‘Cool Hand Luke’ is next in Classic Film Series

The Rotary Club of Weaverville will host a screening of “Cool Hand Luke” at 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, the second in this year’s Classic Film Series.

Paul Newman stars in this Academy Awardwinning film from 1967. Newman is in the title role as Luke, a prisoner in a Florida prison camp.

Newman, already a Hollywood star, had more than a dozen movies to his credit, including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Hustler” and “Hud.” These films also cast him in the role of the outsider and non-conformist.

“Cool Hand Luke” received four Academy Award nominations, including Newman for Best Actor. But it was George Kennedy, in the role of Dragline, the de facto leader of the prisoners, who received an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The film may be best known for Strother Martin’s famous line, “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.”Passes for the remaining five films in the series are available for $50 and include pre-movie hors d’oeuvres, champagne and sparkling cider, and a monthly raffle. The other movies booked for this season are “My Fair Lady” (January), “An Officer and a Gentleman” (February), “True Grit” (March) and “What’s Up Doc?” (April).

All of the films are shown on the second Sunday of the month, with the doors opening at 12:30 p.m. This year the funds will go to assist employees of the Trinity River Lumber Company mill and for small projects identified in the community by the club’s board of directors.