Directed by Stuart Rosenberg and written by Donn Pearce, based on his novel.

Luke

• Oh come on. Stop beatin' it. Get out there yourself. Stop feedin' off me. Get out of here. I can't breathe. Give me some air.

Dragline

• When it comes to the law, nothin' is understood...I'm his official egg-peeler. That's the law!

Captain

• You gonna fit in real good, of course, unless you get rabbit in your blood and you decide to take off for home. You give the bonus system time and a set of leg chains to keep you slowed down just a little bit, for your own good, you'll learn the rules. Now, it's all up to you. Now I can be a good guy, or I can be one real mean son-of-a-bitch. It's all up to you.

• What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it anymore than you men.
  • Note: bolded portion ranked #11 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.

Dialogue

Dragline: He ain't in the box because of the joke played on him. He back-sassed a free man. They got their rules. We ain't got nothin' to do with that. Would probably have happened to him sooner or later anyway - a complainer like him. He gotta learn the rules the same as anybody else.

Luke: Yeah, them poor old Bosses need all the help they can get.

Dragline: You tryin' to say somethin'? You got a flappin' mouth. One of these days, I'm gonna have to flap me up some dust with it.

Dragline: [After Luke wins a poker game by bluffing] Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.

Luke: Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.

Dragline: Where'd the road go?

Luke: That's it. That's the end of it.

Convict: Man, there's still daylight.

Dragline: About two hours left.

Convict: What do we do now?

Luke: Nothin'.

Dragline: Oh Luke, you wild, beautiful thing. You crazy handful of nothin'.

Luke: [Discussing God and the rain] Let him go. Bam, Bam.

Dragline: Knock it off, Luke. You can't talk about Him that way.

Luke: Are you still believin' in that big bearded Boss up there? You think he's watchin' us?

Dragline: Get in here. Ain't ya scared? Ain't ya scared of dyin'?

Luke: Dyin'? Boy, he can have this little life any time he wants to. Do ya hear that? Are ya hearin' it? Come on. You're welcome to it, ol' timer. Let me know you're up there. Come on. Love me, hate me, kill me, anything. Just let me know it.

[He looks around]

Luke: I'm just standin' in the rain talkin' to myself.

Captain: You gonna get used to wearin' them chains afer a while, Luke. Don't you never stop listenin' to them clinking. 'Cause they gonna remind you of what I been saying. For your own good.

Luke: Wish you'd stop bein' so good to me, cap'n.

Captain: [lashing out with his stick] Don't you ever talk that way to me.

Luke: Anybody here? Hey, Old Man. You home tonight? Can You spare a minute. It's about time we had a little talk. I know I'm a pretty evil fellow... killed people in the war and got drunk... and chewed up municipal property and the like. I know I got no call to ask for much... but even so, You've got to admit You ain't dealt me no cards in a long time. It's beginning to look like You got things fixed so I can't never win out. Inside, outside, all of them... rules and regulations and bosses. You made me like I am. Now just where am I supposed to fit in? Old Man, I gotta tell You. I started out pretty strong and fast. But it's beginning to get to me. When does it end? What do You got in mind for me? What do I do now? Right. All right. [Gets on knees, closes eyes and begins to pray] On my knees, asking. [pause] Yeah, that's what I thought. I guess I'm pretty tough to deal with, huh? A hard case. Yeah. I guess I gotta find my own way.

Dragline: Luke?

Luke: [Shakes head and smiles] Is that Your answer, Old Man? I guess You're a hard case, too.

Dragline: They took him right down that road.

Convicts: What'd he look like, Drag?...Yeah, what'd he look like?..He had his eyes opened or closed, Drag?

Dragline: He was smiling...That's right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. Hell, if they didn't know it 'fore, they could tell right then that they weren't a-gonna beat him. That old Luke smile. Old Luke, he was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he's a natural-born world-shaker.

Taglines

• The man...and the motion picture that simply do not conform.

• On The Chain-Gang They'd Seen Every Kind Of Man - But Luke Became A Legend

• "What we've got here...is failure to communicate."

• He was a cool customer. . .until the law made it hot for him!

Cast

• Paul Newman - Luke
• George Kennedy - Dragline
• J.D. Cannon - Society Red
• Strother Martin - Captain
• Jo Van Fleet - Arletta
• Clifton James - Carr
• Morgan Woodward - Boss Godfrey
• Luke Askew - Boss Paul
• Dennis Hopper - Babalugats