Cool Hand Luke: The Man Against the Machine

Send us a text

A sweltering Florida chain gang. Mirrored sunglasses reflecting only your own desperate face. Fifty hard-boiled eggs and one man determined to defy expectations. "What we've got here is failure to communicate" isn't just the most famous line from Cool Hand Luke – it's the perfect distillation of this landmark film's exploration of rebellion against authority.

Our deep dive into this 1967 masterpiece reveals why Paul Newman's portrayal of Luke Jackson remains one of cinema's most enduring symbols of resistance. Sentenced to two years for the minor offense of decapitating parking meters, Luke transforms from troublemaker to legend through his refusal to bow to the system. From the brutal boxing match where he won't stay down to his daring escapes that inspire his fellow inmates, Luke's journey resonates with anyone who's ever felt crushed by institutional power.

The religious symbolism throughout the film surprised us – Luke as a Christ-like figure sacrificing himself for others, the crucifixion pose after eating fifty eggs, his final confrontation in a church. We explore how director Stuart Rosenberg created authentic performances by keeping actors in prison-like conditions during filming, even having them pave actual roads under the Florida sun. Paul Newman's determination to personally learn "Plastic Jesus" on the banjo resulted in one of the film's most moving scenes.

Whether you're revisiting this classic or discovering it for the first time, Cool Hand Luke's examination of freedom, identity, and resistance against conformity remains as powerful today as when it first shocked audiences. Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand – and sometimes a film from 1967 can still shake your world.

Check out entertainthispodcast.com or follow us on social media @entertainthis_ to join our ongoing exploration of films that shaped cinema history.

Support the show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What we've got here is failure to communicate, like
and subscribe.
Like and subscribe Patreongives money.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Hey, hey, hey.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Welcome to Entertain this.
It's a podcast about movies.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
TV shows and video games.
All right old man.
All right Old man.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Hayden, I'm.

Speaker 3 (00:42):
Tom, I'm Mitch, I'm Hayden, what?

Speaker 1 (00:46):
are you?
I'm Mitch, I'm Hayden.
What are you, Harrison Ford?
Now I want my podcast back,Plus I'm more like you, I'll
just eat dirt.
I guess I'll do the show.
Yes, we are Tom Mitch andHayden and this is Entertain.
This, it's a podcast aboutmovies, tv shows and video games
.
Our last episode we did ourdeep dive into Batman, batman
1989.

(01:07):
X-men I know, I know bitch.
That's enough.
You're going to jail.
Speaking of going to jail,we're going to talk about a
movie about someone who goes toprison, the 1967 American prison

(01:28):
drama Cool Hand Luke starringPaul Newman.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
Now I know why it's called Cool Hand Luke after
watching this movie.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Because sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah, that was stupid .
Sorry, my bad.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
You're stupid.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
He was speaking your language.
If you were personified in amovie, it would be that big
doping guy.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
No, he'd be Dennis Hopper's character going.
You're Babaluga, that's who youare.
The spoons guy yeah, but beforewe get into this film, social
media, tom.
You can check us out atentertainthispodcastcom.
You can also follow us onxinstagram and tiktok at
entertainthis underscore andcheck us out on patreon.

(02:12):
It's on patreoncom.
Forward slash entertainthisunderscore.
If you got a dollar, if you gottwo, why stop at two?
Why not five?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
ten's a great round number but there's also free
membership as well, there's alsofree membership.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
You don, there's also free membership.
You don't have to be one ofthose.
You know free.
You know only kind of people.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Donate $1,000.
We'll come to your house andrecord a podcast.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
We'll let you just take the show.
We'll sign it over to you.
You can have it.
Tom will send pictures of hisfeet too.
Yeah, I will you, All of myhairy feet and my hairy toes
Only Tom's Only feet's Onlyentertain feet's.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
We could dress our feet up as iconic characters
from movies.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
This Cool Hand Luke film.
This might actually be thehighest rated film we've
probably talked about.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
What's it?

Speaker 1 (02:58):
rated.
It's got 100% on RottenTomatoes and it's a 95 on the
popcorn.
Are you the only one?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
that's watched it.

Speaker 3 (03:04):
No, it is a classic.
I just don't like it.
It is you don't like it becauseit's old.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
It's because you don't like old things.
It's not even that.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
I just didn't like the story Mitch like I said, you
do realize you yourself is anold thing.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
I do.
I don't think you been othermovies that have done the same
thing better.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
Well, not originally.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
You're right, they're not the original one.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
This is 1967.
What's the movie from the 60sthat you can even think about?
Exactly Because you don't likeold things Right.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
We're trying to culture you, yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Remember this algorithm thing we're trying to
work on.
It's 100% on Rotten TomatoesMitch 100%.
Remember this algorithm thingwe're trying to work on All
right.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Well, anyway, it's 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Mitch.
100% it doesn't go any higher.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Those tomatoes are not rotten.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
No, they are prime.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
How often are they always right, though?
Picked Snow White was predictedto be pretty good.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Look, critics, Look, everyone knew.
But that's also the critics'rating.
It's 100%, but the popcornmeter which is us watching it is
95.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
Snow White was not predicted to be good.
No, there was a budget Some ofthe critics did.
It was a budget of like 300plus million.
Yeah, they predicted they weregoing to make 55 million.
On their opening week they made42.
Yeah, you know.
So they're never going to getthat money back.
Oh no, there goes your nextfavorite Star Wars movie.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thanks, snow White.

Speaker 3 (04:26):
Actually they didn't announce some of those Anywho.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Ryan Gosling's in one .

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Not the.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Gosling.
But we're talking about CoolHand Luke, directed by Stuart
Rosenberg.
Screenplay by Don Pierce andFrank Pearson, which is based on
the book Cool Hand Luke by DonPierce, produced by Gordon
Carroll, starring Paul Newman,george Kennedy in an
Oscar-winning performance, jdCannon, robert Dreyfuss, Lou
Antonio Strother, martin and JoeVan Fleet.

(04:53):
Cinematography by Conrad Hall,edited by Sam Osteen.
Osteen Music by Lalo Schifrin,produced by Jalen Productions,
distributed by Warner Brotherson a budget of $3.2 million.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
The guy who wrote this movie wrote the book.
Also did the screenplaySemi-autobiographical because he
was in a chain gang in Floridaand they actually shot most of
this movie at the prison scenewhere he was in a chain gang.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
I did know that.
Thank you for those tidbits ofinformation.
Well, now you do.
I did not research.
Any of that Ends up with a boxoffice return of $16.2 million.

