Essentials: Cool Hand Luke

Year: 1967 (USA)
Genre: Drama/Prison Film
Directed: Stuart Rosenberg
Stars: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Robert Drivas, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet, Clifton James, Morgan Woodward, Robert Donner, Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton
Production: Jalem Productions


I have watched a lot of movies over the course of a short lifetime. If I were to take all the movies I have watched and approximated their running time at about 100 minutes, I would be looking at about three years worth of movie watching at least. And that’s just from watching each of them once. I’ve become accustomed to movies and what they do, how the stories and characters are formed, how the cinematography relates to the sights, sounds and lighting etc. and while I won’t be presumptuous enough to say I know everything about film, I have become harder to surprise and even harder to please.

It certainly becomes harder to surprise second or third viewing let alone multiple times. Yet sitting down to refresh my memory for my Cool Hand Luke (1967) review, I was actually astounded by the intricacies of the story that I have previously overlooked. I have always believed it was an inspiring movie; an entertaining movie and the gold standard for prison-themed films. Now not only do I believe it is all those things, it is also one of the best religious allegories in American cinema.

You got my chagrin runnin' boy

For the benefit of those who have not seen Cool Hand Luke I will summarize the plot. Luke (Paul Newman) is a former war hero turned drunken vagrant who is arrested for taking the heads off of parking meters. He’s taken to a work-camp where he slowly by surely wins the respect of the prisoners to the chagrin of the warden and prison guards.

The character of Luke is meant to exemplify the words, body and mind of Jesus Christ. His name Luke is taken from the New Testament; one of the Gospels about the life of Jesus and one that most characterizes the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth. The book of Luke is also the only book that covers the parables of the good Samaritan, the prodigal son, and the unjust steward. A story about an undesirable person helping and gaining the respect of another, the story of a son who finds redemption and finally a parable about a man being dishonest for a greater good.

Depiction of a "cool hand"

Each parable represents a part of Luke. He gains the respect of the other undesirables in the prison by sacrificing his pride during a boxing match with Dragline (George Kennedy). Outmatched by the larger, stronger Dragline, he stays standing. Later during a poker game he gains the respect of the others including Dragline by bluffing in a hand holding absolutely nothing of value. He comment; “Sometimes nothing can be a very cool hand.” Thus his name.

In the middle of the movie, Luke’s mother Arletta and his distant but above board brother John come to visit. John is coincidently the name of another New Testament writer. While he never speaks to Luke, he does seem to fit the description of a doting son by toting his mother around. Arletta bemoans her role in Luke’s hardships while all but admitting he is the favorite of the two; the prodigal son.

You should always give the devil his due

After her death, Luke is unjustly forced into the prison hotbox for a night. It is from that point on Luke starts to disobey and attempts his escapes. While Luke 16:1-13 is mostly about mammon and avarice, It still relates. For those unfamiliar with the verse, a disobeying steward forgives the debts of his debtors without his permission. “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” If interpreted more liberally, the parable is an endorsement of disobeying unjust masters. In this case of Cool Hand Luke, the warden and guards are the masters and Luke is the unjust steward.

Dads can be real dicks sometimes

In addition to the parables, Luke does other things to exemplify the life and times of Jesus. There is a scene where Luke challenges himself to eat 50 hardboiled eggs at a time. When asked why 50, Luke replies “Seemed like a good round number.” It is also the same number of prisoners in the camp. The scene can be interpreted as Luke symbolically consuming the sins of the men. There is another scene where Luke goads the prisoners to shovel seed on a tarred road; a reminder of Luke 8:1-15, the parable of the sower. Finally, Luke speaks to God, referencing him as “old man,” much like a son would address a father.

Now I’m not a religious person, nor am I deranged enough to assume this is all one big conspiracy, but I can appreciate the universality of the many stories imbedded in religious literature. Even if the religious symbolism of Cool Hand Luke is coincidental, the prevalence of religiosity in our culture must have had an influence on the filmmakers. The writer of the novel Donn Pearce was himself an inmate of the Florida Department of Corrections and when he wasn’t digging ditches he may-well have been reading biblical passages.

Paul Newman, the sin eater

The famous line “what we have here is a problem to communicate.” comes from the movie Cool Hand Luke. In many ways this film has struggled for years to communicate with me. It is only now that I can appreciate the symbolism, the beauty and the elegance of Cool Hand Luke. Here’s to hoping you can appreciate it too.

Final Grade: A