History Film / CoolHandLuke

* ArchEnemy: The Captain to Luke Jackson.
* BalloonBelly: [[NauseaFuel Fifty eggs, man!...]]

* BigBad: The Captain.

* CaptivityHarmonica: Luke's banjo is a variation.

* CoolShades: The evil prison warder in his impenetrable mirror shades.

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Luke]] complete with IronicEcho ("What we've got here is a failure to communicate").

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Captain.

* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Luke himself dies this way.]]
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Luke himself at the end.]]

* MeaningfulEcho: "What we've got here is a failure to communicate!"
* MessianicArchetype: Luke

* PunishmentBox: The TropeCodifier.

* RuleOfThree: [[spoiler:Luke's punishment,]] and his [[spoiler: three attempts of running.]]

* SmiteMeOhMightySmiter: Asks for it in the rain. No response.

* TheTrickster: Luke has a disrupting influence on the day-to-day life in the prison.
* UncommonTime: The "Tar Sequence" is in 5/4, by Music/LaloSchifrin (who also created the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' theme in 5/4).

* WorkingOnTheChainGang: What Luke does in-between several prison breaks.

* PrisonWork: We see the prisoners working the field and building roads.

* UncommonTime: The "Tar Sequence" is in 5/4, by Lalo Schifrin (who also created the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' theme in 5/4).

[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CoolHandLuke_3430.jpg]]

* DefeatMeansFriendship: Subverted. Luke and Dragline start off as rivals and eventually find themselves in a boxing match. While Luke doesn't really beat him, he just keeps getting back up after getting knocked down, making Dragline quit out of tiredness. They soon become friends after that.

* RuleOfSymbolism: After the egg eating contest, Luke is in a pose that is suspiciously like Jesus on the cross and [[Literature/TheBible Luke]] has a brother named [[Literature/TheBible John]].

''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967) is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Creator/PauNewman) during his stay at a Florida prison camp sometime in the late [[TheForties Forties]] or early [[TheFifties Fifties]], and how he stands up to the system within the camp.

''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967) is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (PaulNewman) during his stay at a Florida prison camp sometime in the late [[TheForties Forties]] or early [[TheFifties Fifties]], and how he stands up to the system within the camp.

!!This film contains the following tropes:

* ThemeTune: While not the primary theme, a piece of music used in a scene from the film called the "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOWkPk2ETXc Tar Sequence]]" was licensed by Creator/{{ABC}} to become the news theme for local newscasts on many of their stations until the mid 90's (when the network commissioned a SuspiciouslySimilarSong so that they wouldn't have to pay large royalties for its use) and became a critical part of the Eyewitness News local news format, where it is ubiquitous for being the SignatureSong associated with American local news. Still in use today by Australia's NineNetwork for their theme.

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is one of these (whether from WorldWarII or [[TheKoreanWar Korea]] isn't specified in the film, though in the novel it's the former). It's revealed that, despite having made sergeant and earned several citations during his time in the Army, he'd also done time in the stockade and gotten busted back down to private by the time he was discharged. Whether his problems with authority and general anti-social behavior are a product, or a cause, of these experiences is never really addressed.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Luke's in jail because he got drunk and decided to decapitate some parking meters.
-->'''Luke:''' Small town, not much to do in the evenin'.

'''''Cool Hand Luke''''' (1967) is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (PaulNewman) during his stay at a Florida prison camp sometime in the late [[TheForties Forties]] or early [[TheFifties Fifties]], and how he stands up to the system within the camp.

->''"What we've got here is failure to communicate."''

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is one of these (whether from WorldWarII or [[TheKoreanWar Korea]] isn't specified in the film, though in the novel it's the former). It's revealed that, despite having made sergeant and earned several citations during his service, he'd also done time in the stockade and gotten busted back down to private by the time he was discharged. Whether his problems with authority and general anti-social behavior are a product, or a cause, of his war experiences is never really addressed.

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is a decorated Army veteran (whether from WorldWarII or [[TheKoreanWar Korea]] isn't specified in the film, though in the novel it's the former). While it's never directly addressed, there's a strong possibility that his antisocial behavior stems at least in part from [[ShellShockedVeteran war-related trauma]].

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is a decorated war veteran (whether WorldWarII or [[TheKoreanWar Korea]] isn't specified in the film, though in the novel it's the former). While it's never directly addressed, there's a strong possibility that his antisocial behavior stems at least in part from [[ShellShockedVeteran war-related trauma]].

'''''Cool Hand Luke''''' (1967) is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (PaulNewman) during his stay at a Florida prison camp in the late [[TheForties Forties]] or early [[TheFifties Fifties]], and how he stands up to the system within the camp.

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is a decorated war veteran (whether WorldWarII or [[TheKoreanWar Korea]] isn't specified in the film, though in the novel it's the former). While it's never directly addressed, there's a possibility that his antisocial behavior stems at least in part from [[ShellShockedVeteran war-related trauma]].

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is a decorated WorldWarII veteran. While it's never directly addressed, there's a possibility that his antisocial behavior stems at least in part from [[ShellShockedVeteran war-related trauma]].

'''''Cool Hand Luke''''' (1967) is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (PaulNewman) during his stay at a Florida prison camp in the late [[TheForties forties]] or early [[TheFifties Fifties]], and how he stands up to the system within the camp.