Speaker 3 (05:38):
That's a lot of money back in the 60s.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
That's a lot of money in 1967.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Roger Ebert called Cool Hand Luke an
anti-establishment film shotduring emerging popular
opposition to the Vietnam War.
Vietnam the Vietnam, which Ithink is the premise of this
movie, is just going against thegrain, almost it's anti.
It's going against the man.
Going against the boss, the man, the boss, the almost it's anti

(06:05):
.
It's going against the man,going against the boss, the man,
the boss, the bosses.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, boss, taking it off boss, taking it off here,
boss, putting it on here, boss,that got annoying.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
The bosses were obviously like all right, yeah,
okay fine.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
All right, fine, well , you got to tell the boss.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
You're sitting here wiping your sweat off your brow.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Come on now those were to be giving it a shake
here boss tying it over here,boss jerking it off here.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Boss, all right all right, let's take it for the
beginning, because I have notes.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
So this is.
There's a lot of imagery stuffI think we could talk about,
probably after we do like, Iguess, a run through the plot.
Sure of things happening.
Yeah, so, set in early 1950s,florida, decorated world war ii
veteran luke jackson drunkenlybehead several parking meters.
They didn't deserve that it'spoor parking meters destruction
of municipal, maliciousdestruction of municipal

(06:57):
property we haven't got thathere before I'm just gonna say
the punishment didn't fit thecrime.
He got two years for cuttingthe heads off parking meters.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, that's more like well, at least nowadays
that's probation.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
Well, you know, we had higher standards back then.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
It was different back in those days, true In early
1950s there was a couple oftimes where they said stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
You're like oh man, this is an old movie Like, where
the guy's like a reallyreligious dude, he's like I've
never had to kill a white manbefore and you're like but
you've killed a white man.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Native Americans.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Asians.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Can you expound upon that?
A little bit, he's confrontedby two police officers who
promptly arrest him, and he'ssubsequently sent to the chain
gang where he has to deal withthe warden or the captain and
the bosses.
And learn, I guess, the nuancesof chain gang life.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
The culture.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
And the culture and hierarchy.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
You will refer to me as boss.
Yes, boss.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Any man who turns in the wrong street spends a night
in the box.
Any man who forgets his spoonspends a night in the box.
Any man who forgets his spoonspends a night in the box.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Any man who doesn't wipe back the front in the box.
The box, I'm God.
The floor walker.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
What I'm confused is when they put him in the box,
why do they just basically givehim a nightgown?
Because it's hot, that was juststrange, because it's hot yeah.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
What did you want them to be naked?

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Well, I'm just wondering why they had them in a
nightgown.
They had a uniform.

Speaker 1 (08:31):
They got to give them some sense of decency.
Maybe it's a little drafty,it's a little nicer.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
And then you give them pants.
Because it's such a tight,confined area it would be too
hard to take your pants off.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
Pants is a luxury.
The poop, the poop.
Any man who forgets his numberspends the night in the box.
Any man who doesn't like thismovie spends the night in the
box.
Make me so.
We're introduced to the ChangGang group because they're out
working whatever, swinging theiryo-yos I think that's what they
call them in the movie.
Yeah, those bladed.

(09:01):
Those are sling blades.
Yeah, sling blades that they'recutting overgrown grass on the
sides of roads.
And the new truck comes by andyou see the bosses and you get
Boss Godfrey or the man with noeyes with his mirrored
sunglasses.
Yeah, lots to talk about thatcharacter but continue on and as
the vehicle passes, you kind ofget a little bit of a I guess,

(09:23):
an introduction to some of thecharacters you're going to see,
because they all look and theymake a bet on how many guys are
inside and it's like, oh, that'sright, it's got to be more than
five guys.
And it's like, no, it's got tobe less than five.
And it's like, all right, wegot to bet.
And it's like, just gamble onnothing, because there's nothing
else to do.

(09:45):
They do.
That's pretty realistic.
I would imagine that is pretty,knowing what we know.
That is incredibly realistic.
And then they're brought, youknow, the prisoners, the new
guys are brought before StrotherMartin, who plays the captain,
and he's got on his white shirtand his nice big straw hat and
he's, you know, he's likemanslaughter 15 years.
And the guy says something, thedude just decks him.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
It was an accident.
I shouldn't be here.

Speaker 1 (10:05):
He's like you don't talk unless the captain talks to
you.
And he's like oh, and then oneguy says something.
He goes what did I just say?
So he grabs him and it's likeLucas Jackson we find out he was
a war hero.
It's like silver star, bronzestar, a few purple hearts, you
went in the same way you cameout Buck private.

(10:27):
It's like yeah, I reckon I wasjust passing time, which I guess
is we get a little bit more onLuke's character, that he's just
kind of just going through lifewith no set.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Right.
He was probably against thegrain His whole life, even in
the military, because he left asa private.
He never got promoted, but hewas a good soldier because he
got all those awards.
He makes it the sergeant, buthe comes out as a Right because
he went against the grainBecause he punched a superior
officer Right who probablyneeded it, so like he's always
been challenging.
You know a free spirit if youwill Natural born world shaker.

(11:00):
We're going to shake the worldtogether.

Speaker 1 (11:04):
Sit with my boy Cool hand Luke.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
That's you.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Mitch.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
That's you.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
It's you.
You were watching, george.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
Kennedy was playing you in the future yes.

Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yes, stay down.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Luke.
So they're, you know, givingtheir uniforms.
You know, I remember, you knowwhere you spend the night in the
box with Clinton James, whoplayed that wild sheriff guy in
two James Bond movies, the oneswith Roger Moore.
You either watch these.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Dude, I didn't like those either.

Speaker 1 (11:35):
Live and Let Die and the man with the Golden Gun.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Live and Let Die.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Now it's stuck in my head.
So they're introduced to theprison life.
The other guys come back andthey count how many of them
there are and then there's a bad.
The other one guy lost and theone was played by Wayne Rogers,
whose character is Gambler, whoplays Trapper John in MASH in
the first three seasons.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
That's right.
I was like where do I recognize?

Speaker 1 (12:05):
that guy?
Why does that guy look sofamiliar?

Speaker 3 (12:06):
You know what?
He's got a pretty good voice.
One of the songs he was singingI was like no, look at that guy
.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
That's Harry Dean Stanton.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
Where's he from?

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Alien.
I'm surprised you didn't pickthat up immediately.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
I saw his face and then you said MASH, and I was
like he's got a MASH face.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
Wayne Rogers plays Gambler.
Harry Dean Sand plays acharacter called Tramp, the one
who plays the guitar and singsall the time.
But he's also in Alien.

