So Hookey O’Keefe was out on picket, brewing a cuppa on his little stove placed between his ankles as he sat back up against a tree. What he was supposed to be doing was watching out of enemy, but we’d been doing this stuff for almost year by now and alertness was second nature—our instincts could be relied upon totally. Which was the case in this instance, for a three man Viet Cong patrol indeed came upon the scene, and Hookey was ready for them. Careful to avoid spilling his brew, he took up his rifle, aimed, and dropped the lead man in his tracks. Thus ambushed, the other two bolted as Hookey sent a hail of bullets after them.
    By the time Hookey got to his feet, we were upon him, Greyman, Snowy with the M60 and me, charging down the track, hurdling the felled man, and on after the others. Behind, we could hear the rest of the posse charging after us.
    “Hoy, you three fuckin dickheads,” we heard Nigel yell from back there, “Get back here! You’re all fuckin going home this fuckin week!”

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
    Cool Hand Luke is a truly groovy movie about the chain gang. It starts with the heads mysteriously falling off parking meters as they shriek “Violation”. Luke, hopelessly drunk, has taken to them with a pipe-cutter. For this he is sentenced to the chain gang—it seems a severe punishment but we can guess it’s not his first offence. There his cool attitude, defiance of authority and amusing antics bring joy to the crude and cruel lives of his fellow inmates, as do his continual escapes.
    The authorities see that he must be made to toe the line and set about breaking him, which they finally achieve although only after they have to resort to unreasonably desperate measures. Luke finally buckles, complies, but really he is just plotting his next escape.
    Eventually, the guards see no choice but to shoot him and allow him to be propelled into legend.
    Paul Newman and George Kennedy were outstanding in their roles, and the film boasts two immortal lines. The one quoted above, and the “picking it up here, boss,” routine.