up in a Southern jail after a night of petty crimes.His constant struggle to be free even while locked up makes this one of the greatest roles ever seen in a movie.Newman is at his absolute peak playing the cool Lucas Jackson.I was so struck by Newman's performance in this movie I was determined to name my son Lucas Jackson,but alas,I only had daughters and my wife wasn't too thrilled about naming either of them Lucas.Oh well.George Kennedy plays Jackson's enemy turned buddy and he is absolutely perfect also.His portrayal of Dragline is Kennedy at his finest.The sublime Strother Martin plays the prison captain and damn is he ever good.He was always so underrated as is Kennedy too,I think.In fact this whole movie is full of familiar faces that would go on to other big time roles in TV and movies.In this movie everyone meshes perfectly to create an unforgettable movie that will stay with you long after many other movies you've seen fade from memory.You must see this movie.
"communicat"ion breakdown; vintage rebellious Newman
posted on 19 Jun 2009COOL HAND LUKE (1967) **** Paul Newman, George Kennedy, JD Cannon, Strother
Martin, Wayne Rogers, (Harry) Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Ralph Waite, Jo Van Fleet, Clifton James, Robert Drivas, Lou Antonio, Robert Donner, Anthony Zerbe, Joe Don Baker, Joy Harmon. Newman in one of his greatest turns as the ultimate non-conformist/drifter eponymous antihero who finds himself in hell on a chain-gang prison run by the sadistic Martin ("What we've got here is ...a'falya to communicate") and a motley crew of fellow travelers, particularly good ol' boy Kennedy (Best Supporting Actor). One for the vaults: "I can eat 50 eggs!", Luke's gauntlet of self-will brought to fruition in high comic fashion. Nominated for Best Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and Lalo Schifrin's Original Score (which oddly became the Eyewitness News theme on New York's Ch.7!) **trivia note, Harmon, the wet-dream in the car wash sequence was the bodacious giantess in "Village of the Giants" (!) Oh momma!!
The finest film never to win an ocar
posted on 17 Jun 2009Eddie Peabody, known as "King of the Banjo" to millions of banjo fans worldwide for more than half a century, was perhaps the most famous banjo player of all time. His popularity survived two world wars, vaudeville and the great depression. In Eddie, with a shock of corn-yellow hair and small stature (5',5" tall), one could find the full scope and meaning of the banjo played with superb mastery. he was jealous of luke and decided to play the fiddle .Now would you kindly shut your mouth kind sir.
yummy
posted on 16 Jun 2009Paul Newman is an absolutely excellent actor and very easy on the eyes as well, he is one of the most beautiful men I have ever laid eyes on. Absolutely gorgeous, Joanne Woodward is one lucky woman to have a steaming hot hubby like that. I think he has a great ability to really delve straight into roles and become the great characters he plays, he has an upbeat aroma about him and that smile always gets me its' just like music to your ears, you hear that caressing brooding voice and your knees go weak and you get goose bumps all over, a strange tingling sensation sets in and you can't control it. He is breathtaking to watch, he is unlike any other actor I have seen before and he really moves you.
Great Prison Drama!!
posted on 15 May 2009Paul Newman is riveting as the title character. George Kennedy deserved his supporting Oscar. And if you remember the opening music from WABC-TV's Eyewitness News, then you'll remember this movie. The screenplay is probably the best thing about this movie. There are so many great lines that come from this movie. ("What we got here is a failure to communicate!!") Overall, this is great movie making!! Buy it or rent it!!
You Can't Help Respecting Him
posted on 16 Mar 2009Paul Newman plays Luke, a charismatic man stuck in a chain gang for breaking parking meters. The authority automatically has a problem with him for this petty crime and he spends the entire movie doing what he has done his whole life: being Cool Hand Luke. Cool Hand Luke does his manual labor with zeal and Cool Hand Luke takes insane bets. Cool Hand Luke doesn't give up. This is his one major flaw, because the authorities want to break Luke's spirit which cannot be broken. Herein lies the point of the film.
Sure, Luke is a rebel, but his failure to conform is not thrown at the audience as if it were a message. The events just happen; Luke just happens. This makes for a much more realistic movie and a much more likable character.
Luke could be compared to James Dean's character in Rebel Without a Cause, but that comparison would be flawed. Dean's character is much younger in age and in spirit. Luke has been hardened by age and experience; he was probably very similar to Dean's character in youth but has quieted down a bit. In consequence, Luke is less whiney and more to-the-point.
Cool Hand Luke is a popular film because the character is one that people can relate to and respect immensely. If anyone has known someone similar, one can relate to this statement. Luke is the type of person that everyone wants to be but often fails to become. Judging by the end of this film, maybe that isn't such a bad thing.
the birth of cockeyed genius
posted on 28 Feb 2009This is by far one of the best movies ever made. Don't let the 1967 fool you... it is as relevant today as back in the day... if not more so. It contains so many wonderful "one liners" and hilarious situations that are unexpected in a prison work camp film. Pay close attention to everything, your time will not be ill spent. There will never be another film that can be put into a category with Cool Hand Luke. I make everyone I meet watch this DVD. Every person that I have shown it to loves it, but perhaps I only know people with skewered personalities???? Maybe. All I have to say is "Laugh it up kid, you'll make out. And besides, sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.
Great Movie!!
posted on 31 Aug 2009Great Movie, A Must See. Cool hand Luke Is awesome. This was my First Time seeing this movie, and Loved every minute of it.
Five Stars