I like others, feel the loss of one of Hollywood's great actors, philanthropists, and family man.
I will also never forget the movie "Cool Hand Luke" The quote "What we have here is a failure to communicate" is one of the all time greatest lines in movie history..... Good 'ole Cool Hand Luke played his part to a T. I remember this movie so well (not because I viewed it numerous times since) it was a movie that somehow made it on to the U.S.S. Holland, where I and 1880 other sailors were so fortunate to be a part of.
I say fortunate because at the time we were stationed in Charleston, South Carolina, readying ourselves for an overseas tour of duty in Rota, Spain, and the rest of the country was fighting the war in Viet Nam. Of of my duties as an communications technician was to show movies to the crew ( I know, I know, like I said one of my duties) Well watching movies on a large ship with a couple hundred other guys isn't all that much fun, ( this could be another whole boring story in itself) so we would have private showings in our "tape room" A room where only a few of the "privileged few" would be allowed to enter. These private showings to the "privileged few" would be a great way to unwind, relax, and see a good flick before the masses.
We were all a bunch of young guys, away from home, many for the first time, and this movie bonded us even more tightly.
I think about that time in our country...a time of rebellion, upheaval, a horrible war going on, and unrest in the streets of America. Our President had recently been assassinated, riots in Detroit, soldiers were giving their lives to a cause they believed in, and the grizzly details were being shown on TV every night, a score card of body counts....U.S. 1206...Cong 4123, like it was some sort of morbid game.
And then this movie....our hero, Cool Hand Luke. We all loved his bravado, his penchant for not giving up, his uncanny ability to be liked by others, and most of all his style.
"We have Here is a failure to Communicate" became my buddies mantra, we watched that movie a lot! Whenever something did not go our way...it was because of a failure to communicate. The Navy had problems, it was a failure to communicate. The weather, food, money, politics, ANYTHING was a failure to communicate. It paralleled our countries current philosophy "We have a Failure to Communicate"
Rest in peace Paul Newman....You were one Cool Dude! You helped us to grow up.
Dick Beals
I love that line. He was a cool dude!
Gas prices
I would like all reader to not fill up there cars and put gas into your tank daily, 5 gallons
Why, if we can get 2/3rds of all drives to do this where will the gasoline and oil companys stor all that extra gasoline
someone can do the math thanks
100 cars 20 gallon tank = 200 x 20,000 car = 4,000,000 gallons of gas @ 3.89 per gallon you do the math
now if we can just take five minutes per day and only put in what we use each day were will they stor the rest of that gas .
I would like to start this movment for six months
Please spreed the word, if we are lucky american will at least have better control on gasoline stortages.
we will be getting lower gas prices or the oil companys will spend more money in storage, I think we will have a win win
so please help send this to 20 of your friends and ask them to sent it to 20 more till we hit 20mil
add anything you can to help suport this
Thanks Victor
I've never seen Cool Hand Luke.
However, Sting is one of my all time favorite movies.
First thanks for the post and many share your sentiments. The line you quote is one of those rare and beautiful things that are part of our culture. Kind of like "I'll be back" . What is interesting is when you use this line on a son or grandson they look at you kind of funny so you have to watch the movie with them so they get it. And the movie has aged very well. Thanks for the post
Loved that movie, also the part where he tried to eat all those hard boiled eggs. Erp.
A lovely tribute -- says it all!
Chuck, they do go together don't they?
Victor, OK...thanks
Lenn, Sting is and will always be my all time favorite music score....you need to see Cool Hand Luke....it is a part of Americana.
Charlie, how true!!
Frank & Jodi, That was a great scene wasn't it?
Li, Thanks!
Dick Beals
I'd have to say that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of my favorites.
I've always loved that line! My friends and I seem to break that one out more often than any other famous quote from the movies.
"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life." from Animal House seems to get mentioned all too often too!
Paul Newman was one of the greatest actors of our lifetime. He left not just the quote you mentioned, but a lifetime of great movies, memorable lines and a lot of great charity work behind him
He will be missed for sure.
Paul Newman - a forever favorite. He will always be in our hearts forever and always.
Hi Dick,
I'm from a different generation and so was not a Paul Newman fan (really don't know much about him except or his salad dressings). But that quote is so true--almost all problems can be traced back to poor or lack of communication.
Linda, good choice...one of mine as well!
Craig, thanks for commenting, and how so true!
Tracy, The news shows gave him quite a tribute last evening.
Cynthia, you are missing out...get to a Blockbuster store real soon and buy, buy you will be a fan.
Thanks for all your comments!
Dick Beals