Speaker 3 (12:30):
Yeah, he's the one with the cat.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, he gets killed with the chains and stuff.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
The cat just watches him die yeah as most cats
probably would Anyway.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, their first night in prison they learn.
Then they go out and it's justlike don't take my spot and
you're yelling.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's like I didn't know it was taken Cool.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
And then he calls he's like you're just a
hillbilly tramp.
And then George Kennedy'scharacter is Dragline, who's
kind of like the impromptu bossof the whole crowd.
Well, there's Carr, there'sboss car, the floor walker
played by Clifton James.
But all of them say, like youdon't get a name here until
Dragline gives you one.
So that's where Harry D Sandengets his name and everybody just

(13:12):
calls him Tramp for the rest ofthe entire film.

Speaker 2 (13:15):
I guess I've been called worse.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
And then some other guy comes up and they're just
like shut up.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
He's like ugh.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
And he, you know, goes off on his way.
And then they start their firstday and the character who plays
Coco cons out the dude who'shere for manslaughter.
He's like, oh yeah, I'm workingthe broom.
He's like, oh, it's a hot one.
And you see, all the seasonedprisoners are just looking at
each other like, oh, these guysare falling for it so easily.
And the guy's like, oh, I pay50 cents.
He's like I couldn't do it for50 cents.

(13:44):
He's like at least a buck.
And the guy's like I'll giveyou a dollar.
He goes sold and they're like,hands him the money and the boss
shoves the shotgun in thedude's chest, the double barrel,
and he's just like, get to work, get to work and that.
And they go through and they'reworking and swinging their
sling blades and working.

(14:05):
There's tension betweenDragline and Luke because Luke's
against the grain, goingagainst the order and the
hierarchy.
And then they go back and theysend that guy who paid for a job
that didn't exist to the box.
Yeah, and that's where yourealize it's just a very, it's a
port-a-john.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
It's basically what it is.
It's a brick floor with fourwalls.
You get two pots.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
I don't know one's water and one's to poop in.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
One's to piss and poop in.
Yeah, you get a nightgown andit's you can just stand, don't
mix them up in the dark.
You can just stand Like youcan't lay down.
Yeah, deterrent For some people, one might say After their
first night or whatever, they goback out and then you get

(14:51):
Lucille, his ma'am no not hisma'am.
The blonde woman who comes outwith the radio to wash the car
while all of them are justsweating and dying, and she just
comes out barely hooked up.

Speaker 3 (15:04):
I read about that and the director uh, I'll give a
scroll stewart rosenberg he uhintentionally kept the cast like
in a prison setting uh, andthey were like void of, like you
know, going to cities.
They weren't allowed to like goout and like have they're.
They're segregated throughoutthe entire production and he, he

(15:30):
tried desperately just to keepthis actress on on, say, on the
shooting scene, for like one day, you know.
But like I guess the guys werejust like losing their mind and
like they were like theycouldn't get takes just the
right way, so like they had tokeep her there for three days
Almost, like the actors wereintentionally, you know you just
keep doing it, yeah, so and youknow, like the actors, like

(15:53):
they legitimately paved thewhole road.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
But uh in in Florida.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
They had them do it like for real oh wow, yeah, and
you know, so they were, theywere, they were basically
prisoners like those rows thatthey were on, like those were
worked by the Florida Departmentof Corrections by like chain
gangs in the 60s and they hadthose actors actually pave one
road.
Yeah, okay, to our andeverything later on in the in
the film.
So they're all watching theshow and, like you know, put it

(16:19):
on.
He puts on some and he takes it.
He's like damn things areblocking the scenery.
And they're all just working,sweating and staring at her and
losing it.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
She's eating it up too.
Yeah, and she's living it up.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
It's like women would do that crap to guys and you're
just amazed none of them tookoff running after her.
It's just like they would havebeen shot, oh yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
She's trying to claim a body in a different way I
killed three men with thesepuppets.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
Got them to run off the line and they're going nuts.
And then they go back and dragline's, going on and on about it
and Luke's like just stopbeating it to death.
Like it happened.
Just everybody enjoyed it likeenough.
It's like you're not doinganybody any good now talking
about it, because they're alljust laying there.
And you guys are like any goodnow talking about it, because
they're all just laying thereand guys are like I gotta go to
the bathroom and like the, theboss, who's like inside, like
the little prison thing likebehind the cage, like he grabs
the shotgun because he doesn'tknow what they're doing and like

(17:12):
guys are just splashingthemselves in the face with
water which, if it was today,that would not be the reason why
they're going to the bathroom.
No, in fact, there's actuallytwo two side actors you see
during these parts who arebackground guys.
One of them is in two JamesBond films.

Speaker 3 (17:30):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
As a bad guy and as a good guy.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (17:34):
With Timothy Dalton in Living Daylights and then in
GoldenEye.
Oh, he's the CIA guy who helpsBrosnan in.
Goldeneye he's in this movieand the coach from Major League
he's in this movie too.
He just doesn't have the giantmustache and he's not pissing on
contracts and yelling atCharlie Sheen.
That's funny.
So Luke and Dragline now runafoul of each other because

(17:58):
Luke's challenging them and hechallenges them to the boxing
match because they havesanctioned fights on Saturday
afternoons.

Speaker 3 (18:04):
Which is actually kind of a good idea.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Yeah, let them just settle it.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
At a pre-scheduled ordained time.
If you've got a problem, it'slike if there's no fight and you
spend the night in the box.
If you want a fight, you fightSaturday afternoon.
Yeah, but.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
What?
What?
Like there's, no, I don't know.
There was nobody trying to stophim, so like they were just
going to let this guy beat him.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
It's a sanctioned fight.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Well, I'm just saying they were just going to let
them beat him to death.
They all watched, yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
I mean like they had gloves on.
It's not like.
I mean, if it got out ofcontrol they would have stopped
it.
I don but yeah I I look in themilitary we would do this, and
people who like hated each other.
They fought with gloves on andthen they'd be like best friends
.
That's usually how it works andobviously it worked like that

(18:55):
in the movie too.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
It becomes that way in this film.
So dragline beats theever-loving crap out of luke and
he's just mopping the floorwith him.
But Luke just never gives up.
He never stops fighting.
Even when Dragoine picks him up, he's still trying to hit him,
and when he drops him down tohis knees, he looks at Dragoine
and pops him in the face.
And just like pow and justbackhands him in the next year.

