Luke gets 2 years on a chain gang for cutting the heads off parking metres. He just gets on with doing his time until his mother passes away. Concerned that Luke might want to pay his respect at the funeral, the sadistic captain, brilliantly played by Strother Martin, takes him off the road and puts him in the box "for his own good". This action changes the mindset of Luke, who then runs at every opportunity. Newman is brilliant as Luke, as is George Kennedy as Dragline, the bully boy daddy of the prison, who after a fight with Luke becomes his friend. Right from the brilliant start, as the music starts as Luke laughs, the film is brilliant all the way through. Brilliant dialogue, score, and acting from all the protagonists. " What we got here is a failure to communicate". One of the classic lines, but there is no failure to communicate with us as viewers. If you have not seen it, PLEASE do. Outstanding.
One the best prison dramas of all time and with an iconic star in one of his best roles. Paul Newman plays Luke who after an act of drunken vandalism is sentenced to a term on a chain gang. Despite being a decorated former soldier Luke is a loner and a man who refuses to kowtow to the establishment. The strict rules of the prison soon has him earmarked by the 'bosses' as a troublemaker but they are unprepared for Luke's constant challenges to their authority. Set in the 1950s this is a sharp condemnation of an American prison system still in operation in the southern states when the film was made. A brutal regime designed to break a man's will and make him law abiding with punishment as the main aim. As a drama this is unequalled with a wonderful cast that includes George Kennedy, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker and the great Strother Martin as the head of the prison. It's full of famous and iconic scenes including the '50 eggs eating contest' and it boasts the sexiest car washing scene ever committed to film. It's tough story with pinches of religious iconography, it's moving, humorous and tense and definitely one of those films everyone should see; you'll be surprised at just how good it is. A key American film of the 60s.