Paul Newman brought the full wattage of his movie star charisma—as well as his Actors Studio training—to the role of Luke Jackson, a WWII veteran who rebels against authority while serving in a Florida chain gang in director Stuart Rosenberg’s stylish prison drama. Providing Newman with one of his most iconic roles and his fourth Best Actor nomination, the film also earned George Kennedy a Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as fellow convict Dragline, and received nominations for the adapted screenplay by novelist Donn Pearce and Frank R. Pierson, and for Lalo Schifrin’s energetic, eclectic score. The supporting cast includes an unforgettable performance from Strother Martin as the unsympathetic warden, as well as Newman’s fellow Actors Studio members Dennis Hopper and Lou Antonio, who went on to become one of the Artistic Directors of The Actors Studio West.

DIRECTOR: Stuart Rosenberg. WRITTEN BY: Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson. CAST: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon, Lou Antonio. 1967. 126 min. USA. Color. Scope. English. 35mm.

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Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.