(19:17):
And even the guys they're allwatching, they're all excited,
like yeah, yeah, it's a fight,yeah.
And then like as it keeps goingand like luke still won't back
down he's just getting pummeled.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
They're like you know , so we should stop this, yeah,
and guys are just kind of likewalking off.
I think a guy with a silverstar would be a little bit of
fighter well, I mean, he neverstopped fighting.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
That's the he didn't fight at all, he's got beat up
no, he threw a lot of punches,drag lands, got like 100 pounds
on him he's just such a biggerperson.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
And he's just, and even Dragline's just like stay
down.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
He's like you're beat and he's like no, and he keeps
going.
But he earns everyone's respectthat he won't ever, he won't,
give in to someone else who'sstronger.
He continues to fight, whichthen leads to the card game.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
Yeah.
Where Dragline and Luke becometight with each other or more
drag line acquiesce becomes likeluke's guy because, like the
guy who's betting against lukebecause he asks drag line, what,
what should I do?
Like because they all can'tlive and they can't eat or
breathe without, like him,giving him advice.
And then like, eventually, draglines, like I don't know,

(20:21):
you're on your own.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
You know, because they're sitting there playing or
whatever, and he's just liketake a buck, take a buck, and
he's just like he's got kingsand he's just like what he got
and he shows you.
He's like he holds up his cardsand he's just like.
He's like call him.
He's like you gotta show himhe's calm.
And then he's like he like hecalls him again.
He's like damn, because he'slike yeah, I'll raise you a buck
.
And he's like take a buck, ashe's like throwing money.
And then he looks up at drago'slike he's like don't look at me

(20:43):
.
And he's just like he's gotkings.
He's like get out of there.
He's like, yeah, I'll fold.
And he's like, yeah,everybody's like yeah, I already
know.
And Drago's like he walks overto Luke's car.
He goes, you want to see him.
He flips him over.
He's like there you go, andit's just garbage cars.
And he's like bluffed him,nothing.

(21:03):
And then Luke opens up his colddrink as they call it with his
necklace bottle opener and he'slike sometimes nothing could be
a real cool hand.
And then that's where hedragline, christens him cool
hand Luke and he moves and sitsdown next to Luke and the two of
them form a partnership ofsorts.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
They bond, they bond.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
They kiss a little bit.
Any man caught kissing spendsthe night in the box.
I didn't have it you couldn'tfilm that 1967 there would be a
fight, yeah unless it was likeRock Hudson or somebody yeah,

(21:47):
hollywood rumors aside, movingon fight.

Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yeah, unless it was like rock hudson or somebody.

Speaker 1 (21:49):
Yeah, yeah, all right , hollywood rumors aside, moving
on moving on, luke is visitedby his like sick and dying
mother yeah who they just driveup in the truck and she's like
laying out in the back shewasn't even a truck, she was
like in a carriage.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
It's funny because she like they made her, they,
they make up their, look allsickly and stuff.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
She looked to be about the same age as Paul
Newman Well that's why, becausewhen I was watching I was having
to watch very quietly and I wasconfused.
I was like that's his mom.
Yeah, she looked like maybe hiswife or something.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
And they had the most depressing conversation ever.
Yeah, it was like she basicallysaid.
Like she basically said she hadbitter hopes for him.
He crushed her spirit and allthis other stuff.
He was her favorite Her otherson's right there, Stuff like
that yeah, or it's herhusband-ish kind of person.

(22:39):
Or partner, that's her otherson's there with his wife and
kid.

Speaker 1 (22:50):
He's right there and he's taking care of her.
She's just like you're stillthe favorite, though.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
yeah, pretty much I'm in prison he's like I'm gonna
give joe or john or whatever thehouse because I feel like I've
you know I haven't given himenough he deserves something
yeah, because I haven't doneanything for you or for him.
I've done everything for youand luke's like yeah it, it's
fair.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
He's like I agree.
Then he hands him the banjo andhe's just like yeah.
He's like no, there's no reasonto come back.
Yeah, like his brother's likeget the hell out of here.
Like I'm sick of you.
I hate you, dude.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
His nephew's like you're not wearing chains, like
you wish he was have to wearchains.
Yeah, he's like you know, uh,you have to do something really
bad to get up and end up hereand he like points to the boss
man.
He's like those guys will killyou in a heartbeat or something
like that.
So and they're like yeah it'slike, okay, let's just shoot you

(23:38):
now we can do whatever we want.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
So luke goes back and then they have where they
actually paved the road yeah,where they're sitting there
tarring the road.
And yeah, where they're sittingthere tar in the road.
And they're all like we got totar the road and like Luke's
shoveling, like you know, say so, like you know, save some
energy, like it's a long day,and he's like now we got to
fight the man.
He's just like come on, it'slike we could just keep going
and he just starts shovelingharder and harder and like
eventually just rallies theEnthusiasm of all of them and

(24:04):
all like they're just taking offlike all their shirts and
they're just all shoveling likemaniacs take it off and then
they start running and they'recatching up to the truck.
Yeah, and like the bosses arelike you know, the boss coffee
like holds up his cane and likethe ones you know, squirrely kid
like runs to the truck, comesback with the rifle, he pulls
the bolt out and blocks itbecause he doesn't know what
they're, if they're plottingsomething as they catch up

(24:24):
finally to the truck.
And and then they're all likewhere'd the road go?
Because they get to the stopside and it's just like there's
no more road.
It's like what do we do now?
It looks like nothing.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
Look, let's be honest , as fast as they did that, you
might as well go and start backover, because there's just going
to be stuff thrown everywhere.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
It's going to be like cars, where the whole thing was
like rickety because he triedto go fast, or when they were
like, yeah, we got two hours todo nothing, the cops would have
been like all right, well, nextroad, let's get started on this
one, I guess.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
This is supposed to be tomorrow's, but I guess we
could just start now.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
We're going that way now.
I just figured as fast as theydid that it's not done right.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
But eventually it's because of this they start
idolizing him All the guys, andDragline included and the bosses
now see him as a threat to theOrder Because he's cool.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
And Luke.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
He said it.
Well, what they instill in themout of fear and punishment and
retribution, and or justoutright killing him, is he did
it charismatically and got themto excel at something but did
they?

Speaker 2 (25:39):
like I said, the road wouldn't be, that wouldn't be
right, they'd have to redo itokay, mitch, so they didn't
excel at any?

Speaker 1 (25:47):
what technical experience do you have in paving
roads?

Speaker 3 (25:51):
I know enough to know that that's not true.
All right, mitch didn't likethe way that they were doing the
road, all right, so Mitchdidn't care for that.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
They didn't excel, let's just say and then we get
to the legendary bet.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Yeah, the egg scene.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
Because they're all talking about how much he ate.
It's like he's shoveling instuff and he's just like he's
like.
And Dreggle's like my boy, hecould eat this, he could eat
that, and he's just.
And Luke's just like, sittingthere with the banjo, goes.
It's like I could eat 50 eggs.
And then George Kennedy likekind of drops the accent for
almost a second, he goes nobodycan eat 50 eggs.

