STORY OF THE SHOT
Cool Hand Luke
HOW ICONIC IMAGES CAME TO LIFE
WORDS IAN FREER
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THE ORIGIN
“I need 50 eggs.” So begins the greatest scene in eggsploitation cinema. The most famous moment in sees Luke Jackson (Paul Newman), incarcerated in a Southern prison for breaking the heads off several parking meters, claiming he can eat a half-century of eggs in an hour, followed by a flurry of betting (one rule: no throwing up). What follows starts as a comedy montage, builds like a tense sports movie and ultimately makes Rocky Balboa’s five-egg protein shake look like Saturday Kitchen.