TCM Film Festival: Day Two - "Cool Hand Luke" and "The Killers"
Saturday, April 15, 2023 at 10:29AM Christopher James continues his coverage of the 2023 TCM Film Festival. Check in for daily diary entries.
Day two of TCM includes more of the same. More Burt Lancaster, more sweaty and handsome outlaws and plenty of indelible moments. The sun came out, but the stars of yesteryear shined bright on the silver screen. Wanting to feel old today? As part of the Warner Brothers at 100 series, Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 remake Ocean’s Eleven was screened at the festival, with Soderbergh and George Clooney in attendance. Yes, the 2001 remake played at a classic film festival!
There were plenty of high profile screenings today, plus exhibits that took attendees on a journey through WB’s history, Looney Toons at the Oscars and films banned in the South. Once again, we were able to catch a couple of very different stone cold classics...
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
It’s hard not to mythologize Paul Newman. The legendary actor looms large in Cool Hand Luke, director Stuart Rosenberg’s sweeping classic about a rebellious inmate in a Southern chain gang. Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall knows how to perfectly shoot the movie star, making him larger by life by framing him against wide shots of vistas. In Newman’s hands (and through his expressive blue eyes), Luke represents a new version of the American outlaw. He’s a misunderstood, sensitive and bold man who stands up to authority in a time where young people were rebelling against the government, the draft and the previous generation.
The first thing to flash on the screen is the word “VIOLATION.” We see a wrench turning and “VIOLATION” pop up again. When we zoom out, we see a drunk young man, Luke (Paul Newman), tampering with the parking meters in a small town. The cops arrest him and send him to work on a chain gang, where minute-by-minute rules dictate who thrives in the community and who ends up sticking it out in “the box,” a hellish punishment in the hot Southern sun. A war veteran who feels betrayed and left behind by the system, Luke ruffles feathers with his fellow inmates and the various “bosses” in charge of the inmates. However, his sly smile, cavalier attitude and ability to take more punches and eat more eggs endears Luke to his comrades. George Kennedy deservedly won the Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as Dragline, Luke’s adversary turned greatest supporter. His character is a lynchpin in charting Luke’s journey with his fellow inmates and he goes quite a long way in sketching out the vivid world within the chain gang. A truly fantastic ensemble keeps the film moving and makes this small story feel like a large, declarative picture on the tensions present in America during the time it was made.
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Both times this immortal line is said, it’s a knowing mockery of the other party. The captor and prisoner both know their roles, they’re just jostling against it. It’s less a quest for power and more a battle for sheer dominance. The Captain (Strothers Godfrey) sees Luke as a weed of rebellion, quickly spoiling his garden of chain gang prisoners. Likewise, Luke sees that the Captain’s cruelty stems from a place of fear, a shepherd losing control of his flock. These words prove to be potentially Luke’s final words, a fitting mockery of the system that proves to be his undoing.
The religious imagery around Luke can be heavy handed at times. What’s powerful about Newman’s performance and the script by Donn Pearce (who wrote the source material based on personal experience) and Frank Pierson is that Luke is never written as a saintly figure. Everything he does to endear himself to the men leaves him exhausted and at the brink. After the infamous egg eating scene, so perfectly edited and choreographed, Luke collapses on the table. The camera pans up and Luke is splayed out as if he was just crucified, legs crossed and arms hanging open. Each escape lands him back in jail, further brutalized by the guards. Still, his disciples in the chain gang exalt him.
Still, the filmmakers and Newman realize that Luke is flesh and blood, not a God, despite what his inmates think. Even when backed into a corner, in the final moments, Dragline feels that Luke can just surrender and won’t receive retribution. Even being hauled away after being bloodied and shot, Dragline further tells the glorious tale as Luke, a rebel that can’t be tamed. The camera pulls away to show the cross roads, looking like a well worn cross. These men will be doing work on the side of the road for as long as their sentences last, but thanks to Luke they have a shared God that can make the time pass for them. Luke is just a man; however, his superpower is his inability to bend to authority. Grade: A
The Killers (1946)
In his introduction of the film, Noir Alley TCM host Eddie Muller described The Killers as the Citizen Kane of noir films. Could this be hyperbole? The first time through I found The Killers to be a top notch thrill ride that epitomizes what makes noir such a stellar and complex genre. However, the Kane claim pertains more to the structure of the film which pays off in spades. The film is based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway, using his text as the setup for the first 10 minutes of the film. A pair of hitmen enter a diner looking for a gas station attendant, whom they are hired to kill. Once they finally find the man, he’s been waiting for them, willingly awaiting his death. It’s a tense ending for our hero, “The Swede” (Burt Lancaster), but the beginning of a great mystery. Who hired these men, and why did he die?
