Cool Hand Luke

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

192K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:48

Prison Drama Tragedy Crime Drama

A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

192K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,858

202

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #250

Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 11 nominations total

Trivia
In the "road-tarring" sequence, the actors actually blacktopped a mile-long stretch of highway for the county.

Goofs
The time period was more likely 1958 because Luke sang, "Plastic Jesus", a folk song which was written in 1957.

Quotes
[Luke wins a poker hand on a bluff]
Dragline: Nothin'! A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head, he beat you with nothin', just like today when he kept comin' back at me, with nothin'.
Luke: Yeah, well... sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.

Connections
Featured in The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981)

Soundtracks
Plastic Jesus
(uncredited)
Written by Ed Rush and George Cromarty
Performed by Paul Newman

User reviews409

Review

Featured review

Fantastic

Amazing movie....watched it for the first time three or four years ago. Seen it plenty of times since......this, along with "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", is one of my favorite films of all-time. Luke is a truly memorable character; funny, tragic, inspirational.....a lot like Randle Patrick McMurphy. Paul Newman once again proved the Academy to be full of idiots, giving a great performance deserving of an Oscar. How he only won once, when Sally Field is the owner of two statuettes, is inexplicable. His run of classic films and touchstone characters from the 60s-70s (Luke, Fast Eddie, Butch, etc) is unparalleled. George Kennedy was good, too......I mightn't be good at critiquing, but I know what I like. And I like this.