Cool Hand Luke
Of all the films that were released in 1967 few had the power and stamina
of
displaying detailed characterizations in the manner of which 'Cool Hand
Luke'
did. Its strong message of individuality was a welcomed choice in the
20th
century’s most turbulent decade, which of course were the 1960's. Based
on the
novel by Donn Pearce and adapted for the screen by Pearce and Frank R.
Pierson
and Oscar nominated for Screenplay Adaptation, 'Cool Hand Luke' opens
with a
lazy and most effective scene showing Luke Jackson cutting the heads
off of
parking meters in a drunken haze in the confines of a small southern
town.
Promptly picked up by the police and sentenced to two years for
maliciously
destroying public property while under the influence, Luke is
transported to a
prison camp led by a character named Dragline. Dragline
rules with an iron fist
over the gang but manages to maintain many friends
and constantly earns the
respect of his fellow prisoners. The scene in which
Luke is brought to prison
sets the tone for the entire film as director
Stuart Rosenberg sternly outlines
the disciplinary policy of the facility’s
captain (Strother Martin) and its
guards whom the prisoners are told to refer
to as 'boss'. Luke's mission is to
immediately challenge Dragline for
leadership of the gang and a conflicting
scene involving a boxing match
between the two puts Luke on good terms with the
other prisoners and the
guards themselves also notice this. Dragline ends up
becoming Luke's friend
and protector and the film becomes a series of rebellious
acts executed by
Luke. One somber and heartfelt scene has Luke in contact with
his mother who
comes to visit him and she is dying, presumably of lung cancer as
we see her
coughing and chain-smoking her way to the grave. He refers to his
mother on a
first name basis and the scene has a further impression later in the
film as
Luke comes to terms with her death. It's one of Newman's finest moments
on
film. 'Cool Hand Luke' is easily recognizable as social commentary but
it
also has a sense of humor and knows how to be entertaining on a general
level.
This is shown in the film's most classic scene, the egg-eating
contest. Luke
challenges the disbelievers in the camp into proving he can eat
fifty hardboiled
eggs in one hour and every cent in camp rides on his bet.
The talented cast of
'Cool Hand Luke' includes such character actors as
J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Jo
Van Fleet, Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Harry
Dean Stanton and a very young
looking Dennis Hopper. Director Stuart
Rosenberg's heavy handed direction is
appropriate for this film which creates
a clandestine environment of prison
abuse and prisoner defiance and leaves
the audience with many questions of
whether prison reforms or give its
convicts the impression that for every
violent action, there can be an act of
equally violent reaction.