Cool Hand Luke. 1967 Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Strother Martin, Jo Van Fleet
Also Starring: Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Buy the deluxe edition of Cool Hand Luke at Amazon.
"What we've got here is failure to communicate", number 11 on the American Film Institute's list of the one hundred most memorable movie lines.
Paul Newman is Luke Jackson, sent to a prison chain gang after he is arrested for drunkenly decapitating parking meters. Despite the best efforts of the Captain (Martin) to "get their minds right", Luke shows that he isn't about to kowtow to just anyone, which slowly wins over the other prisoners, even Dragline (Kennedy, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role), who initially despises the newcomer. Among his other talents, Luke is decent at poker, and he devises methods for the other men to get their road work done in half the time, earning them an afternoon off.
After learning about his mother's death, Luke escapes, and when he is caught, he simply escapes again. During his longest time away from the camp, Luke mails the prisoners a magazine that has a picture of him with two beautiful women, which is faked, but still impresses the other inmates.
Soon enough, the people in charge of the prison start to break Luke's will, but he still makes a last bid for freedom with Dragline when the chance arrives to steal a guard's truck. Late at night, they are both tracked down at a church. Dragline made a deal with the feds saying they won't be hurt if they surrender peacefully, but Luke dismisses this, which gets him shot in the neck. After Dragline helps him outside, Luke is sent to the prison hospital, which is more than an hour away, despite his clear need for immediate medical attention. The film ends with Dragline and company reminiscing about Luke during another hot day in the fields.
Highly, highly, highly recommended film.
Showing posts with label stuart rosenberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stuart rosenberg. Show all posts
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Drowning Pool
The Drowning Pool. 1975 First Artists & Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Available as part of the Paul Newman Collection from Amazon.
Stuart Rosenberg and Paul Newman get together to make their fourth feature film, which so happens to be what everyone in the world was demanding to see in the mid '70s: a sequel to 1966's Harper. Since I really couldn't get into the first movie, let's see how the sequel holds up.
(True, I wasn't that thrilled with Harper, but I still own two copies of it. Go figure...)
Lew Harper ventures to Louisiana to investigate a blackmail plot involving the nymphomaniac daughter (Griffith) of a former lover, Iris Devereaux (Woodward). He is also caught up in a power struggle between Iris and the oil tycoon Kilbourne (Hamilton), who wants the Devereaux property for himself.
The film's title comes from a scene where Harper and Kilbourne's wife Mavis (Strickland) are locked in a hydrotherapy room. Harper is inspired to flood the room, so he and Mavis can possibly float to the top and escape through the skylight.
The Drowning Pool looks good on film, but the plot is a bit complicated, and the main appeal of the first movie was its kitschy '60s look. The same magic wasn't captured on film in 1975. Newman, as always, is enjoyable, so I would have to say this is recommended for a rainy day. Oh, and I did like this one a little better than Harper.
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Available as part of the Paul Newman Collection from Amazon.
Stuart Rosenberg and Paul Newman get together to make their fourth feature film, which so happens to be what everyone in the world was demanding to see in the mid '70s: a sequel to 1966's Harper. Since I really couldn't get into the first movie, let's see how the sequel holds up.
(True, I wasn't that thrilled with Harper, but I still own two copies of it. Go figure...)
Lew Harper ventures to Louisiana to investigate a blackmail plot involving the nymphomaniac daughter (Griffith) of a former lover, Iris Devereaux (Woodward). He is also caught up in a power struggle between Iris and the oil tycoon Kilbourne (Hamilton), who wants the Devereaux property for himself.
The film's title comes from a scene where Harper and Kilbourne's wife Mavis (Strickland) are locked in a hydrotherapy room. Harper is inspired to flood the room, so he and Mavis can possibly float to the top and escape through the skylight.
The Drowning Pool looks good on film, but the plot is a bit complicated, and the main appeal of the first movie was its kitschy '60s look. The same magic wasn't captured on film in 1975. Newman, as always, is enjoyable, so I would have to say this is recommended for a rainy day. Oh, and I did like this one a little better than Harper.
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