what we have here is a failure to communicate

This title comes from the famous movie, "Cool Hand Luke" ,and the aforementioned line is one of our favorite lines from that classic film.

The "Memorable Quotes" section provided the information we needed. The quote is attributed to "Captain, Road Prison 36," who was played by Strother Martin.

Here is the entire quote:

What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach, so you get what we had here last week which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it any more than you men.

The captain isn't the only one who utters the words. Later in the movie, the main character, Luke (Paul Newman), still cocky despite being cornered by prison guards, openly mocks the Captain with the famous line.