(26:24):
And he's like 50 just seemslike a nice round number.
But it was like the whole campgot in on it and like the cooks
are in on it Like everybody,like they're handing the eggs
over like the fence.
It's just like there wastraining involved.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah, they're like stretching the stomach out.
So like that I don't believe 50eggs 50 hard-boiled eggs First
off.
And here's a funny thing too.
So when they were shooting thatscene, he only ate about eight
eggs.
They just did some funnysquirrely camera tricks and make
a lot of different takes everytime.
And then to celebrate thatscene, everybody had eggs, like

(27:00):
a lot of eggs, for that meal.
And then they had to close downset almost, because everybody
was just farting nonstop, youknow yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Just constant flatulence.
Just a bunch of dudes justfarting.
Any man who gets caught fartingspends a night in the box.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
They said he had to eat 50.
Did he eat 50?
Or did?
They just like keep piling,cause it like it was a cause
towards the end, like he's likelaying there, they're showing
him his mouth and they'reworking his cheeks to, because I
mean, that's probably what um,that like beard versus food guy.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
Yeah, the british guy with the gigantic beard.
He eats all the you knowgigantic like challenge meals.
He's like the hardest partisn't how much food it is, it's
your jaw.
He's like your jaw just startsto lock up chewing that much and
, depending on what kind of foodit is, it's your jaw.
He's like your jaw just startsto lock up chewing that much and
, depending on what kind of foodit is, it's just so much effort
and work like big steakchallenges.
It's like you're just grindingthrough meat.
He's like just trying to keepchewing.

(27:57):
He's like that's what makes itharder than it really should be
than just how much you canactually eat yeah, what's fun.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
And another thing too is like after he eats all, all
those eggs they leave him thereand he's crucifixed out.
A couple of scenes later,though, you see him with two
eggs, and I'm like he wouldnever eat an egg again.
He would die of starvationbefore eating an egg again.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
You see, like four foods happen that they get to
eat Rice beans, cornbread, eggs.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
Eat your beans, get them beans.
You don't eat your beans.
Cornbread eggs yeah, eat yourbeans, get them, beans Get them
beans, get them beans.

Speaker 2 (28:31):
If you don't eat your beans, you go to the box.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
Any man who doesn't return a clean plate is better
than not in the box or thepooper, depending on what he ate
.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Then we both.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
One evening, Luke receives notice that his mom had
passed away.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yeah, and he plays the banjo.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
He goes and they give him his solemn moment.
He plays Plastic Jesus on thebanjo.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
So that song?
Do you know the behind thescenes on that one?

Speaker 1 (28:55):
I don't Please tell us.

Speaker 3 (28:56):
I will tell you.
So Paul Newman did not know howto play the banjo and he fought
with the director.
He said I want to learn to playthis song on the banjo.
Do it authentic.
So they're like all right,we'll reschedule the shoot, do
this towards the end.
And he was terrible at it.
And they're like all right,we'll reschedule it again.
You have three weeks to learnthis song.

(29:17):
And Paul Newman said okay, andwhen the time came, he played
the song and it was terribleagain.
And so he's like listen, we'rejust going to pretend that you
played it and we're going to getsome professional and we're
going to go.
And then, like, paul Newman waslike no, I'm going to do it
right.
And the director was like no,we got to move on.
And Paul Newman started likethey started yelling at each

(29:39):
other.
And finally Paul Newman startedyelling over the director roll
camera and he just sat down andhe started playing the song.
And then he got to that reallyaggressive part where he's like
singing it louder and stuff likethat Played it flawlessly.
And then the director walked upto him and Paul Newman looked
defeated and said you think youcan get somebody to play that

(30:01):
better?
And the director puts his handon his shoulder and says there's
nobody that can play thatbetter and they kept it, that's
awesome.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
There you go, aww, aww.

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Aww, so there you go.
Thank you for that, aiden,you're welcome.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
Someone actually did some behind-the-scenes
investigating.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
Yeah, I don't want to hear it.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
I've got five years.
I'm happy you watched the movieI've got five years of
behind-the-scenes looking.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
You didn't Batman 89.
I know you've seen it before.
I've seen it a lot.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah, I've seen it, I guarantee you twice as many
times as you.
Okay, but I watched it.
Any man who's seen Batman 89more than me spends a night in
the box.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
Any man who derails his podcast spends a night in
the box.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
Spends a night in the box.
We're all going to the box,three guys in a box.

Speaker 3 (30:43):
There's more than two men in the box, spin the night
in the box.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Everybody's in the box.
Get her them beans.
They give them all beans andeggs and then block them in the
box.

Speaker 3 (30:57):
They're always so angry about those beans?
Get them beans, I'll get thembeans boy, I'm sick, and tired
of beans.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
The next part is where he's trying to break out,
isn't it?

Speaker 1 (31:08):
Well, this is the catalyst to why he'll start to
do it.
Okay is, when his mom passesaway, they go to work and when
he comes back, they single himout and the captain's, like you
know, they put him in the boxuntil his mom's buried yeah,
which is a dumb thing like,because it's like some men just
get rabbit in their blood andwant to go to the funeral and
say their goodbyes.

Speaker 3 (31:28):
You're like all right , his mom died, so put him in
the box.
Yeah, Any man whose mom diedspends a night in the box.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
Any man who has a relation dies spends a night in
the box.
Any man whose dog dies spends anight in the box.

Speaker 3 (31:41):
They didn't put that one guy in the box.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
No, they did not put him in the box for that.
He was obviously distraughtwith grief way more than Luke
was.
Yeah, and they did not lockthat man in the box.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
I have a behind-the-scenes about the Bond
movie.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
He's also in a Bond movie.
What he's in Living Daylights,the Bond guy?
Yeah, no, he's in License toKill.
He's the one that gets his headblown up in the pressure
chamber.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Oh, oh nice.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
By Robert Davi.
Okay, little tidbits ofinformation for you.
So after his night in the box,he gets out.
Well, before he goes in the box, the one warden or the one boss
who's like kind of nice-ish,he's just like you know, he's
like I'm just doing my job, yeah, and he's like, just because

(32:24):
it's your job, don't make itright.
Yeah, boss, boss, and he kindof gives them an attitude and
they lock him in the box andthen they let Luke out.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
I'll pray for your mother.
He's like.
I'll pray for your mama.
I'll pray for your mama boy.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
It's a little late, isn't?

