The Dryden will screen Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, U.S. 1967, 126 min., 35mm) as part of the 12 Postcards from Prison series.

In this film about prison life and undying spirit, Paul Newman is Luke, a loner sent to a chain-gang camp for "cutting heads off parking meters." For his fellow chain-gangers, Luke offers inspiration, whether it's digging ditches all night long or eating 50 eggs to win a bet with Oscar winner George Kennedy. First-time feature director Rosenberg's exciting staging and Conrad Hall's superb color photography make a traditional subject—life on a Southern chain gang—seem fresh, and Newman gives one of his best "loner" roles as the title convict.

[source: George Eastman Museum calendar, 2017-Apr-10]