Cool Hand Luke

For the original novel which the film was based on see Cool Hand Luke (novel)

Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American film starring Paul Newman and directed by Stuart Rosenberg.

Synopsis

Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison campFlorida Department of Corrections 1966-1969 timeline who refuses to submit to the system. His inability to conform drives the plot of the movie, in the same vein as characters such as Winston from Nineteen Eighty-Four or McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Luke is sent to the prison camp for cutting the heads off parking meters one drunken night, and when asked what kind of thing that is for a man to do, his explanation is "Small town, not much to do in the evenin'. Mostly just settlin' up old scores." The character of Luke is often interpreted allegorically as a Christ figure, and the film plays on many aspects of the story of Jesus.

Cast and Crew

The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from the novel by Pearce.

Other members of the cast include George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, Morgan Woodward, Wayne Rogers, Harry Dean Stanton, Dennis Hopper, Richard Davalos and Joe Don Baker. Also starring Joy Harmon, best remembered for her sexy car wash scene.

It won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George Kennedy), and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Newman), Best Music, Original Music Score and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

In 2005 it was added to the list of films preserved in the United States National Film Registry.

Quotations

What we got here, is ... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it anymore than you men.^listen

The quotation is frequently read, "What we've got here is A failure to communicate." Which is correct? - the version with the indefinite article or the one without? The answer is, both. The line is read twice in the film, first one way, and later the other.

This quote is used in the opening to the Guns N' Roses song "Civil War," and is also sampled in the Guns N' Roses song "Madagascar" on the upcoming Chinese Democracy album. Part of the previous quote also made it onto the American Film Institute's list of most memorable movie lines.

Another quote during a punishment scene is

Boss Paul: That ditch is Boss Kean's ditch. And I told him that dirt in it's your dirt. What's your dirt doin' in his ditch?

Luke: I don't know, Boss.

Boss Paul: You better get in there and get it out, boy.

In the scene there was no ditch, and Luke was forced to dig one.

Cool Hand Luke obtained his nickname after winning a five-card stud pot on a stone-cold bluff:

Luke: Yeah, well, sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.^listen

Trivia

An edited version of the "Tar Sequence" cue from the musical score, by Lalo Schifrin, has been used for many years as the news music package on several television stations' news programs (mostly those owned and operated by ABC) and was first used in 1968 on WABC-TV in New York for their Eyewitness News newscast. Nine Network's National Nine News in Australia currently still uses a modified version of the music. To this day many people do not know the origin of the music, which has become more associated with television news than the film itself.

Donn Pearce, the screenwriter, had a bit role in the movie. On the set, he punched out one of the other actors on the last day of filming. (Source: Esquire 10/05) Pearce received $80,000 for selling the book rights to Warner Bros. and another $15,000 for writing a draft.

In the pilot episode of Cheers, this is named the "Sweatiest Movie Ever" by general consensus of the denizens of the bar.

The Flaming Lips do a cover of the Plastic Jesus song on their 1993 album Transmissions from the Satelite Heart.

"Plastic Jesus" song

When Luke finds out his mother has died, he sings the Plastic Jesus song ^{listen (mp3 1.7 MB)}:

Well, I don't care if it rains or freezes,
long as I got my plastic Jesus,
sittin' on the dashboard of my car.

Comes in colors, pink and pleasant,
glows in the dark 'cause it's iridescent,
take it with you when you travel far.

Get yourself a sweet Madonna,
dressed in rhinestones sittin' on a
pedestal of abalone shell.

Goin' ninety, I ain't scary,
'cause I've got the Virgin Mary,
assurin' me that I won't go to Hell.

Notes

External links

Cool Hand Luke Exposé - Critique from a Christian point of view
SouthernMedia's NMSA - Listing of American stations that have used the score from the "Tar Sequence" as their news theme music
^* - Real Life Chain Gang Documentary
Lalo Schifrin at News Music Now - Hear some samples of some of Lalo Schifrin's greatest work for television stations
Plot summary and quotes from filmsite.org

Luke la main froide | Nick Mano Fredda | Люк-холодная рука (фильм) | Rebell i bojor