Did You Know?

Just prior to Elizabeth Taylor's presentation of the Best Picture Oscar for this film, the streaker Robert Opel darted across the stage as David Niven was introducing her. It was this incident (among others) that inspired singer Ray Stevens to write the song "The Streak" that went to the top of the US charts the month after the awards. Incidentally, Opel was found murdered in his San Francisco gallery in 1979.

David S. Ward got the idea for this movie when he was working on the script for Steelyard Blues, which includes a pickpocketing scene. Researching this, Ward found himself reading about con artists. Ward had shown the other screenplay to Tony Bill, so he now gave him an outline of this story. Bill liked it immediately and brought in Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips; the three then produced both films. Ward wrote the script with Robert Redford in mind as Hooker, but Redford initially turned the part down. Even after changing his mind, he didn't expect the movie to be a hit. Robert Shaw got the part of Lonnegan only after Richard Boone and another actor had declined it. George Roy Hill saw the screenplay by accident and asked for the director's job. He routinely showed his projects to Paul Newman, and Newman was pleased to join this one. Hill wanted to film the picture on location, but Henry Bumstead was adamant that it would be much too hard to get the period appearance right; for example, things like lane markings on the streets. In the end, the only location shooting was a few days' worth in Chicago and Los Angeles; most of the exteriors were filmed on Universal's back lot.

Robert Redford's character (Johnny Hooker) is supposedly named after blues legend John Lee Hooker.

Technical advisor John Scarne doubled for Paul Newman's hands in the film. It was he who did all of the card manipulations and deck switching in the film. It would have taken a long time for someone to be able to master all of the card routines shown. In the film, we see Scarne's hands disappear off screen; a clever invisible cut hides the switch; Newman's hands return, and the camera pans up to his face.

Characters Henry Gondorff, JJ Singleton, Kid Twist and Eddie Niles have names similar to genuine con artists of the first quarter of the twentieth century, whose exploits are detailed in Maurer's "The Big Con".

Writer David S. Ward taped a five-minute pitch of the project, but refused to reveal the ending until the producers read the entire script.

The movie was filmed on the backlot of Universal studios and the diner in which Hooker meets Lonnegan is the same diner interior used in Back to the Future in which Marty McFly first meets his father and calls Doc Brown.

The movie is based on the real-life exploits of grifter brothers Charley and Fred Gondorf, whose experiences culminated in a scam similar to the one shown in the film, known in 1914 as "the wire" or "the big store". Unlike the movie, however, the actual "mark" was more than happy to testify against Charley Gondorf, the front man of the scam, and he spent time in Sing Sing, as did his younger brother a year later for running another scam. Both served a few years and were released. As late as 1924, when Charley was 65 and Fred 60, they were still active, and running new scams.

Richard Boone was the first choice for the role of Lonnegan. Oliver Reed was offered the role but refused to test for it (he would later play Lonnegan in the sequel). Stephen Boyd was also considered.

Re-released as a double feature with American Graffiti.

The rigged Black 22 at the roulette wheel, where Hooker loses the bet at the beginning of the movie, is the same spot that Rick Blaine uses for both Captain Renault and the Bulgarian couple to set them up to win.

Many characters are seen drinking Schlitz beer during the film. Schlitz was the largest beer company in the world during the 1930s.

Much of the plot appears in the Orson Welles radio program episode of "The Lives of Harry Lime" entitled "Horse Play." It was on radio in 1951.