<P> Decorated war veteran Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman), is arrested for cutting the "heads" off parking meters (cutting the meters off their poles) one drunken night . He is sentenced to two years in prison and sent to a Florida chain gang prison run by a stern warden, the Captain (Strother Martin), and a stoic rifleman, Walking Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward), whose eyes are always covered by a pair of mirrored sunglasses. Carr (Clifton James) the floorwalker, tells the rules to the new set of prisoners, with any violations resulting in spending the night in "the box," a small square room with limited air and very little room to move . </P> <P> Luke refuses to observe the established pecking order among the prisoners and quickly runs afoul of the prisoners' leader, Dragline (George Kennedy). When the pair have a boxing match, the prisoners and guards watch with interest . Although Luke is severely outmatched by his larger opponent, he refuses to acquiesce . Eventually, Dragline refuses to continue the fight . Luke's tenacity earns the prisoners' respect and draws the attention of the guards . Later, Luke wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing . Luke comments that "sometimes, nothing can be a real cool hand", prompting Dragline to nickname him "Cool Hand Luke". </P> <P> After a visit from his sick mother, Arletta (Jo Van Fleet), Luke becomes more optimistic about his situation . He continually confronts the Captain and the guards, and his sense of humor and independence prove to be both contagious and inspiring to the other prisoners . Luke's struggle for supremacy peaks when he leads a work crew in a seemingly impossible but successful effort to complete a road - paving job in less than one day . The other prisoners start to idolize him after he makes and wins a spur - of - the moment bet that he can eat fifty hard - boiled eggs in one hour . </P> <P> One day, Luke picks up a deadly rattlesnake from the grassy ditch and holds it up for Boss Godfrey to shoot with his rifle . Luke tosses the snake to the boss as a joke, before he hands him his walking cane . Dragline advises Luke to be more careful about his actions pertaining to the "man with no eyes ." A rainstorm causes everyone to prematurely end their work . Before he joins the other prisoners in the truck, Luke shouts to God, testing him . On that same evening, Luke receives a letter stating that his mother has died . </P>

Who ate the eggs in cool hand luke