“What we have here is a failure to communicate….”

These are the last words spoken by Paul Newman’s Luke, a fiercely disruptive convict, whom the authorities are determined to crush in 1967’s classic prison drama. Unbroken to the last, he parodies the exact words spoken to him by the warden before being shot.

Cool Hand Luke is one of Newman’s most iconic performances. George Kennedy also delivers an Oscar-winning supporting turn at the brutish convict who initially is a foil to Luke but comes to grudgingly respect him.  

The movie contains several famous scenes, probably most notably the egg-eating contest between the two men. I also like the scene where the convicts rush to complete their road-building labours in the hot sun, whereupon one of them asks Luke “what do we do now” wth the rest of the day, to which the answer is “nuthin’”.

This image was featured on the posters but is taken from the Spanish herald, which I have for sale here.