Speaker 1 (32:35):
it and he made a praise for.
Another man's mom spends thenight in the box during the 4th
of July celebration.
He plots his escape by sawingthrough the floorboards kicks
him out.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
That part was funny because they're like singing and
dancing.
He's like.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
He's just sitting there.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
And then when they stop, he's just perfectly.

Speaker 1 (33:02):
Any man not dancing during the celebration spends
the night in the box.
And then the Navy guy with thetattoo he slips out too and like
they catch him on the fence andlike it's like get him.
And the guy just runs up andstarts hitting him with the cane
.
He's just like whoosh, whoosh.
He's like get down.
He's like caught up in barbedwire, he's like get out.

Speaker 3 (33:20):
He's like.

Speaker 2 (33:22):
Yeah For the movie.
This part and the next time heruns are the best parts.

Speaker 3 (33:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Because I like when he's running and he's like
jumping on both sides of thefence To try to throw the dogs
off.
Yeah, he was doing all kinds ofstuff.
That was funny and, honestly,that would probably work,
because it would slow them downto where they'd have to keep
going back and forth, yeah, yeah, at which they'd say throw off
the dogs, and the dogs areclawing through metal to get to

(33:49):
it.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Trying to drag the people.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
Those were hardcore bloodhounds.

Speaker 3 (33:52):
So I did some research, because that's what
started me rabbit-holing behindthe scenes and all this when the
dog dies and he takes the dogout Because it looks like a dead
dog.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
That dog is.

Speaker 3 (34:04):
It's like tongue is lolling and stuff and I just
spent an hour deep diving tryingto find out.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
They killed that dog for the movie.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Did PETA protest this film?

Speaker 3 (34:13):
Nothing, Crickets.
I was like I might haveactually been a dead dog.
This was before PETA.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
I don't know what happened to that dog.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
They needed one for the movie.

Speaker 3 (34:23):
And then later when they shoot the snapping turtle
it's the obvious, fakest-looking, snapping turtle on the planet.
They got fussed at about thedog.
I guess I don't know.
That dog was real A poor dog,maybe they just used some ether
on it.
Go back to sleep, fluffy.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
Because he's escaping and the car comes up and it's
the police car and you see theinmate, but it's the dog handler
, inmate, yeah.
And they bring him out and likethey're like he made it, like
everybody's like all excited,luke got out and like he did it.
And then they show back up,they're working.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
The car pulls up and they get out and they're so.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
They put the leg irons on him and Strother Martin
, the captain's talking to him.
It's like you'll get used towearing them chains, but you'll
never forget the clinking soundand Lucas goes boss.
I wish you, captain.
I wish you'd stop being so goodto me.

Speaker 2 (35:19):
And he's like what did you?

Speaker 1 (35:21):
say to me Don't you never, never, he like blackjacks
him down the hill.
Now he blackjacks him down thehill and then he looks and all
the inmates are just staring athim.
He's just like.
What we got here is failure tocommunicate.
Some men, you just can't reach.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
Yeah, he had rabbit, in him.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
He did Well.
The captain put it in him.
He didn't have it initially,but he put it in him.
He probably would have beenfine if they never put him in
the box.
Any man whose mom dies spendsthe night in the box.
So shortly after Luke escapesthe second time where he's like
you know, I'm shaking it overhere, boss.

Speaker 2 (35:57):
Shaking it over here, boss.

Speaker 1 (36:00):
And while he's trying to go to the bathroom they're
shooting around him.
It's like I'm trying to go boss, but you throw me off a little.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Any man who doesn't go urinate fast enough will
spend a night in the box and orbe shot dead.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
And then finally it stops shaking and then boss
Godfrey, the man with no eyes,just goes and shoots right
through the bush and then theyrun down.
It's like he tied off, it'slike he's out and they take off
running out.
And like they take off runninglike oh, luke did it again and
that's where, like they'resitting there, like however long
it is later, and uh well, thisis the one where, like he runs
and he runs into the two kidsyeah, and they try to use the

(36:37):
axe to cut it like he's the axeto cut the leg shackles and he's
like go get all like thepaprika, all the paprika, pepper
and curry powder you have?

Speaker 3 (36:45):
yeah, they do it.
I I didn't know what he wastalking about at first.
When he starts sprinkling it onthe ground, I'm like, oh, he's
like you want to see somethingfunny.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
He's like I'm going to come back here eventually.
I want you kids to tell me whatyou saw and how funny it was.

Speaker 3 (37:00):
Those dogs.
They spilled that too.
The dogs are like snottingeverywhere.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Sling their heads Already got the big flappy jaws
snotting slime everywhere.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
I was like, would that work?

Speaker 2 (37:14):
I guess bloodhounds are even more sensitive than
normal.
They just suck that stuff rightup there all that pepper,
paprika, curry powder, coriander.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
So basically, if you're chasing a chef, you're
not going to get him.
But he makes it out.
And that's where we say theboss car is walking or car the
floor walker is walking.
He's passing out the mail.
He's like, dragan, you got amagazine.
He's like, yeah, from Atlanta.
He's like, oh, it's my deadbeatuncle.
He hasn't said nothing.
Now all of a sudden he'ssending me magazines and he

(37:47):
flips through them like and it'sLuke, and he's in the magazine
with like two hot girls.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
And he's just like ah , and he signed it and sent it
to him.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
And that's a G move.

Speaker 3 (37:57):
That is a G move.
Cost him a week's pay, but mywhole thing is like where did
they catch him?

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Well, the first time they caught him, he tells them
when they're sitting there.
It's like so what happened?
He made it to some town, founda car that had keys and he's
still in the car gets in the carand he's like I get to a red
light Cop car pulls up rightnext to me and he's looking at
me like what's a guy dressedlike that in a state county
uniform doing in a car like that?
And that's about it.

(38:33):
He goes.
Just damn fine police work.
That's what he chalked it up toyeah.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (38:39):
But they bring them back, like with the crap beaten
out of them the second time, andthen they fit them with a
second set of chains and thenthey're like if you, if you do
it again, we're going to killyou Like one's on the house
almost.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
That's when they beat him and stuff the house almost
Well, that's when they beat himand stuff, didn't it?
That's when they start,basically torturing him, trying
to break him.
Don't they make him dig a hole?
They?

Speaker 3 (38:58):
make him dig a grave and different bosses will walk
up that dirt's on the captain'slawn or something it's like
what's Boss King's dirt doing onBoss?

