COOL HAND LUKE: 4K UHD Blu-ray (Warner Bros., 1967) Warner Home Video
It is fair to suggest that without the
untimely death of actor, James Dean in an automobile accident in 1955, the career
of actor, Paul Newman might have gone on a very different trajectory. For it
was to Dean that Newman lost the opportunity to appear in the much-coveted role
as Aron Trask in East of Eden (1955), and, Dean’s loss to the world that
ultimately paved the way for Newman to assuage into his career-defining role as
pug-ugly prize fighter, Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me,
one year later, as well as The Left Handed Gun (1958) – another Dean
hand-me-down. After serving his country in WWII, Newman had endeavored to
become a serious actor. New York suited this desire. But Hollywood beckoned after Newman charted his course in several highly successful productions on
Broadway, including Picnic (1953, where he met second wife, Joanne
Woodward), The Desperate Hours (1955), and Sweet Bird of Youth
(1959). Of these legendary runs, Newman would only reprise his role as Sweet
Bird of Youth’s enterprising and unscrupulous grifter in the 1962 film version.
However, in the interim Hollywood wasted no time capitalizing on Newman’s ‘new
breed’ of raw animal magnetism, enamored too with his chiseled good looks and
piercing blue eyes put to good use in such film fare as Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof, and, The Long, Hot Summer (1958) – the latter to win him Best
Actor at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.
By the time Newman appeared in Stuart
Rosenberg’s Cool Hand Luke (1967) he was an established megastar with a
list of enviable screen credits as his calling card: Exodus (1960), The
Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966), and, Hombre
(1967) among them. Essentially, Cool Hand Luke is a throwback to the
‘big house’ sub-genre of gangster/crime movies that Warner Bros. excelled at
churning out during the early 1930's; gritty, but with a likable anti-hero at
its core. So, it is not surprising Warner Bros. – the studio to have pioneered
the genre – should have also bankrolled Cool Hand Luke after a previous
arrangement between Rosenberg and Columbia Studios fell through. The script by
Don Pearce and Frank Pierson (based on Pearce’s episodic novel) captures a lot
of the textured nuances of this disenfranchised small-town loner, without ever
delving too deeply into what makes him tick. It is probably just as well, as
Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is one of those characters drawn from life – and
Newman’s own inimitable charisma – that we do not need too much exposition on,
as much of his life’s work and suffrage is writ large on Newman’s grinning
façade. It is the proverbial mask of comedy to ‘mask’ his tragedy. Cool Hand
Luke is devilishly light on particulars. Much of what we experience
appears, at least at first, to be superficial – just enough connective tissue
to establish the basic camaraderie among the inmates on a chain gang, and,
obviously, to feature Newman doing what Newman always did best - play the
underdog with a Teflon-coated spirit of ‘never say die’ – gutsy and garrulous
in his condemnation of authority – but especially focused on those who feign to
uphold a precept of nobility, otherwise masking their bigoted flaws.
When first we meet Luke Jackson, he
is a returning war hero without a care in the world. After drinking up a storm
and feeling no pain, except perhaps slaphappy 'feel good', Luke is discovered
by a police officer sawing the heads off parking meters. He is promptly
incarcerated and placed in a state work farm, overseen by a calculating law man
known only as Captain (Strother Martin). Each day, the prisoners are taken from
the farm and placed on road crew duty – toiling long hours in the hot sun,
clearing debris and re-tarring weather-worn surfaces. At one point, the men are
forced to clear a roadway near a derelict farm house where a nameless backwoods
temptress (Joy Harmon) delights in soaping up an old jalopy in the most
sexually explicit way. Aloof and keeping largely to himself, Luke incurs the
wrath of fellow inmate, Dragline (George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning role) who
challenges him to a boxing match. The diminutive Luke is no challenge for
Dragline who delights in pummeling him into the ground – that is, until Luke
refuses to give in. With each bone-shattering blow knocking Luke back into the
dust, Dragline realizes there is just no stopping Luke’s obstinacy. His body
may snap in two. But his determination never will.
Ironically, from this moment on,
Dragline develops a deep admiration for Luke. Thus, when Luke later declares he
can eat 50 eggs in one hour, Dragline becomes Luke’s most ardent proponent,
challenging the rest of the prisoners to bet on the event. The first half of Cool
Hand Luke builds on this buddy/buddy solidarity with Dragline acquiring an
almost religious kinship for Luke. However, after Luke’s mother, Arletta (Jo
Van Fleet, in a part Bette Davis rejected) dies, Luke is forever a changed man.
