Cool Hand Luke Stuart Rosenberg

In early 1950s Florida, decorated World War II veteran Lucas "Luke" Jackson drunkenly beheads several parking meters. He is sentenced to two years on a chain gang in a prison camp run by the Captain, a stern warden, and Walking Boss Godfrey, a quiet rifleman nicknamed "the man with no eyes" because he always wears mirrored sunglasses. There, even minor violations are punished by "a night in the box", a small wooden booth in the prison yard with limited air and space.

Luke refuses to observe the established order among the prisoners and quickly runs afoul of their leader, Dragline. When the two have a boxing match, Luke is severely outmatched but refuses to acquiesce. Eventually, Dragline stops the fight, but Luke's tenacity earns the prisoners' respect and draws the guards' attention. He later wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing, and Dragline christens him "Cool Hand Luke".

After a visit from his sick mother, Arletta, Luke becomes more optimistic about his situation. He repeatedly shows defiance to the Captain and the guards, and his sense of humor and independence prove inspiring to the other prisoners. Luke's struggle for supremacy peaks when he leads a work crew in a seemingly impossible but successful effort to complete a road-paving job in less than a day. The prisoners start to idolize him after he wins a bet that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour.

One evening, Luke receives notice that his mother has died. Anticipating that Luke might attempt to escape to attend the funeral, the Captain has him locked in the box. After being released, Luke becomes determined to escape. Under cover of a Fourth of July celebration, he makes his initial escape attempt. He is recaptured by local police and returned to the chain gang. The Captain has Luke fitted with leg irons and delivers a warning speech to the inmates.

Shortly afterward, Luke escapes a second time. While free, Luke mails the prison a magazine that includes a photograph of himself with two beautiful women. He is soon recaptured, beaten, returned to the prison camp, and fitted with two sets of leg irons. The Captain warns Luke that he will be killed if he ever attempts to escape again. Luke becomes annoyed by the other prisoners fawning over the magazine photo and says he faked it. At first, the other prisoners are angry, but when Luke returns after a long stay in the box and is punished by being forced to eat a massive serving of rice, the others help him finish it.

For his escape, the guards brutalize Luke to the point of exhaustion, particularly when he is forced to repeatedly dig and refill a grave-sized hole in the prison yard. He eventually breaks down and begs for mercy, losing the respect of his fellow inmates. Luke seems to succumb to cowardice and become an errand boy for the guards, but when an opportunity presents itself, he flees again by stealing a truck, with Dragline joining him. After abandoning the truck, the pair agree to separate. Luke enters a church and talks to God, whom he blames for sabotaging him so he cannot win in life. Police cars appear moments later, and Dragline arrives to tell him that he will not be hurt if he surrenders peacefully. Instead, Luke mockingly repeats the Captain's warning speech at the police. Godfrey shoots him in the neck. Dragline carries Luke outside and surrenders, but charges at Godfrey and strangles him until he is subdued by the guards.

While Luke is loaded into the Captain's car, Dragline tearfully implores him to live. Despite protests from local police, the Captain decides to take Luke to the distant prison infirmary instead of the local hospital to ensure Luke will not survive the trip. As the car drives away, a semi-conscious Luke weakly smiles while the tires crush Godfrey's sunglasses. (It is implied that Luke soon dies of his injuries.)

Some time later, the prison crew works near a rural intersection close to where Luke was shot, with Dragline now wearing leg irons and a new Walking Boss supervising. Dragline and the other prisoners fondly reminisce about Luke.