Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American
film starring Paul Newman and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and
Frank Pierson from the novel by Pearce.
Synopsis
Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp[1] 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, McMurphy from
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Holman in
The Sand Pebbles.
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." His unquenchable spirit makes the other prisoners idolize (and idealize) him, and leads to
his Christ-like martyrdom at the hands of the authorities.[2] There is occasional Christian imagery and reference throughout, notably in the closing pullback shot
of roads forming a distinct cross and of a bloated Luke laying with outspread arms on the table, abandoned by friends after
eating fifty eggs.
Cast and crew
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, Clifton James, Richard Davalos, Ralph Waite, Luke Askew, Anthony
Zerbe, Joe Don Baker, and Joy Harmon.
Soundtrack
The original music from Cool Hand Luke was composed by Lalo Schifrin. An edited
version of the musical cue from the "Tar Sequence" has been used for many years as the news music package on several television
stations' news programs, mostly those owned and operated by ABC. This cue
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 an edited version of the music. Although the music originated from this film, to this day many
people associate the tune with television news as opposed to the film itself.
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." Both are correct. This line is
heard twice in the film, first in its entirety with no "a" by Warden Martin, and later on the first line with an "a" is said by
Luke. The quote also made it onto the American Film Institute's list of most memorable movie lines. This quote was also used in the Guns N' Roses
songs "Civil War" and "Madagascar".
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 nothin' can be a real cool hand.listen
"I'm shaking it, boss!" Luke has left the chain-gang to urinate behind a bush. He has to prove that he hasn't run away
by "shaking the bush."
Reception
The movie's anti-establishment message fit well with the mood of 1960s. [3] It became a critical and financial success.
Awards
Cool Hand Luke 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, the United States Library of Congress deemed this film " "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and
selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Influences
- On the MTV series Jackass, Johnny Knoxville
holds an egg-eating contest in a homage to Cool Hand Luke's infamous scene. His contest, however, ends with all the
contestants vomiting.
- In the pilot episode of Cheers, the movie is named the "Sweatiest Movie Ever" by
general consensus of the denizens of the bar.
- In the movie Serendipity, chief character Jonathan (John Cusack) names Cool Hand Luke his favorite movie.
- In the movie The Sandlot characters mimic dialogue some of the dialogue by
saying: "she don't know what she's doing."
"yeah she does, she knows exactly what she's doing," referring to a pretty girl showing off her sex appeal. This is very
similar to the scene in Cool Hand Luke where prisoners on the chain gang watch a woman wash a car in a very sexual
manner.
- Venture Bros.
- In the episode Fallen Arches the scene where Dr. Venture washes his Walking Eye robot
to entice to Guild hopefuls is a direct reference to Cool Hand Luke, in which a busty blonde washes her car to tantalize the
members of the chain gang. The final shot of this sequence parallels the final shot of the car wash scene, where the girl's large
breasts are rubbing against the window of the car.
- The Flaming Lips do a cover of the "Plastic
Jesus" song on their 1993 album Transmissions from the Satellite Heart.
- Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon do a cover of
"Plastic Jesus" on their 1994 album Prairie Home Invasion.
- The Reverend Horton Heat has a song/album entitled "Spend a Night in the Box" referencing punishments for various infractions in the prison
camp.
- In Gilmore Girls, Lorelai watches the movie with her then-boyfriend Luke, and
refers to her boyfriend as Cool Hand Luke.
- In Reality Bites, Michael (Ben Stiller)
compliments Troy (Ethan Hawke) for a line he says in Lelaina's movie ("No one can eat fifty
eggs") as if it were by him, and Troy explains back that it was a mere quotation from Cool Hand Luke.
- In the movie 25th Hour starring Edward
Norton, the movie poster is on the wall in back of his couch.
- The Simpsons
- In The Simpsons episode "The PTA
Disbands" the "that's a night in the box" line is spoofed by Jasper.
- In "Black Widower", Sideshow Bob is seen picking
up garbage on the side of the road while a Boss-like figure watches (in a parody of the shot of the reflective sunglasses) and
the movie's music is heard.
- A live version of the theme song "Down here on the Ground", is performed on George
Benson's Weekend in L.A. (1977).
- Guns N' Roses uses the line "What we've got here is failure to communicate," in their
songs "Civil War, from the album Use Your
Illusion II, and "Madagascar", which is expected to appear on their upcoming album, Chinese Democracy.
- In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Sheriff Cooley wears very similar
reflective glasses as Boss Godfrey and similarly rarely speaks.
- The music video for Beck's "Where It's At" features a
homage to Cool Hand Luke. The video begins with a sweaty prison crew on an empty country road, being watched over by a
Boss-like figure wearing reflective sunglasses.
- Mad Magazine's parody of the film is entitled Blue Eyed Kook. ("Kook" is incarcerated for
smashing gumball machines, not beheading parking meters.)
- Jack Johnson has been known to cover "Plastic Jesus," including performances at Bonnaroo.
- In the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Traffic Jam," (Season 2, episode 1),
Francis is challenged to eat 100 "Quacks," which are a parody of the marshmallow candy known as Peeps.
- In Lost, Sawyer refers to Jack as "Cool Hand."
- The Family Guy episode "Holy Crap" parodies the chain
gang from the movie.
- Australian band You Am I have a song called "Cool Hand Luke" on their 1993 "Coprolalia"
EP.
- In The BBC comedy Give My Head Peace the character Red Hand Luke is a play
on the words Cool Hand Luke.
- "La prison de Robertsonville", the sixth volume of the Belgian comic book series "Les Tuniques Blues" borrows some plot lines
from the film.
- The rugrats episode "Cool Hand Angelica" is a parody of the film
References
External links
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