Hello! This post is about Cool Hand Luke (1967), the classic American film starring Paul Newman and directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It’s the ultimate anti-establishment film, released right when public opposition to the Vietnam War was growing more and more popular. Cool Hand Luke is a touchstone of American culture; for one movie, Paul Newman out-Brandos Marlon Brando and out-Deans James Dean as a whole generation of men — including and especially George Kennedy — fell in love. Here are 12 facts about Cool Hand Luke! Read on.

1. Who directed Cool Hand Luke?

Stuart Rosenberg (1927-2007) directed Cool Hand Luke (1967). It was his 3rd feature, between Question 7 (1961) and The April Fools (1969). Stuart Rosenberg has also directed classics like Voyage of the Damned (1976), Brubaker (1980), and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). Rosenberg won an Emmy in 1963 for his work in directing an episode of The Defenders.

Click on the movie to buy Cool Hand Luke on Blu-ray!

2. Who is in Cool Hand Luke?

Paul Newman is the star of Cool Hand Luke, and the film established him as a top actor and box-office draw. The film also stars George Kennedy (that guy from the Naked Gun movies) and Strother Martin, who has the famous “What we have here is a failure to communicate” line. Other notable actors include J.D. Cannon, Jo Van Fleet, Joy Harmon, and Morgan Woodward. You’ll also spot Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton at very early stages in their careers.

3. Was Cool Hand Luke nominated for anything?

Paul Newman was nominated for Best Actor — his 4th nomination out of 8 in his career — for his performance in Cool Hand Luke. George Kennedy won for Best Supporting Actor. The movie was also nominated for Best Original Music Score by Lalo Schifrin and Best (adapted ) Screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson. George Kennedy even dropped $5,000 in advertising to promote his Oscar nomination, which turned out to be a very good investment because his salary “multiplied by 10” and the kind of roles that were offered to him expanded.

4. Is Cool Hand Luke based on a book?

Yes. Cool Hand Luke was written by Donn Pearce (1928-2017) and published in 1965. Donn Pearce himself dabbled in burglary, safecracking, and counterfeiting, and was sentenced to a couple years on the chain gang in Florida when he was just 20 years old. Donn Pearce appears in the film as Sailor the convict but in 1989, Donn told the Miami Herald that he thought Paul Newman was wrong for the part. “I seem to be the only guy in the United States who doesn’t like the movie,” he said. Paul Newman, however, was a fan of the book. He agreed to play the title character after reading it, and insisted that the screenplay not be catered to his strengths.

Click on the book to buy Cool Hand Luke by Donn Pearce!

5. Is Cool Hand Luke any good?

Yes! Cool Hand Luke is considered a classic of American film and one of the definitive showcases for one of the best and most popular actors in Hollywood history. The Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes has a perfect 100% score, with a 95% audience score. Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars in his original review in 1967, and then listed it among his Great Movies 40 years later. It was also a box office hit, taking in $16.2 million on a $3.2 million budget — especially impressive in 1967 dollars.

6. Paul Newman actually only ate like 8 eggs

The scene where Luke eats 50 hard-boiled eggs is pretty well-known. However, if you watch carefully, you’ll notice Paul Newman only has about 8 eggs — which was more than enough to immediately puke them out after the scene was shot. About 200 eggs were provided altogether, and with the remaining 192 or so divided among the cast and crew, there was a whole lot of farting going on the next day.

7. Who says “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”?

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate” was spoken by Strother Martin in his role as the captain in Cool Hand Luke (1967). It’s something of an iconic movie line that has been quoted often over the years and appears on many lists of Best Movie Lines Ever. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve probably heard the quote, perhaps when that bit of dialogue was used for “Civil War” and “Madagascar” by Guns N’ Roses. On April 19, 1980, Strother Martin even parodied his famous line when he hosted Saturday Night Live.

8. Did Paul Newman really play the banjo for “Plastic Jesus?”

Yes! In fact, it was suppose to be shot earlier in the production of Cool Hand Luke but it was delayed because Paul Newman insisted on learning to play the banjo — and Harry Dean Stanton was actually the one who taught him. Shooting this emotionally-charged scene was apparently equally tense on the set, and even led to screaming matches between Stuart Rosenberg and Paul Newman. When Paul finally nailed it, Rosenberg called for print. When Paul insisted that he could do a better take, Rosenberg said that no one could do it better.

9. Bette Davis turned down Cool Hand Luke

Wild, right? The role of Luke’s mother went to Jo Van Fleet, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for East of Eden (1955). The shooting schedule was a bit tight and the scene where Luke is visited by his mother — which had like 8 pages of dialogue that needed to be filmed — had to be done all in one day. With two highly-trained theater veterans on the job, it actually went pretty smoothly. To prepare for the role, Jo Van Fleet sat on a tree stump many yards away from the rest of the set going over her lines, and Harry Dean Stanton sang to her before her take.

10. Jack Lemmon turned down Cool Hand Luke

Jack Lemmon read the script for Cool Hand Luke and recommended that the role go to Paul Newman. However, he had a company called Jalem Productions that had a hand in making films of his like The Day of Wine and Roses (1962) and Save the Tiger (1973). Lemmon was particularly eager to produce a film he did not appear in, so he helped produced Cool Hand Luke.

11. The set of Cool Hand Luke was convincing enough to fool a city official into condemning it

The prison camp was based on the one where Donn Pearce served time in Florida, and built in Stockton, California by the San Joaquin River Delta. Barracks, dog kennels, and other buildings were constructed for the set, and the trees were decorated with Spanish moss brought in from Louisiana. The conditions were convincingly dilapidated enough for a San Joaquin County building inspector who happened to be passing by to post notices all over the set for not being up to code.

12. Who did the score for Cool Hand Luke?

Argentine-born composer Lalo Schifrin — who is perhaps best known for composing the Mission: Impossible theme song — was nominated for Best Original Music Score for his work on Cool Hand Luke. Lalo Schifrin is very well-accomplished, the dude is a 5x Grammy Award winner who has also been nominated for 6 Oscars and 4 Emmys in his long career.

Click on the CD to buy the Cool Hand Luke score by Lalo Schifrin!

Want to learn more fun facts about other Cool Hand Luke-related stuff? Check out our list of Paul Newman Facts and facts about Stuart Rosenberg’s The Pope of Greenwich Village! We also have lists on trivia about movies like Searching for Bobby Fischer, Bringing Out the Dead, and Miami Vice.

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