Cool Hand Luke

Paul Newman, first seen beating up parking meters along a lonely street, is a chain-gang member who just won’t submit to prison authority in Cool Hand Luke. Luke’s refusal to be broken has an almost Christ-like conviction, and he arrived on screens just in time to be embraced by the counterculture. Most long-haired rebels of the time fondly remember the irony of the line from Strother Martin as a sadistic guard: ”What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Colorful, more than a touch pretentious, yet wholly enjoyable. B-