Speaker 1 (39:11):
whatever's grass he's like, I don't know he goes
what's boss, so-and-so's dirtdoing in so-and-so's hole and he
keeps doing it and then likethey hit him and basically he
breaks down, yeah.
And all the inmates kind oflike, lose respect for him, like
the one guy runs and like ripsup the photo.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
And he's like yelling at him because he's like we saw
you in the maze.
He's like I faked it, it's allfake, which I mean.
That's a pretty wild thing tofake I didn't realize they had
photoshop back then set in theearly 1950s.
So Luke kind of becomes like aerrandish boy almost to the
bosses, where boss Godfreyshoots the turtle, the giant

(39:55):
snapping turtle, and then Lukelike sticks the stick in and it
bites it almost to the bosses,where boss Godfrey shoots the
turtle, the giant snappingturtle, and then Luke like
sticks the stick in and it bitesit.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
Yeah, even though he ain't got no life in him, but he
still got some bite balls.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
And he's like that's a great shot.
And then he's just like allright, you know, go get.
And he goes in the truck and hestarts it up and takes off and
drag line runs and catches up tohim and the bosses are all
shooting at him but he lifts upthe, the dump truck, part of it,
yeah, to block the back window,yeah, so they're just blasting
it, not, you know, hitting steel, and it's not going to go
through it.
And then the boss is running.

Speaker 3 (40:22):
So he took the keys because they said to get water.
Yeah, it's keys out of thewater truck and they said get
the rifle, so it gets keys outof the rifle truck yeah and you
know, then he, like it's goingto go cook the turtle in the
third truck, or whatever Duringthat day.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
he just took the keys out of every vehicle and it's
just like you guys didn't keepthe keys in your pockets or
something.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
Dumb or spares.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
So they take off and they stash the truck Luke cuts
through his two, he jumps inwith him.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Yeah, dragline jumps in with him.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
And they're talking about plans and know plans and
Luke's, you know I'm going myown way.

Speaker 2 (40:58):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Because he sees the church and he doesn't even say
goodbye, just like walks off.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
He just kind of disappears.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Dragline's like oh okay, guess I'm gonna be on my
own now Okay.
That's where odd about how he'sbasically just been dealt crap
hands his whole life and he'smad Poo hand Luke.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
Then Dragline shows up basically because he snitched
him out.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
I mean they probably would have found out.
Anyway, it's a building, Iwould have checked it.

Speaker 2 (41:30):
I told him, you'd come on in.

Speaker 1 (41:34):
No stuff, whatever he talking, trying to talk luke
and doing it into giving himselfup willingly.
Luke walks to the window, looksout, opens it and says, well,
we got his failure tocommunicate.
And then boss godfrey shootshim right through the neck.
Yeah, yeah, and even like theother bosses like, look at him
like the other cops were likewhoa yeah well, the other cops

(41:55):
look at it, but like the otherbosses who were around the
vehicle, like they all snap andlook at him like dude what the
yeah, the captain's like go gethim and then um dragline brings.
Luke out who's still likewalking and like ambulatory
still yeah and like they, theguards take them and then
dragline runs and starts chokingout godfrey, yeah, and like you
, know like strangling the lifeout of him.

(42:17):
They're having to like beat thecrap out of him.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
His glasses fall off too, yeah, which is important.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
Yeah, the glasses fall off.
Yeah, and he like stumbles andslides off.
And then they put Luke in this.
It's like, all right, it's likewe're going to the inmate state
hospital.
He's not going to make it.
It's an hour away, he's likehe's not going to make it.
It's like he's ours.
Get out of the way and thenthey take off.
But Luke gives a smile and theygo and then you see the lights

(42:45):
change.
I'm guessing you picked up onthat too.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
What.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
With the traffic lights.
So you know they change fromlike green to red or red to
green or whatever, and you knowthat's all they see.
And then they, as they leave,they run over the mirrored
sunglasses and then it cuts todrag line.
He's with the other prisonersand he's telling about like
luke's last moments, becausethey're like right by it, the
church, because you stay, showthe church, and there's like a
you know paper covering the shotthat went through the glass and
he's just telling about aboutLuke.
And then you know it gets alittle montage and then the

(43:17):
music starts playing and then itcuts to Dragline, the other
prisoners of Dragline.
It's got chains on and he'sjust sitting there working,
taking it off you balls, yeah.
And then the movie ends andnothing changed.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
All right, so let's talk about the metaphor in this
movie.
The man with no eyes isobviously one of the more
prominent figures in metaphor.
Why do you think they nevershowed his eyes?

Speaker 2 (43:41):
He's soulless Kind of like in.
Oh Brother, where Art Thou withthe guy that's chasing them?

Speaker 3 (43:47):
I don't think it's that supernatural.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Well, no, not literally supernatural, but just
to symbolize he has themirrored sunglasses on, because
when you look at him, you haveto look at yourself.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
I think that it's got some more of like, some like
religious connotation to it.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
There's a lot of religious connotations to this
and imagery stuff, because evenwhen you're first introduced to
Luke, when he's cutting theheads off parking meters, the
first thing that pops up is theparking meter.
It says violation.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Right.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
As he starts cutting them off.

Speaker 3 (44:17):
Violation yeah, a lot of people aching him to
Mephistopheles, which is a Greekgod.
He's the demon in Faust whobrokers a deal and gets Faust to
sell his soul to the devil.
So I don't know if that was adirect connotation from the

(44:38):
writer, but yeah, there was somesort of devil-esque connotation
to it.
And the fact that he nevertalked and he never see his eyes
, even when his glasses areknocked off.
You're led to believe somethinglike that.
Some dark ulterior thing isgoing on with that there's a lot

(45:00):
of Christian imagery in thisfilm.
If you read the Wikipedia page,it's like the film contains
several elements based onChristian themes, including the
concept of that Luke is a saintwho wins over the crowds but is
ultimately sacrificed, and he'sportrayed as a Jesusesus-like
redeemer figure right and evenafter, like the egg-eating thing

(45:20):
he lays like he's beencrucifixed yeah, yeah, uh, yeah,
because people, a lot of saints, were basically crucified by
their own culture and and, yeah,you could say that, like he did
, inspire and motivate people toget through hard times by
sacrificing himself and doing so.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
So uh, him singing plastic jesus.
And then, um luke, like jesus,not physically threatening to
society because of his actions,but like the crucifixion.
His punishment was out of allproportion, like even his
sentence, like like he's got theheads off parking meters.
He gets two years, two years.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
Yeah, destruction of federal and yeah, and when he
attempts to escape, he had likemonths left and they throw on
like five more years and thechains you know.
So it was either you could saythat at that point in his life,
with the death of his mother,the you know the cruel and

(46:21):
unfair punishment that like hegot for nothing just because his
mom died that it was eitherlike he was going to break and
become a different person orchoose to like rebel against the
system and maintain his senseof identity and attempt to
escape.
And he shows that.
And so he could maintain hissense of identity and attempt to
escape, and he chose that so hecould have his sense of
identity.
But tack on the extra years ofprison and then eventually he

(46:45):
couldn't exist in that system,just like he couldn't exist in
the military.
Some people just don't.
What are they?
World shakers?