Insurance adjuster Jim Reardon (Edmund O’Brien) looks into The Swede’s death and learns from Lt. Sam Lubinsky (Sam Levene), a good friend of the deceased. He tells Jim of the Swede’s short boxing career, cut short by an injury, and his subsequent involvement with crime boss "Big Jim" Colfax (Albert Dekker). It’s not long before the Swede trades in his sweet girlfriend, Lilly (Virginia Christine) - who later becomes Lt. Sam’s wife, for the sultry and seductive Kitty Collins (Ava Gardner).
Two timelines swirl throughout this tight and thrilling film. Jim and Sam dive deeper and deeper into the decades of crimes and (slightly more than) misdemeanors that preceded the Swede’s death. Through witness testimonies, we flash back to the tumultuous love the Swede had for Kitty, and how she was able to wield that for her benefit. Every member of the ensemble cast gets ample room to shine. Each major character gets a defined POV, and yet the movie never feels unfocused or cluttered. It’s gripping with every new piece of information, a testament to the magic of Anthony Veiller’s script. Gardner’s performance may be the most famous of the bunch, and she finds new shades of deception within her twisty dame. However, it’s also worth noting that Burt Lancaster arrives on the screen a ready-made movie star in his breakthrough role.
In Hemingway’s biography of Carlos Baker, he’s quoted as saying “[The Killers] is a good picture and the only good picture ever made of a story of mine.” It’s easy to see why he’d say that. The film uses Hemingway’s powerful prose to construct one of the strongest movie openings in recent memory. From there, it uses noir conventions to tell a wholly original story, only to bring everything together for a satisfying, surprising conclusion. It’s a master class in adaptation and a brilliant feat of storytelling. Grade: A-
More tomorrow!
Reader Comments (6)
I consider this to be Top 3 Newman depends on my mood which number I put it at along with The Verdict and The Hustler.
One thing you didn't mention was Jo Van Fleets killer cameo as Arletta his dying mother,she's only in the film for something like 3 minutes but it's one of the movies best scenes,the supporting cast are all top notch and you're correct Kennedy deserved his Oscar.
I agree they never make him a saint.
Mr Ripley79 you beat me to it. I wanted to chime in and praise Jo Van Fleet. Her lacerating cameo/supporting performance (it's a little long for the former, and a little too short for the latter) should have resulted in a lot more attention than it has received. Also the name of the actor playing the head guard is Strother Martin, who steals every scene he's in - but then again, he just about always stole every scene he was ever in. There's a little too much pretentious religious imagery, and the girl washing the car is crude and obvious, to say the least, but with Paul Newman at his absolute pinnacle (and that's saying a lot) and great acting and writing all around, this is one of the best American films of the 60s.
Over here kicking myself for not mentioning Jo Van Fleet.
What a one-scene wonder! Talk about a character who seems to stretch on for miles, existing well outside the confines of the story. I could see that role being taken now and blow out to camp fest high. Van Fleet always grounds her to the real world, anchoring her to her given circumstances. Her love sprouts forth like a blade of grass in a dry desert. Thank you both Mr Ripley79 and Amy Camus for highlighting her.
I love, love, love ‘The Killers’ - not least because it launched the careers of two of Hollywood’s greatest-ever stars, Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner.
THE KILLERS has that 'killer' opening, but the CITIZEN KANE of Noir? Too many sidetracks and diversions.
The definitive Noir of the period remains DOUBLE INDEMNITY.
Very Good Love it
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