Cool Hand Luke (1967) Audio Commentary

Paul Newman's takes a lickin' but keeps on kickin' as a quasi-Christ figure in his signature role

RC-2013-115: Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Cool Hand Luke was a timely allegory for 1960s-era tumult, and I discuss why Paul Newman—and not Brando—makes a perfect Lucas Jackson. After rattling off some prison movie tropes, I compare CHL favorably to I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang and hate on its ill-advised efforts to siphon profundity from Judeo-Christian imagery. Dennis Hopper's specialness gets called out, as does the film's early embrace of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Put 'Em on a Glass" concept. I manage to talk about George Kennedy without mentioning The Naked Gun movies—until the very end, when I make a predictable O.J. joke.

To sync up, press "pause" just after the Warner Bros. logo fades to black. I screened a Region-1 DVD.

Show Notes

• The Family Guy parody
• The Paul Muni/Mervyn Leroy film (Public Domain)
• The Guardian's top-ten prison movies
• This man can eat more eggs than Luke

Listen to the mp3, or get your ya-yas out with iTunes.