Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg written by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson, and starring Paul Newman in the title role. The cast also features George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon, Strother Martin and Jo Van Fleet. Based on Pearce's semi-autobiographical 1965 novel, the film is about a nonconformist convict in an early 1950s Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system.
Filming took place within California's San Joaquin River Delta region; the set, imitating a prison farm in the Deep South, was based on photographs and measurements made by a crew the filmmakers sent to a Road Prison in Gainesville, Florida. Lalo Schifrin wrote the film's Oscar-nominated musical score.
Upon its release, Cool Hand Luke received favorable reviews and was a box-office success. It cemented Newman's status as one of the era's top actors, and was called the "touchstone of an era". Roger Ebert called Cool Hand Luke an anti-establishment film shot during emerging popular opposition to the Vietnam War.
The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Newman, with George Kennedy winning for Best Supporting Actor. Both also received Golden Globe nods for their performances. In 2005, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, considering it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film also has a 100% rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
Plot
In early 1950s Florida, decorated World War II veteran Lucas "Luke" Jackson drunkenly beheads several parking meters. He is sentenced to two years on a chain gang in a prison camp run by the Captain, a stern warden, and Walking Boss Godfrey, a quiet rifleman nicknamed "the man with no eyes" because he always wears mirrored sunglasses. There, even minor violations are punished by "a night in the box", a small wooden booth in the prison yard with limited air and space.Luke refuses to observe the established order among the prisoners and quickly runs afoul of their leader, Dragline. When the two have a boxing match, Luke is severely outmatched but refuses to acquiesce. Eventually, Dragline stops the fight, but Luke's tenacity earns the prisoners' respect and draws the guards' attention. Luke later wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing. When Dragline points this out, Luke responds, "Yeah, well... sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand," and Dragline christens him "Cool Hand Luke".
After a visit from his sick mother, Arletta, Luke becomes more optimistic about his situation. He repeatedly shows defiance to the Captain and the guards, and his sense of humor and independence prove inspiring to the other prisoners. Luke's struggle for supremacy peaks when he leads a work crew in a seemingly impossible but successful effort to complete a road-paving job in less than a day. The prisoners start to idolize him after he wins a bet that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour.
One evening, Luke receives notice that his mother has died. Anticipating that Luke might attempt to escape to attend the funeral, the Captain has him locked in the box. After being released, Luke becomes determined to escape. Under cover of a Fourth of July celebration, he makes his initial escape attempt. He is recaptured by local police and returned to the chain gang, where the Captain has Luke fitted with leg irons. When Luke talks back to the Captain, the Captain bludgeons Luke and declares, "What we've got here is failure to communicate."
Shortly afterward, Luke escapes a second time. While free, Luke mails the prison a magazine that includes a photograph of himself with two beautiful women. Soon after, Luke is recaptured, returned to the prison camp, and fitted with two sets of leg irons. The Captain warns Luke that he will be killed if he ever attempts to escape again. Luke becomes annoyed by the other prisoners fawning over the magazine photo and says he faked it. At first, the other prisoners are angry, but when Luke returns after a long stay in the box and is punished by being forced to eat a massive serving of rice, the others help him finish it.
For his escape, the guards brutalize Luke to the point of exhaustion, particularly when he is forced to repeatedly dig and refill a grave-sized hole in the prison yard. He eventually breaks down and begs for mercy, losing the respect of his fellow inmates. Luke seems to succumb to cowardice and become an errand boy for the guards, but when an opportunity presents itself, he flees again by stealing a truck, with Dragline joining him. After abandoning the truck, the pair agree to separate.
Luke enters a church and talks to God, whom he blames for sabotaging him so he cannot win in life. Police cars appear moments later, and Dragline arrives to tell him that he will not be hurt if he surrenders peacefully. Instead, Luke mockingly repeats the Captain's warning speech at the police. Godfrey shoots him in the neck. Dragline carries Luke outside and surrenders, but charges at Godfrey and strangles him until he is subdued by the guards. While Luke is loaded into the Captain's car, Dragline tearfully implores him to live. Despite protests from local police, the Captain decides to take Luke to the distant prison infirmary instead of the local hospital, to ensure Luke will not survive the trip. A semi-conscious Luke weakly smiles as the car drives away.
Some time later, the prison crew works near a rural intersection close to where Luke was shot, with Dragline now wearing leg irons and a new Walking Boss supervising. Dragline and the other prisoners fondly reminisce about Luke.
