“I Never Planned Anything in My Life”: The Music ofCool Hand Luke

Abstract

AbstractCool Hand Lukehas a distinct soundtrack that features original music by composer Lalo Schifrin and an intriguing collection of traditional American music selected by director Stuart Rosenberg. The music emerged over an intense nine-month span in 1966–67, during which ideas flowed freely and original plans were often jettisoned. Rosenberg and Schifrin were the film's primary musical architects, but others contributed along the way, including screenwriters, actors, producers, folk music experts, and a trio of banjo players. Based on a wide range of primary sources, including documents in the Warner Bros. Archives at the University of Southern California, interviews with individuals involved in the production, the voluminous popular press about the film, and the film itself, this article is a rare glimpse inside the creative process that produced an unmistakably American soundtrack.