1967 movie about a nonconformist in a prison chain gang
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system.
Cast and Crew
Paul NewmanLucas "Luke" Jackson
Web Pages
Video Products
Cool Hand Luke (1967), 25 Jun 1997
Cool Hand Luke (Deluxe Edition) (1967), 9 Sep 2008
Memorable Lines
Luke responding to Boss
Luke responding to "just doing my job" comment when Boss is putting him in solitary because the prison Captain thinks he may try to escape to attend his mother's funeral
Luke responding to "just doing my job" comment when Boss is putting him in solitary because the prison Captain thinks he may try to escape to attend his mother's funeral
Boss: Sorry, Luke. I'm just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.
Luke: Nah—calling it your job don't make it right, Boss.
Luke: Nah—calling it your job don't make it right, Boss.
Luke responding to Captain
Responding to Captain after being fitted with chains
Responding to Captain after being fitted with chains
Captain: You gonna get used to wearin' them chains after a while, Luke. Don't you never stop listenin' to them clinking. 'Cause they gonna remind you of what I been saying. For your own good.
Luke: Wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, cap'n.
Luke: Wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, cap'n.
Luke responding to Dragline
Response to Dragline who tries to justify why a new prisoner has to spend a night in solitary
Response to Dragline who tries to justify why a new prisoner has to spend a night in solitary
Dragline: He ain't in the box because of the joke played on him. He back-sassed a free man. They got their rules. We ain't got nothin' to do with that. Would probably have happened to him sooner or later anyway, a complainer like him. He gotta learn the rules the same as anybody else.
Luke: Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get.
Luke: Yeah, them poor old bosses need all the help they can get.
Articles
The Naked Truth About "Porno" Scanners, by Mark Skousen, 24 Nov 2010
Criticizes the Obama administration's decision to install "full body" scanners in airports or alternatively invasive "pat-downs"
Criticizes the Obama administration's decision to install "full body" scanners in airports or alternatively invasive "pat-downs"
I find it appalling that the government ... has adopted an official policy of sexual harassment against its citizens with the introduction of 'full body' scanners and pat-downs that are patently offensive. ... it is a sad commentary that TSA agents and government officials are supportive in this attack on fellow citizens. ... For those TSA agents who say, 'It's my job,' remind them of these words from the great libertarian film 'Cool Hand Luke': 'Just because it's your job doesn't make it right.'
Related Topic: Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
Videos
Cool Hand Luke (1967) trailer, 1967
Includes scene and several repetitions of the famous line (number 11 in AFI 100 Movie Quotes): "What we've got here is failure to communicate"
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cool Hand Luke" as of 5 Oct 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.