Cast
Production
Florida prison
Pearce, a merchant seaman who later became a counterfeiter and safe cracker, wrote the novel Cool Hand Luke about his experiences working on a chain gang while serving in a Florida prison. A contemporary source states that he sold the story to Warner Bros. for $80,000 and received another $15,000 to write the screenplay. After working in television for over a decade, director Rosenberg chose it to make it his directorial debut in cinema. He took the idea to Jalem Productions, actor Jack Lemmon's independent film production company.However, newspaper reports of the era announced that Lemmon and his producing partner, Gordon Carroll, purchased the story directly from Pearce in August 1965, for $100,000. It was also announced that it would be made at Columbia Pictures, where Jalem Productions had an existing six-picture deal, as the first film to be produced by Lemmon without his starring power. Lemmon was clear in announcing to the press that he was not going to play any role in the film. Rosenberg was also under a non-exclusive three-picture contract with Jalem Productions, before the story was purchased.
Since Pearce had no experience writing screenplays, the producers eventually hired Academy Award nominated writer Frank Pierson in March 1966, to work on the script. In May 1966, the production moved from Columbia Pictures to Warner Brothers Pictures, when Newman was signed for the role. Conrad Hall was hired as the cinematographer, while Paul Newman's brother, Arthur, was hired as the unit production manager. Newman's biographer, Marie Edelman Borden, wrote that the "tough, honest" script drew together threads from earlier movies, especially Hombre, Newman's earlier film of 1967. Rosenberg altered the script's original ending, adding "an upbeat ending that would reprise Luke's trademark smile."
Casting
's character, Luke, is a decorated war veteran who is sentenced to serve two years in a Florida rural prison. He constantly defies the prison authorities, becoming a leader among the prisoners, as well as escaping multiple times. While the script was being developed, the leading role was initially considered for Jack Lemmon or Telly Savalas. Newman asked to play the leading role after hearing about the project. To develop his character, he traveled to West Virginia, where he recorded local accents and surveyed people's behavior. George Kennedy turned in an Academy Award-winning performance as Dragline, who fights Luke and comes to respect him. During the nomination process, worried about the box-office success of Camelot and Bonnie and Clyde, Kennedy spent $5,000 on trade advertising to promote himself. He later said that thanks to the award, his salary was "multiplied by ten the minute won", adding, "the happiest part was that I didn't have to play only villains anymore".Strother Martin, known for his appearances in westerns, was cast as the Captain, a prison warden depicted as a cruel and insensitive leader, severely punishing Luke for his escapes. The role of Luke's dying mother, Arletta, who visits him in prison, was passed to Jo Van Fleet after it was rejected by Bette Davis. Morgan Woodward was cast as Boss Godfrey, a laconic, cruel and remorseless prison officer Woodward described as a "walking Mephistopheles". He was dubbed "the man with no eyes" by the inmates for his mirrored sunglasses. The blonde Joy Harmon was cast for the scene where she teases the prisoners by washing her car after her manager, Leon Lance, contacted the producers. She auditioned in front of Rosenberg and Newman wearing a bikini, without speaking.
Filming
Filming began on October 3, 1966, on the San Joaquin River Delta. The set, imitating a southern prison farm, was built in Stockton, California. The filmmakers sent a crew to Tavares Road Prison in Tavares, Florida, where Pearce had served his time, to take photographs and measurements. The structures built in Stockton included barracks, a mess hall, the warden's quarters, a guard shack and dog kennels. The trees on the set were decorated with spanish moss that the producers took to the area. The construction soon attracted the attention of a county building inspector who confused it with migrant worker housing and ordered it "condemned for code violations". The opening scene where Newman cuts the parking meters was filmed in Lodi, California. The scene in which Luke is chased by bloodhounds and other exteriors were shot in Jacksonville, Florida, at Callahan Road Prison. Luke was played by a stunt actor, using dogs from the Florida Department of Corrections.Rosenberg wanted the cast to internalize life on a chain gang and banned the presence of wives on set. After Harmon arrived on location, she remained for two days in her hotel room, and was not seen by the rest of the cast until shooting commenced. Despite Rosenberg's intentions, the scene was ultimately filmed separately. Rosenberg instructed an unaware Harmon of the different movements and expressions he wanted. Originally planned to be shot in half a day, Harmon's scene took three. For the part of the scene featuring the chain gang, Rosenberg substituted a teenage cheerleader, who wore an overcoat.