Cool Hand Luke Page #20

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LUKE:

We ain't goin' nowhere.

DRAGLINE:

(confused)

What you talkin' about, Luke? We're

together, you and me, just like

always. Now the thing we gotta work

out is how to get Koko outa there

and then the Terrible Trio be all

complete again. Man, this old Free

World ain't gonna know which ear to

stand on.

LUKE:

Yeah, well, you and Koko kin handle

it without me.

DRAGLINE:

What you mean, Luke?

LUKE:

I've done enough world-shakin' for a

while. You do the rest for me. Send

me a postcard about it.

He gets up, starts off.

DRAGLINE:

But, Luke...

LUKE:

Take it easy, Drag.

DRAGLINE:

Luke. Where you goin?

LUKE:

On my own.

DRAGLINE:

But what am I gonna do all by myself?

(hangs head)

Oh if'n I hadn't lost mah head. I

only had two more years to go. But

when I saw you tearin' down with

that truck... But you right Luke. We

oughta split up. Be safer for us

both.

He looks up. Luke is in the distance.

DRAGLINE:

Luke?

(calls out)

Just the same, you're a good old

boy, Luke. You take care, hear?

There is no answer.

OMITTED:

EXT. NEGRO VILLAGE (NIGHT)

as Luke trots down the main street, passes the church.

LUKE:

Hey, Old Man! You home tonight?

He starts across the bridge.

LUKE:

If you kin spare a minute, it's about

time we had ourselves a little talk.

INT. CHURCH

Luke mounts the steps of the lectern, looks up.

LUKE:

Old Man, I know I'm a pretty evil

feller who killed people in the war

and got drunk and chopped up municipal

merchandise and like that. I admit

ain't got no call to ask for much.

But even so, you ain't dealt me no

cards in a long time. I mean it's

beginning to look like you got it

fixed so I can't never win out. Inside

or out, it's just different bosses

and different rules. Where am I

supposed to fit in? Old Man, I got

to tell you:
I started out pretty

strong and fast but it's starting to

get to me... When does it end?...

What you got in mind for me next?

Old Man. What do I do now? Awright.

On my hands and knees a skin'. Yeah.

That's what I thought. I guess I'm

just a hardcase and I gotta find my

way out myself.

We HEAR the SOUND of vehicles outside, telling Luke that the

police have arrived. He starts for the back just as Dragline

enters from the side entrance. Seeing him, Luke looks up at

the ceiling.

LUKE:

Is that your answer, Old Man? You're

a hardcase too, ain't you?

DRAGLINE:

Luke, are you alright?... They got

us, boy. They're out there thicker'n

flies. Bosses and dogs and sheriffs

and more guns than I ever seen in my

life. We don't have a chance, Luke...

They caught up with me right after

we split up and they was aimin' to

kill you, Luke. But I got 'em to

promise if you give up peaceful,

they wouldn't even whip you this

time.

LUKE:

(amused)

Do we even get our same bunks back?

DRAGLINE:

Why sure, Luke. I mean I didn't talk

to them about that. But why not?

They're reasonable, Luke. Hell, we

only been gone a coupla hours.

LUKE:

You don't understand a thing, do

you, Drag?

DRAGLINE:

Luke, you got to listen to me. All

you got to do is just give up nice

and quiet, just play it cool.

LUKE:

Like I always do?

DRAGLINE:

Thass right. Just play it...

He sees Luke moving toward the window.

DRAGLINE:

Luke, what are do doin'?

OMITTED:

ANGLE BY WINDOW:

as Luke steps out of pitch black into the harsh light in

full view, calm, slight smile, having chosen his moment. His

voice is loud, clear, mocking:

LUKE:

WHAT WE GOT HERE IS A FAILURE TO

COMMUNICATE...

A SHOT! It catches Luke in the throat and throws him back,

but he stays in the light, still smiling.

DRAGLINE:

Luke!

EXT. CHURCHYARD (NIGHT)

ON guards and police, FEATURING Godfrey, who holds his smoking

rifle. There are confused SHOUTS and movements by the

sheriffs, but the Captain and the prison guards only look

toward Godfrey, then turn away, stoic.

INT. CHURCH

as Luke falls to one knee, trying to hold himself up. Dragline

is by his side, helps him up and to the door.

EXT. CHURCHYARD (NIGHT)

where Bosses Kean and Paul move in to handcuff Luke. Dragline,

seeing Godfrey, bellows out an INCOHERENT ROAR and charges

past the surprised guards to knock Godfrey to the ground,

tear his glasses from him. Confused, bewildered, Godfrey

gropes for the glasses as the prison guards beat Dragline

into submission.

ANGLE ON CHURCH (PRE-DAWN) (NIGHT)

as Luke, handcuffed behind his back, is being led toward the

Captain's car by Bosses Paul and Kean. He is half-paralyzed,

blood pouring from him. The Captain has turned his back on

Godfrey, talking to the Sheriff.

SHERIFF:

You follow me and I'll radio the

emergency clinic to open up...

CAPTAIN:

I'm takin' him to the prison hospital.

SHERIFF:

But that's an hour away. He ain't

gonna last twenty minutes.

CAPTAIN:

Git outa the way. He's ours.

MOVING SHOT LUKE

as he is brought past Dragline, who is being held by several

guards. Tears stream down Dragline's cheeks. Luke looks at

him, still smiling as he is pushed into the Captain's car.

LUKE INT. THE CAR

as it begins to move out. In the b.g. across the road we SEE

the Negro villagers watching, silently. The window of the

car is up and the reflections on the glass make Luke already

dim, a little distant.

MOVING SHOT THE CAR (DAWN)

as it moves down the road, over the trestle. It is the mystic

hour of dawn, the sun's rays just diffusing as we watch the

car until it disappears over the rise in the road.

EXT. ROAD CLOSE ON YOYO (DAY)

The yoyo is swinging in the sun. As the shot WIDENS we SEE

it is Dragline, wearing chains, wielding the yoyo and now we

SEE the others working around him. Godfrey is gone; Boss

Paul is now the Walking Boss. The MUSIC gains strength and

speeds as

Dragline works with strong, certain grace and determination

and the others also seem more vital and free as imperceptibly

the CAMERA PULLS BACK and RISES SLOWLY TO:

HELICOPTER SHOT:

as the men grow smaller in the limitless field of gold

stretching in all directions as far as the eye can see,

intersected by four roads that reach out to infinity. Now

the men are specks, now invisible in the fields and there

are only the roads, lines in the gold, going on forever.

OVER THIS, SUPERIMPOSE the PICTURE OF LUKE, now scotch-taped

together, HOLD and

FADE OUT:

THE END:

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