History Film / CoolHandLuke

* PlayingGertrude: Jo Van Fleet was only 11 years older than Creator/PaulNewman, despite playing his mother.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: We never learn the actual names of the inmates besides Luke, although Dragline is briefly addressed as "Clarence" at one point. [[spoiler:In the novel we learn Dragline's given name is Clarence Slidell.]]

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: We never learn the actual names of the other inmates, although Dragline is briefly addressed as "Clarence" at one point. [[spoiler:In the novel his full name is given as Clarence Slidell.]]

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: We never learn the actual names of the inmates other than Dragline [[spoiler:Clarence]] and Luke himself.

Creator/GeorgeKennedy won the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dragline, a fellow prisoner who befriends Luke.

Creator/GeorgeKennedy won the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dragline, one of Luke's fellow prisoners.

* SinisterShades: The prison guard wears a pair of sinister shades while watching the prisoners in the hot sun.

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Luke's in jail because he got drunk and decided to decapitate some parking meters. Pretty much everyone who hears this was his crime remarks on the sheer pointless stupidity of it.

* WhatWereYouThinking: The captain asks Luke what he thought defacing parking meters would get him. Luke replies that, being drunk at the time, he probably wasn't thinking.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The director loved Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey. But he found that his [[VocalDissonance voice didn't match how intimidating the character needed to be]]. So all of Woodward's dialogue was removed and his character became TheVoiceless.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The director loved Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey. But he found that his [[VocalDissonance voice didn't match how intimidating the character needed to be]]. So all his dialogue was removed.

* FauxAffablyEvil: The Captain orders brutality upon his prison's inmates while talking about [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou how dare they push him into having to "put their heads right"]] in an allegedly-eloquent "aw, shucks" tone.

* BullyTurnedBuddy: The relationship between Luke (Paul Newman) and boss prisoner Dragline (George Kennedy) becomes this. Luke is forced into a fight with the much stronger prison bully, who shames him in front of a crowd by refusing to fall down and take his beating. After this Dragline's new respect turns into friendship.

* CrucifiedHeroShot: After the infamous Fifty Eggs contest... strangely enough. There's also the way [[spoiler:Luke's photo of him with two ladies is torn, and is slammed in your face at the end.]] Juxstaposed over a shot of two roads intersecting like a cross, just to drive the point home.

* FamousLastWords: "'What we've got here is a failure to communicate.'" [[spoiler:Luke]]

* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** The story is set in Florida, and the film was originally planned to be shot there on location before budget considerations [[CaliforniaDoubling moved production to Stockton, California instead]]. The prison set was built from photographs taken of the actual Florida prison camp where author Donn Pearce had done time for burglary.
** The director loved Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey. But he found that his [[VocalDissonance voice didn't match how intimidating the character needed to be]]. So all his dialogue was removed.

** The film was originally set in Florida (and would be filmed entirely on location). Budget reasons led to it being relocated to (and filmed in) California.

* ReturningWarVet: Luke is one of these (whether from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII or [[UsefulNotes/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.

!!List the tropes there, Luke.

Mostly known for the famous musical piece "Tar Sequence", which would go on to be used by various ABC-owned news stations. Australia's ''Creator/NineNetwork'' news program, ''Nine News Australia'', still uses it to this day.

%% * GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Luke himself dies this way.]]

Mostly known for the famous musical piece "Tar Sequence", which would go on to be used by various ABC-owned news stations. Australia's ''Creator/NineNetwork'' news program, ''Nine News Australia'' still uses it to this day.

It is the story of Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Newman) 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 (Creator/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.

* ThemeTune: While not the primary theme, a piece of music used in a scene from the film called the "[[https://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 Creator/NineNetwork for their theme.

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