Speaker 1 (46:53):
Natural-born world shakers.
Another bit of imagery is whenLuke hands the snake and then
the stick to boss Godfrey afterhe shoots it, which is mirroring
Moses giving a stick and then asnake to the Pharaoh.

Speaker 3 (47:06):
Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
When Luke challenges God during the rainstorm, when
they're out working and he'syelling at him just to do
anything, lieutenant Dan,lieutenant Dan's.
And then at the end, where he'sspeaking to God, which
resembles the conversationbetween God and Jesus at the
Garden of.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
That was the one I was not going to be able to
pronounce, depicting the Gospelof Luke.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
So there's a lot of imagery stuff and the closing
shot shows the inmates workingon crossroads such as the
intersection, the shape of across superimposed to the
repaired photo Luke sent.
It was also the creases form across.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
Yeah, that's a good point yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
They also talk about the traffic lights and the stop
signs, where it's like.
Different traffic signs areused throughout the film
complimenting the charactersactions at the beginning, while
Luke cuts the heads off theparking meters, the word
violation appears.
Stop signs are also seen.
Instances include the roadpaving scene.
In the last scene, where theroad meets at a cross section,
traffic lights turned from greento red in the background.

(48:14):
At the time when Luke isarrested at the end of the film,
when he's finally where he'sfatally wounded, a green light
in the background turns red,cause he's free.
And then the great line,failure to communicate, which
was used in a Guns N' Roses songyeah, yeah, I'm sure that you
could like delve in deeper andpick apart all kinds of scenes

(48:37):
religious connotation and stuff.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Um, but yeah, it's a good movie.
I enjoyed it a lot and I I dolike movies that you could watch
.
You could definitely watch itagain and see more uh things and
kind of pick apart more of it,yeah I think I saw this movie.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
I was like 13 and I was homesick and it was on AMC
when I still had cable, and itwas like Cool Hand Luke.
And I was like, oh, paul Newmanmovie.
And it was like right at thebeginning where he's like
cutting the heads off and I justwatched and at the end I was
like laying there I was sick andI was like that was a good man,
I need to watch that one againI end up getting it on DVD.

(49:15):
I always love this movie.
It's a good movie and PaulNewman has the bluest, freaking
eyes.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
Unnaturally?
Yeah, I noticed that.
I was like if it wasn't the 60sI'd be going.
Is he wearing contacts?

Speaker 3 (49:27):
No, yeah, it's like nope, they were just that color
Name.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
one movie that Paul Newman's in besides this one,
Mitch Didn't even know who PaulNewman was until I saw this one.
He's in Cars.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
How do you not know who Paul Newman is?

Speaker 3 (49:42):
He's in Cars, obviously the Hustler.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
Oh yeah, I recognized him from Cars Sting.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
Towering Inferno.

Speaker 3 (49:51):
Great movies.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
Color of Money Road to Perdition.

Speaker 3 (49:54):
Oh, that's right, he was the old mob guy.
Great movie, alright.
Well, there you go.
We could rate it, but Mitch isgoing to throw off.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
What would you rate it?

Speaker 1 (50:04):
It's a 9 out of 10 film to me.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Okay, why.

Speaker 1 (50:11):
This movie has so much substance to it.
It's a great cast that executeseverything perfectly.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
Well, I was going to say 10 out of 10.
Because I've seen it for thefirst time In 2025, as a
35-year-old, 37-year-old guy,and you know, I have all of my
Hollywood upbringing and haveall of this predispositioned

(50:42):
idea of what a movie should be.
This movie from the 60s I stillfound very entertaining and
enjoyed and thought-provoking,like where you think about it
long after the movie's over.
You know so it transcends time.
It's like, you know, acornerstone of time.
It's like you know, cornerstoneof cinema.
So, yup, 10 out of 10.

Speaker 2 (51:01):
I give it a 7.
I'll be fair, like to me,because I did not like the movie
at all, but it's because it'snot my thing to watch.
Now, that being said, therewere funny parts.
You know there's a goodnarrative that goes through it,
where you know, like you said,he's, he's the uh symbolism,
where you know he, he's like asaint and stuff like that.

(51:22):
And I mean, granted, it feels alittle uh, out of place that
he's going to jail for two yearsfor cutting the head of a
parking meter.
I mean it's not bad, it's wellshot, it's, you know, good
scenes, stuff like that.
Like I said, it's just not mything, but I'm not going to
grade it bad just because Ididn't like it.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Yeah, the movie doesn't drag.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
No, honestly, when it ended I was like really they're
not going to show what happensto some of these characters.
You know, I never got to seethe man with no eyes, without
his glasses, like see what hereally is.
Well, the other boss takes hisplace as the walking boss who

(52:07):
walks the road.
What happened to the man withno eyes Gone?

Speaker 2 (52:09):
Now, like when I watched until the part where he
ran away the beginning of themovie I was just like, oh my God
, how much more.
And then when he ran away, thebeginning of the movie, I was
just like, oh my God, how muchmore.
And then when he ran away,that's when.
To me, that's when it got funnyand I enjoyed more of it.
Those scenes were better.

Speaker 1 (52:22):
He escaped the thrill .

Speaker 2 (52:23):
Yeah, I just thought those were better.
You know him running trying tolose the dogs and all that stuff
.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
I thought that jumping in the water because he
goes upstream to try to throwhim off.
He does all this stuff, but thedogs are just right on him.

Speaker 3 (52:36):
The only thing that I have questions about is like
why did he just stop?
Why didn't he just like run toMexico or something like?

Speaker 1 (52:44):
that.
Well, it's Florida.
You have to run to Alabama.
Okay, Just keep going.

Speaker 3 (52:50):
Mississippi, he's gone for weeks, wasn't he?
He's like probably wasn't he,he's probably stopped at Tampa
or something.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
I think the photo he sent him was in Atlanta.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Yeah, well then keep going.
Made it out of Florida.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
I don't think they address how he got caught.
The second time.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
That's what I was asking.
They didn't really say Did youbring him back and beat up who
went and got him.

Speaker 1 (53:08):
I watched this movie last night.
I don't remember them bringingit up.
Good, good movie, alright,anything else, pretty much it
alright well bye, alright well,thank you for listening to this
episode of Entertain this, I'mTom Hayden.

Speaker 2 (53:24):
I'm.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Mitch, and we'll catch you on the next one
goodbye bye, press it, yeah,every time, just have to do it.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
Strides of a classic.