Poker in the Movies: Cool Hand Luke

by Bodog Poker | Jan 4 2010

This week, Deke takes a look at a classic movie whose connection to poker is right in the name, but very few people notice that because of Paul Newman's stunning performance.

Netflix Watch Instantly is perhaps the greatest invention that mankind has come up with yet and yes, I'm familiar with the wheel, penicillin and the internet.  It's allowed me to build a queue of movies I can enjoy whenever I want and somehow, Cool Hand Luke ended up at the top of the list right as I was running out of movies with significant ties to poker to write about. I poured a drink and started watching it and lo and behold, the movie's title tells you all you need to know — he gets his nickname from his ability to bluff.

If you've never seen it (and you should rectify that immediately,) Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 drama about a prisoner (Luke, played by Paul Newman in a role that defined his career) who refuses to be just another cog in the system. With a fantastic cast that includes George Kennedy as Dragline, JD Cannon as Society Red, Strother Martin as the prison camp's captain along with actors like Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton in bit roles, it's one of those movies in which every shot is engaging in some way. Director Stuart Rosenberg and cinematographer Conrad Hall keep things moving and even when the movie's nasty streak shows up, it's still a thing to behold.

After Luke is arrested for removing the tops of parking meters and sent to a prison camp for two years in Florida. Soon after arriving, Luke's war record is revealed and he gets his first nickname “War Hero Lucas” even as he proves to be a thorn in the side of Dragline, the leader of the prisoners. The two finally fight but after Luke refuses to fall, Dragline admits there's something to the guy. 

That brawl happens just before Luke wins a huge (at least for prison) poker hand on a bluff and devours fifty hardboiled eggs in an hour, securing his place in the prison pantheon while ensuring that the guards and administration keep their eye on him.  The egg scene is perhaps the most famous in Newman's filmography, but as a poker nerd, I was pretty riveted during the short but well-executed bluff scene.  While you're unlikely to recreate Newman's steely blue gaze when you're at the tables, the way he handles it actually recalled Phil Ivey to me — just cold, unreadable greatness through and through.

I'm not going to spoil the film for you, but the scenes where “What we've got here is a failure to communicate” is brought into the lexicon are both riveting in their own way. If you get a chance, do check it out.  It's easily earned its place in the annals of American film.

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