At a Glance

In this classic Southern prison drama, social misfit Lucas Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is incarcerated for a petty crime and sentenced to a chain gang. Luke is a sullen and laconic young man whose cool defiance of the sadistic warden and bullying inmates earns him the title Cool Hand Luke. But as the prisoners' respect for Luke grows into hero worship, he finds that he must risk everything in order to live up to their expectations. Filled with dozens of memorable scenes (Luke eating 50 eggs) and quotable lines (What we have here is a failure to communicate), COOL HAND LUKE is a testament to excellent screenwriting (Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson) and Newman's charm and skill as an actor. The film also features an outstanding supporting cast that includes George Kennedy, Strother Martin, and early screen appearances by Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton.