Classic 60s Movie: “Cool Hand Luke”

January is Classic 60s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Jeff Guenther.

Movie Title: Cool Hand Luke

Year: 1967

Writers: Donn Pearce (novel), Donn Pearce (screenplay), Frank R. Pierson (screenplay)

Lead Actors: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Jo Van Fleet, Strother Martin, Morgan Woodward

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Plot Summary: In a regimented road prison, a non-conformist ex-GI becomes a symbol of hope for his fellow convicts when he confronts the system without surrender.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 60s Movie:

(1) It’s got Paul Newman in it, the iconic male lead of the 60's.

(2) The protagonist is an anti-hero, a rebel in an era of non-conformity (the 60's). [Though the movie is set in roughly 1949.]

Probably more than half of the top 60’s movies featured misfits, characters who were different somehow, or who didn’t or wouldn’t fit in — characters often in conflict because of who they were, not simply because of their goals.

Possible examples: Psycho (1960), The Hustler (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), My Fair Lady (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), Bonnie And Clyde (1967), The Graduate (1967), Romeo and Juliet (1968), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, (1969), Easy Rider (1969), Midnight Cowboy (1969), The Wild Bunch (1969)

(3) Strother Martin’s tagline, “What we got hyere is fail-yure to commun’cate,” is one of the most famous lines in movie history, sufficient to make the movie truly classic.

My Favorite Moment In The Movie: There are many great moments in Cool Hand Luke: Cutting the heads off parking meters, the egg-eating challenge, Arleta’s visit, and Luke’s final moment. My favorite is the scene where Luke inspires the others to finish sanding down the wet tar two hours ahead of schedule. The men are exhausted but ecstatic, having beaten the “free men” by working harder than ever before.

Despite the fact that Luke expedites the work, the guards are confused, unable to understand what’s happening, but powerless to do anything about it. Boss Godfrey is particularly upset at this loss of control, gets his rifle, and stares at Luke, full of hate. We see a confrontation coming.

My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: Strother Martin walked off with the two best lines in Cool Hand Luke:

CAPTAIN: “What we got hyere is fail-yure to commun’cate,”

CAPTAIN: “Ah kin be a good guy or Ah kin be one mean sonnabitch. It’s awll upta yew…” I used to say that a lot to new employees.

Morgan Woodward comes in second as the “Man With No Eyes,” Boss Godfrey. Godfrey has no dialogue at all, but this silence increases his menace, and his reflective sunglasses provide several striking shots. A great and memorable role, all the better for the lines having been struck. Sometimes no dialogue can be a real cool role. It’s a visual medium.

Paul Newman’s eponymous line is also well-remembered:

LUKE: Nothin’ can be a real cool hand.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie:

Viewer Identification

Lacking a “Save the Cat Moment,” Cool Hand Luke provides the anti-hero’s equivalent: a winning smile and indomitable (almost) spirit, plus, when we first see Luke, he’s decapitating parking meters, one of the less popular devices of modern society.

Religious Imagery

Stuart Rosenberg considered Luke an avatar of Jesus, thus the film is packed full of Jesus-related imagery, some of it a bit on-the-nose. There are quite a few examples; here are four.

Luke’s prison number (37) is allegedly a Bible reference. The 37th line in the Book of Luke reads: “…For no word from God will ever fail.”

Boss Godfrey = GOD FREE, an echo of the silent God that Luke wants to hear from. (Luke’s feelings of abandonment are related to his absent father, as revealed in his conversation with Arleta.)

Eggs in religious imagery symbolize new life, i.e., resurrection, as at Easter. The fifty eggs that Luke consumes stand for those he will “save,” the fifty prisoners. When he has finished eating the eggs, he falls on one of the tables, arms outstretched as if crucified.

A bottle opener hangs on a silver chain around his neck, where normally we’d expect to see a cross or a Star of David. This reveals Luke’s flaw, using alcohol to cover his pain. Drunks aren’t all that easy to communicate with.

Non-communication

Look for instances of “failure to communicate” in addition to the famous “What we’ve got here” tagline. Two examples:

Early on, Luke says, “Ain’t heard much worth listening to yet. Just everybody handing out rules.”

After Luke stands out in the rain and invites God to love him or strike him down, he says, “Standin’ out here in the rain! All alone! Talkin’ to myself.”

Foreshadowing of death

At various times, Godfrey shoots a crow, a snake, and a turtle. He also takes up his rifle or pistol often.

Luke’s picture has been inserted in the magazine directly opposite a page with a rifle being fired, pointed at his image.

Towards the end, the guards force him to dig a grave-like hole that he lies in.

Luke’s brother John gives him his banjo, saying, “Now there’s nothin’ for you to come back for.”

Thanks, Jeff! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

Twitter: @JGuentherAuthor.

We already have a set of classic 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 60s Movies.

We have 29 volunteers. I have put in bold those who have already sent their guest post to me.

Ipsita Barik — Rosemary’s Baby
Ipsita Barik — Bonnie and Clyde
Bookman Film — The Sound of Music
Brandnewusedcar — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Markham Cook — Jules et Jim
Steve Cook — The Blue Max
JasperLamarCrab — 2001: A Space Odyssey
N D — Lonely are the Brave
Drew Dorenfest — Easy Rider
Rick Dyke — Fail Safe
Felicity Flesher — The Music Man
PaulG — Lawrence of Arabia
D.L. Gill — Zulu
Jeff Guenther — Cool Hand Luke
Kate Hagen — Repulsion
John Henderson — Night of the Living Dead
John Henderson — The Odd Couple
John Hörnschemeyer — The Graduate
Zach Jansen — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Will King — The Pink Panther
Lisaisfunny — Blow Up
Jack McDonald — Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nick — Lonely are the Brave
Daryl Powell — The Apartment
jprichard — Persona
Ally Shina — The Jungle Book
Mark Twain — The Loved One
Liz Warner — The Manchurian Candidate
Michael Waters — Dr. No

I’m looking for more guest posts to take us through January. Why not pitch in to help add to this online resource to inspire writers to learn about and — most importantly — watch great movies.

If you have a classic 60s movies on which you’d like to do a writeup, please either post in comments or email me.

And for those who have signed up, but have yet to email me your post, please do so ASAP.

Thanks in advance!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

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