The Sting (1973)

The Sting
Directed by George Roy Hill
Written by David S. Ward
1973/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Johnny Hooker: He’s not as tough as he thinks.
Henry Gondorff: Neither are we.

There’s a reason this is a widely beloved classic.  You’ll get no disagreement from me.

The year is 1936. The film opens in New York where Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and colleagues work a scam that parts a sharp dresser from his wallet.  Unfortunately, the victim was a numbers runner for big-time crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), who will settle for nothing but murder for revenge.  Johnny’s friend Luther (Robert Earl Jones) is killed and Johnny heads off to Chicago to look up master con artist Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) who he believes can help him plot the ultimate sting on Lonnegan.

Luther was a popular man and Johnny and Henry easily recruit dozens of pros to help them carry out their scheme.  Henry raises the necessary capital by cheating Lonnegan, who is also cheating, at poker.  Surely everyone reading this knows what happens next.  If not, get busy and see this movie!  With a wonderful cast of supporting actors including Charles Durning as a corrupt cop, Ray Walston as one of the con men, and Eileen Brennan as Newman’s girlfriend.

Whenever I watch this I come out with grins as big as Newman’s and Redford’s at the end.  It’s another of those rare occasions in film history when the talents of all concerned were operating at their height and combined to make magic.  And it reintroduced America to the music of Scott Joplin!  Obviously a must see.

The Sting won Oscars for Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing;Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation.  It was nominated for Best Actor (Redford); Best Cinematography and Best Sound.