Owing to his more somber outlook, the Captain resolves to place Luke in
solitary confinement rather than risk his attempting an escape. Luke, who has
been a model prisoner until now, decides he can endure imprisonment no more.
Hence, a daring night-time prison break that leads to an even more bold escape
from the road crew in broad daylight. In both cases, Luke is caught, subdued,
and, returned to the work camp where his outlook continues to deteriorate.
Captain punishes Luke by making him dig and re-dig the same hole to the point
of complete exhaustion. Luke fakes a broken spirit, convincingly enough to be
reinstated on the road crew where he once more tries for a dramatic break to
freedom, this time with Dragline in tow. The police soon catch up to the pair
and Luke, after being told he will merely be sent back to the camp as
punishment, is instead gunned down outside a church by the police. Dragline is
severely beaten and taken back to the work camp where he relays Luke’s last act
of heroism to the other prisoners.
Cool Hand Luke is a
mesmerizing entertainment almost entirely fueled by Paul Newman's formidable
male machismo. Interesting to consider what the picture might have been had
Newman not shown his interest to star – the project first shopped around to
Jack Lemmon, then, Telly Savalas. Cool Hand Luke is loosely based on
Donn Pearce’s semi-biographical novel, sold to Warner Bros. for a cool $80,000.
Pearce would receive an additional $15,000 to author the screenplay. However, owing
to his inexperience in screenplay writing, Pearce’s prose was ultimately
reworked by Frank Pierson. Nevertheless, much of Pearce’s Christian symbolism,
establishing Luke as a Jesus-like martyr, remains in the finished film. Indeed,
there are several key scenes in which Luke challenges the Almighty to do his
best or worst in service of his own command. Cool Hand Luke also marked
Stuart Rosenberg’s directorial debut in the movies after a decade’s worth of
solid work in television. The picture
was mostly shot near San Joaquin River Delta with interiors of the southern
prison farm built in Stockton, California and trees decorated in Spanish moss
for authenticity. The production also utilized locations in Lodi, California, for
the movie’s opener, and Jacksonville, Florida, with an unknown stunt actor
subbing in for Newman during the harrowing pursuit by attack dogs on loan from Florida’s
Department of Corrections. In addition to George Kennedy’s Oscar win as Best
Supporting Actor, Cool Hand Luke also received an Oscar nod for Lalo Schifrin’s
jazzy underscore, to forgo the usual big orchestral treatment and instead
concentrate on isolated guitars, banjos and harmonicas, with only occasional
flourishes of trumpet, violin, flute and accompanying piano. The final
advantage of the movie remains Conrad Hall’s cinematography - stark, yet plush.
Ironically the photography came under considerable scrutiny from some critics
at the time who thought it ‘too pretty.’
That loveliness is on full display
in Warner Home Video’s newly minted 4K UHD Blu-Ray release. The standard
Blu-ray from 2010 was a quality affair. But 4K bests it in virtually all
regards. Colors leap from the screen with realistic flesh tones and vibrant
greens. On the standard Blu, the sun-burnt flesh of the men on the road crew
registered as pasty orange. In 4K, it emerges as dazzlingly nuanced with far
more grit and tonality. Fine details are razor-sharp. Contrast and black levels
are stellar. Whites become cleaner and brighter too, though never blooming. There
is no hint of age-related artifacts. This is another reference quality UHD disc
surely to please from top to bottom and side to side. The audio remains Dolby
Digital 1.0 mono as originally recorded and represents an adequate listening experience.
The 4K disc does not contain any extra features. But the accompanying Blu
houses a thorough documentary with interviews from director and costar, George
Kennedy, plus the original theatrical trailer. Bottom line: There is certainly no 'failure to communicate' here! Cool Hand Luke
is another gemstone from the Warner canon, given its due in 4K. While some of
Warner’s 100th anniversary releases have been little more than
repackaged fluff and nonsense, Cool Hand Luke in UHD is a worthy cause
to celebrate the studio’s illustrious past. Very – very – highly recommended.
FILM RATING (out
of 5 - 5 being the best)
4.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
5++
EXTRAS
2
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