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Cool Hand Luke
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Cool Hand Luke (1967) More at IMDbPro »

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Cool Hand Luke (1967) -- A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison.

Overview

User Rating:
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 8% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Stuart Rosenberg
Writers:
Donn Pearce (screenplay) and
Frank Pierson (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Cool Hand Luke on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1 November 1967 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama more
Tagline:
"What we've got here is failure to communicate." more
Plot:
A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Paul Newman Tribute DVD Set Due in September
 (From Get The Big Picture. 1 July 2009, 10:00 AM, PDT)

Sam Mendes--The Hollywood Interview
 (From The Hollywood Interview. 14 June 2009, 9:44 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Sticking it to the man more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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
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Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
126 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Norway:16 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Spain:7 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (certificate #21450) | Sweden:15 | France:-12 | New Zealand:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970)
Filming Locations:
Jacksonville, Florida, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Truckloads of Spanish moss was shipped from Louisiana to the set in California to hang in the trees around the prison. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: Money seen during-egg eating contest is Sixties-era currency, which looked quite different from bills used in Depression period in which movie takes place. more
Quotes:
Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Dragline: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
Society Red: You just said he could eat anything.
Dragline: Did you ever eat fifty eggs?
Luke: Nobody ever eat fifty eggs.
Prisoner: Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
Loudmouth Steve: Yeah, but in how long?
Luke: A hour.
Society Red: Well, I believe I'll take part of that wager.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Cotton Fields more

FAQ

A Note Regarding Spoilers
Why did Luke destroy the parking meters?
How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
more
23 out of 24 people found the following comment useful:-
Sticking it to the man, 20 February 2008
10/10
Author: tieman64 from United Kingdom

"For the secret of man's being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living, and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth, though he had bread in abundance." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Luke returns home after the war. He's a drifter. A loner. He's been handed one bad hand after the next, and, no matter how he plays his cards, he always seems to lose. The film opens with Luke, drunk and shameless, knocking the heads off parking meters. The authorities try to cash in on our everyday movements, and this lack of freedom ticks Luke off.

Luke is sent to prison and what follows is one of the greatest existential movies of all time. Luke's conversations with God, his isolation and alienation, his experiences and a pair of profound scenes, both involving his mother, elevate "Cool Hand Luke" above most prison-break movies.

While "Shawshank Redemption" preaches hope and patience and "Cuckoo's Nest" harped on about freedom, "Cool Hand Luke" takes a far more mythical stance. We don't know much about Luke. He never looks anyone in the eyes when speaking and always has a sly grin on his face. And yet behind his smile we sense deep pain, his lack of control matched only by his dogged spirit to continue fighting.

While "Cuckoo's Nest" had a system that despite its flaws genuinely tried to heal and help others, Luke's social institution is corrupt and in many aspects pointless. Still, for a while Luke abides by it. He goes about the state's business with a smile, cutting grass and paving roads. He only has 2 years in chains. He can make it. And like he says, he has no place else to go. No plans. He plays his cards with cool, detached ambivalence.

In one beautiful scene Luke's dying mother comes to visit. Their conversation is genuinely touching. She tried her best with him, giving him nothing but love. And yet, no amount of motherly affection has helped Luke. Because of this she wishes mankind were like dogs. She wishes she could abandon her children and forget about them. Never having to worry or fret about how they are, what they'll do or where they'll go. She loves Luke, but hates the agony he puts her through. And yet we sense that she understands him intimately. Perhaps she admires him because she too has been dealt a life of bad hands.

Luke's outlook changes when his mother dies and the prison warden locks him in a box for no particular reason. When the Boss says "Just doing my job", Luke replies "That don't make it right." And it isn't right. But it's the system and so Luke has to abide.

From here on Luke begins to fight back. He may spend his life on his knees, but by God he will not submit to anyone! Of course the other inmates begin to idolise Luke, worshipping his never-give-up spirit. But rather than fight themselves, they sit back and exalt him. Luke begins to resent this. "Step feeding off me!" he yells. But they're content to sit on the sidelines. He's a one man revolution, and like many revolutionaries he's praised for his stance from afar but never actively supported.

Why do men have to die for causes before we take notice?

The film ends on an ambiguous note. Does Luke smile? Does he die? Does he survive? If he does survive, is his survival merely wishful thinking on the part of his fellow inmates? Note that the film's final image is a brief shot of a photograph. It was established in an earlier sequence that this idyllic photograph represents a lie. We also know that the photograph was torn to shreds earlier in the film. The ending thus suggests that though Luke has died and the system utterly beaten him down, the men nevertheless choose to believe in him. They believe he has risen (the film is filled with Christian imagery), that he's survived death and still fighting the fight, sticking it to the man for all of mankind.

But like that happy photograph, filled with false smiles, their belief is an illusion. Luke is dead, and though his fighting spirit remains in the hearts of these men, it will take a revolution to wake them up and shake them out of their weak surrender. What fuels their revolution, what fuels all revolutions, is the hope that Luke represents. Yes this hopeful idyll is a myth, but it is a necessary one which must be sustained lest we submit.

10/10- An accidental masterpiece. The planets really lined up for this one. The only flaw is an overly silly (though iconic) car wash scene.

Worth multiple viewings.

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Is This Movie Boring To Younger Viewers? arnomation
Luke was an arrogant douche HarlequinForestt
Anyone who used to like this movie but has now changed their mind? fentress
Boxoffice and Business treatwilliams1892
he did it wrong cluber
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