History YMMV / CoolHandLuke

* RetroactiveRecognition: A virtual Who's Who of soon-to-be-famous character actors appear as prisoners, including Creator/DennisHopper (Babalugats), Creator/HarryDeanStanton (Tramp), Creator/WayneRogers (Gambler), Creator/RalphWaite (Alibi), Creator/AnthonyZerbe (Dog Boy), and Creator/JoeDonBaker (Fixer).

** Dragline seems to think 'Lucille' was just an InnocentFanserviceGirl who had the bad luck of choosing to wash her car while a bunch of inmates were tarring the road outside her house. Others think she was deliberately {{Trolling}} the men.

* HypeBacklash: Some, considering the film has a 100% rating on Website/RottenTomatoes. At the time of its release, the direction was thought to be lackluster, saved only by the script and performances.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being technically set in the [[TheFifties 1950s]], this film is more frequently associated with the time in which it was made, namely the late [[TheSixties '60s]]. Its anti-establishment themes had obvious resonance with the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] generation, and it has been suggested that the famous "failure to communicate" line can regarded as an apt metaphor for the social upheavals of the era. Creator/RogerEbert, retrospectively [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-cool-hand-luke-1967 reviewing]] the film four decades later, noted that it was a product of its time:
--> "The year 1967 was at the center of the Vietnam era, and Luke was against the establishment."

* GeniusBonus: The Christ-like imagery surrounding Luke. After he eats the last egg, he collapses in the exact position Jesus is depicted in on the crucifixion. Luke's brother is also called John, possibly referencing John the Baptist (who was Jesus's cousin in the Bible). Luke's mother is never seen dying -- paralleling how the Virgin Mary never died and was just taken into heaven by God.
** The Christ-like imagery associated with Luke continues towards the end, where Luke prays to God. It parallels the conversation between Jesus and God in the Garden of Gethsemane. What Gospel is that from? Luke of course.

** Yes, this is based on a (long-forgotten) novel.

** Jo Van Fleet didn't even get a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her OneSceneWonder as Luke's mother. Granted, she'd already won the award for a similar part in ''Film/EastOfEden''.

* HilariousInHindsight: Watching this after ''Film/EastOfEden'' can be quite amusing, as Jo Van Fleet played the protagonist's mother in that, and her on-screen son Richard Davalos appears in this.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Columbia passed on making the film, having just lost a lot of money on the POW picture ''Film/KingRat'', which no one went to see. [[spoiler:They were also not keen on the fact that the lead character dies at the end]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: A virtual Who's Who of soon-to-be-famous character actors appear as the rest of the prisoners, including Creator/DennisHopper (Babalugats), Creator/HarryDeanStanton (Tramp), Creator/WayneRogers (Gambler), Creator/RalphWaite (Alibi), Creator/AnthonyZerbe (Dog Boy), and Creator/JoeDonBaker (Fixer).

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being technically set in the [[TheFifties 1950s]], this film is more frequently associated with the time in which it was made, namely the late [[TheSixties '60s]]. Its anti-establishment themes had obvious resonance with the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam]] generation, and it has been suggested that the famous "failure to communicate" line can regarded as an apt metaphor for the social upheavals of the era. Creator/RogerEbert, retrospectively [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-cool-hand-luke-1967 reviewing]] the film four decades later, noted that it was a product of its time.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The famous "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOWkPk2ETXc tar sequence]]", which would actually be used for a quarter-century on various TV station newscasts, primarily ABC owned-and-operated stations and, by proxy of associating with ABC, the Nine Network in Australia, which still uses it to this day long after ABC stopped.

* HypeBacklash: Some, considering the film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of its release, the direction was thought to be lacklustre, only saved by the script and performances.

* HarsherInHindsight: One of the guards in the later {{Stanford Prison Experiment}} claimed to have been [[MisaimedFandom imitating the guards from this movie]].

** Creator/PaulNewman lost out the Best Actor UsefulNotes/AcademyAward to Rod Steiger for ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight''. While the latter is a good film and Steiger is good in it, Newman's Luke ended up being the more memorable and iconic role as the years went on.

* SignatureScene: The [[AllCrimesAreEqual "Night in the box"]] speech and the "I can eat fifty eggs in an hour" scene.

* SignatureScene: The [[AllCrimesAreEqual "Night in the box"]] speech or the "I can eat 50 eggs in and hour" scene.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite being technically set in TheFifties, this film is heavily associated with TheSixties. The film was clearly shot during the Vietnam War, hence the anti-establishment themes. It's even been suggested that the famous line is a metaphor for UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Creator/RogerEbert felt the film was a product of its time.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The famous "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOWkPk2ETXc tar sequence]]", which would actually be used for a quarter-century on various TV station newscasts, primarily ABC owned-and-operated stations.

** The "tar sequence" background music has become so recognizable as a standard TV news jingle that it's quite jarring to hear in a completely unrelated context.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Yes, this is based on a (long-forgotten) novel.

* WeirdAlEffect: The "tar sequence" background music has become so recognizable as a standard TV news jingle that it's quite jarring to hear in a completely unrelated context.