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The Sting (1973)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
David S. Ward (written by)
Release Date:
10 January 1974 (Argentina)
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Tagline:
Recapture "the STING Experience". REMEMBER HOW GOOD THE FEEL WAS THE FIRST TIME (re-release) more
Plot:
In 1930s Chicago, a young con man seeking revenge for his murdered partner teams up with a master of the big con to win a fortune from a criminal banker. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 7 Oscars.
Another 9 wins
&
6 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Marvin Hamlisch Talks 'The Informant' and his Return to Film Scoring with Variety
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 17 November 2009, 10:47 AM, PST)
AFI Fest 2009: Something’S Gonna Live, North By Northwest
(From Alternative Film Guide. 26 October 2009, 12:41 AM, PDT)
(From BroadwayWorld.com. 17 November 2009, 10:47 AM, PST)
AFI Fest 2009: Something’S Gonna Live, North By Northwest
(From Alternative Film Guide. 26 October 2009, 12:41 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Everything's Jake In Second Trip To Well
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US TV Schedule:
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Paul Newman | ... | Henry Gondorff |
 | Robert Redford | ... | Johnny Hooker |
 | Robert Shaw | ... | Doyle Lonnegan |
| Charles Durning | ... | Lt. Wm. Snyder |
| Ray Walston | ... | J.J. Singleton |
| Eileen Brennan | ... | Billie |
 | Harold Gould | ... | Kid Twist |
| John Heffernan | ... | Eddie Niles |
| Dana Elcar | ... | F.B.I. Agent Polk |
| Jack Kehoe | ... | Erie Kid |
| Dimitra Arliss | ... | Loretta |
| Robert Earl Jones | ... | Luther Coleman (as Robertearl Jones) |
| James Sloyan | ... | Mottola (as James J. Sloyan) |
| Charles Dierkop | ... | Floyd the Bodyguard |
 | Lee Paul | ... | Bodyguard |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
129 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) |
Canada:G (Quebec) |
Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) |
UK:PG (video rating) |
Portugal:M/12 |
Australia:PG |
South Korea:15 |
Brazil:Livre |
Canada:A (Nova Scotia) |
Argentina:13 |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-16 |
Netherlands:12 |
Norway:15 |
Norway:16 (1974) |
Peru:14 |
Singapore:PG |
Sweden:15 |
USA:PG |
West Germany:12
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
According to costume designer Edith Head's biography, Robert Redford and Paul Newman, both of whom have blue eyes, wanted their shirts to be blue in order to emphasize their eyes. As a compromise, Head outfitted each man in blue in alternating scenes. Unfortunately, although it is an attractive story, it's a complete myth. A simple viewing of the film reveals the truth. Newman is never outfitted in blue in the whole film. He is first seen in a white vest in the brothel scenes. On the train he alternates between a brown striped shirt and a white one, which may or may not be a continuity error. From then until the end of the film, he is seen exclusively in a dinner jacket and white shirt. Redford wears a blue shirt on a couple of occasions, but even this doesn't really fit with this oddly persistent legend.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: The hundred dollar bills shown in the suit case were modern Federal Reserve Notes (with a 2-line legal tender notice and no on-demand clause), which were not printed until 1963.
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Quotes:
Billie:
Who told you this guy was in here?
Lieutenant William Snyder: Nobody. I just know what kind of woman he likes. Going to check all the joy houses till I find him.
Billie: Oh, well maybe I could help you, if you tell me his name.
Lieutenant William Snyder: I doubt it. Which way are the rooms?
Billie: Right through there. But I wouldn't go in there if I were you.
Lieutenant William Snyder: What you are going to do, call the cops?
Billie: I don't have to. You'd be busting in on the Chief of Police just up the hall.
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Lieutenant William Snyder: Nobody. I just know what kind of woman he likes. Going to check all the joy houses till I find him.
Billie: Oh, well maybe I could help you, if you tell me his name.
Lieutenant William Snyder: I doubt it. Which way are the rooms?
Billie: Right through there. But I wouldn't go in there if I were you.
Lieutenant William Snyder: What you are going to do, call the cops?
Billie: I don't have to. You'd be busting in on the Chief of Police just up the hall.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in The Ultimate Film (2004) (TV)
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Soundtrack:
SOLACE
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FAQ
If Lonnegan was born in Five Points (NYC), why does he have a thick Irish brogue?What part did the Erie Kid play in the first con that earned him a share of the money?
Any recommendations for movies similar to "The Sting"?
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more (181 total)
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The fix is in, the odds are set, and the boys are ready to play for the big time, both on the screen and behind the camera in this breezy, endlessly entertaining movie classic.
Robert Redford is small-time hustler Johnny Hooker, happy to play the marks in Joliet until the murder of his mentor pushes him to go up against the nastiest mug in Chicago, Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw.) Hooker'd rather ice Lonnegan outright, but will settle for a big con with the help of a slightly wobbly but game scammer named Henry Gondorff, played as only Paul Newman can.
Newman and Redford, along with director George Roy Hill, had a lot riding on this pony, given it was a follow-up to their earlier "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid." To measure up, they had to produce nothing short of another classic. And so they did. "The Sting" won the Best Picture Oscar in 1973, and remains the sentimental favorite among many in choosing between the two films.
Comparing "The Sting" to "Butch Cassidy" is kind of overdone sport, and tempers, as Lonnegan would say, run hot. But you can see why "The Sting" worked as well as it did by looking at how the director and the stars played it differently within the same basic framework as "Butch Cassidy." Newman and Redford are again outlaws and underdogs. Period detail abounds here as it did with "Butch Cassidy," and there's another memorable score amid the proceedings, Scott Joplin rags modernized by Marvin Hamlisch. The score even produced another hit, "The Entertainer," to compare with "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head."
What's different about "The Sting," and what makes it such a classic in its own right, is the way the stars service the plot. In "Butch Cassidy," Newman and Redford's comradeship was the story. Here, the chemistry between the two actors is minimized in favor of spinning a yarn with enough red herrings to feed the Swedish navy. The tale here is better than "Butch Cassidy," which is a more elegiac film with grander cinematography and funnier set pieces. "The Sting" is an edge-of-your-seat caper flick from beginning to end.
You can't really call "The Sting" a comedy. Though there are many laughs, especially when Newman hooks Shaw during a poker game, Hill won't let the audience relax enough for that. What this is is a con game, played on the audience, designed not to cheat but entertain by means of clever hoodwinking and constant misdirection plays.
You'll get no spoilers from me. This is one worth sitting through with no expectations. Five gets you ten you'll enjoy Newman and Redford, and a terrific supporting cast (one advantage over "Butch Cassidy") that includes Charles Durning, Eileen Brennan, Dana Elcar, Harold Gould, and Mr. Hand himself, Ray Walston. There's another familiar face from "Butch Cassidy," Charles Dierkop, Flat Nose Curry in "Butch Cassidy" and Lonnegan's right hand here. The best performance may be Robert Shaw's; he exudes menace aplenty but some humanity, too, when he takes Hooker under his wing after learning he came from the same hard streets of Five Points Lonnegan sprang from.
Terrific period detail, too. The dialogue is great and feels real in its Runyonesque way, while the cons are elaborate and logically played out. Watching this a second time is especially fun because once you know how the plot goes down, you find yourself catching clues you missed the first time, and enjoying the film even more for them.
Why didn't Newman and Redford team up again? Certainly there was another good movie for them to partner up in, but as Gondorff would have put it, only chumps don't quit when they're ahead.