On 25 Aug 1965, LAT announced that Jack Lemmon’s Jalem Productions purchased the motion picture rights to Donald Pearce’s new novel, Cool Hand Luke, as the first of six projects the company would produce for Columbia Pictures. According to the 8 Nov 1966 LAT, Cool Hand Luke was a semi-factual account of Pearce’s experience in a Florida chain gang before he went on to become a merchant seaman and fiction writer.
       The following spring, a 12 May 1966 DV item stated that Jalem had moved the property to Warner Bros. Pictures, which the 18 May 1966 Var claimed was necessary to fulfill Paul Newman’s existing contract with the studio. However, a conflicting account in the 26 Nov 1967 LAT indicated the switch was made due to an “amicable disagreement” between Columbia and producer Gordon Carroll and director Stuart Rosenberg. According to a 7 Jan 1968 NYT article, Rosenberg, known for his work as a television director, read Pearce’s book and was drawn to the character of “Luke Jackson” as an “existentialist hero” previously unseen in American literature. Pearce worked on the script with screenwriter Frank R. Pierson, and an 8 Nov 1966 LAT stated that novelist Hal Dresner contributed “some changes within the basic structure” later in production. Dresner is not credited onscreen or in any contemporary reviews.
       Despite some early speculation that Lemmon would star in the lead role, the 14 May 1966 LAT reported the casting of Paul Newman, who joined the project after reading Pearce’s source material. Although the 13 Jun 1966 DV suggested that Peter Falk was considered for a role, he does not appear in the final film. The 9 Nov 1966 Var announced that Vivian Savoy, a waitress for the Harper & Green film catering service, was set to make her screen debut, but her participation could not be confirmed. Several supporting actors previously worked with Rosenberg in television.
       According to the 15 Aug 1966 DV, the cast would undergo two weeks of rehearsals before beginning principal photography on 3 Oct 1966. Although filmmakers initially considered using the novel’s original Florida settings, location shooting took place in Stockton, CA, and the surrounding Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta area. The unit was expected to remain in Stockton for five weeks before returning to Burbank, CA, for an additional six weeks on the Warner Bros. studio lot. A 28 Feb 1968 Var brief listed 14 Dec 1966 as the final day of filming.
       A 21 Apr 1967 DV item stated that sound looping was not required in post-production, due to the successful use of wireless radio microphones. Although not named onscreen, the 10 Apr 1967 DV credited the Jester Hairston Choir, a black spiritual group, for performing Lalo Schifrin’s score.
       In early 1967, Warner Bros. merged with Seven Arts Productions to become Warner Bros—Seven Arts, Inc. That spring, the 17 May 1967 Var reported that the distributor planned to host early trade screenings of Cool Hand Luke and The Bobo (1967, see entry) in thirty-eight cities on 24 May 1967. Later that fall, however, a 6 Sep 1967 Var item stated that Warner Bros.—Seven Arts, Inc., refused a request from the New York Film Festival selection committee to submit the film for consideration, claiming that the event would generate “critical comment” too far ahead of its scheduled theatrical release.
       The picture opened 1 Nov 1967 at New York City’s Loew’s State Theatre and the Fox Village Theater in Westwood, CA, as reported by the 9 Aug 1967 Var and 23 Oct 1967 LAT. The East Coast premiere benefitted the Actors Studio in Manhattan, and the 2 Nov 1967 NYT review stated that the New York City engagement would continue at the City Cinema I.
       Critical reception was positive, with consistent praise given to Newman and co-star George Kennedy, as well as the technical elements, which NYT critic Bosley Crowther asserted elevated Cool Hand Luke above other contemporary “prison films.” Several sources declared the picture’s themes and technical achievements signaled a departure from what the 8 Nov 1966 LAT called the “traditional Hollywood formulations” of studio pictures.
       George Kennedy received an Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role. Paul Newman’s performance earned him a nomination for Best Actor, and the film was also nominated for Music (Original Music Score) and Writing (Screenplay—based on material from another medium). AFI ranked Cool Hand Luke #71 on its list of 100 Years…100 Cheers, while the line, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate,” placed #11 on the list of the greatest movie quotes of all time.