Heat Wave: COOL HAND LUKE (1967) – Introduced by Nathalie Atkinson

NEW 4K RESTORATION! 

The films are hot, but the Revue’s AC will be cranked for the ten films in this summer’s Heat Wave lineup.

Heat Wave at the Revue Cinema, a lineup of the greatest summer movies ever made, continues on August 18th with the sweaty summer classic COOL HAND LUKE with an introduction by Designing The Movies curator, NATHALIE ATKINSON! 

Equal amounts inspiration and perspiration! 

Paul Newman burns up the screen in one of his most memorable roles, channeling the anti-establishment sentiment of the counterculture era. From the poker game and signature line to the hard-boiled eggs and Lalo Schifrin’s score, this movie with the cool title is a sweltering classic.

In an understated but captivating performance Newman is Luke Jackson, a petty criminal who refuses to be cowed by the psychological cruelty and physical brutality of the guards at his Florida prison farm. Luke’s stubborn defiance makes an ally of top dog George Kennedy (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the role) and earns the admiration of his fellow chain gang convicts (Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton among them). Conrad Hall’s evocative cinematography ensures the movie is a vicarious endurance test of oppressive humidity and dust on sweat-slicked skin, as inmates labour cutting weeds, digging ditches, and tarring roads in the relentless heat of a Florida summer.

Does Cool Hand Luke live up to its reputation as the sweatiest movie ever made? Is Luke an anti-hero or a martyr? And can a man really eat fifty eggs? Come find out. Presented by Nathalie Atkinson.

Part of the Heat Wave series!

Cast/Crew Info
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Luke Askew, Morgan Woodward, Harry Dean Stanton