The Sting

Director: George Roy Hill George Roy Hill

Overview

Four years after setting box offices ablaze in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and director George Roy Hill re-teamed with similar success for The Sting. Redford plays Depression-era confidence trickster Johnny Hooker, whose friend and mentor Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) is murdered by racketeer/gambler Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Hoping to avenge Luther's death, Johnny begins planning a "sting" -- an elaborate scam -- to destroy Lonnegan. He enlists the aid of "the greatest con artist of them all," Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), who pulls himself out of a drunken stupor and rises to the occasion. Hooker and Gondorff gather together an impressive array of con men, all of whom despise Lonnegan and wish to settle accounts on behalf of Luther. The twists and surprises that follow are too complex to relate in detail -- suffice to say that you can't cheat an honest man, and that you shouldn't accept everything at face value. The Sting became one of the biggest hits of the early '70s; grossing 68.5 million dollars during its first run, the film also picked up seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Adapted Score for Marvin Hamlisch's unforgettable setting of Scott Joplin's ragtime music.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/07/2019
UPC:	0191329100738
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Universal Studios
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Paul Newman	Henry Gondorff/Mr. Shaw
Robert Redford	Johnny Hooker/Kelly
Robert Shaw	Doyle Lonnegan
Charles Durning	Lt. William Snyder
Ray Walston	Singleton
Eileen Brennan	Billie
Robert Earl Jones	Luther Coleman
Charles Dierkop	Floyd
Lee Paul	Bodyguard
Sally Kirkland	Crystal
Avon Long	Benny Garfield
Arch Johnson	Combs
Ed Bakey	Granger
Brad Sullivan	Cole
John Quade	Riley
Larry D. Mann	Train Conductor
Leonard Barr	Burlesque Comedian
Paulene Myers	Alva Coleman
Joe Tornatore	Black-Gloved Gunman
Jack Collins	Duke Boudreau
Tom Spratley	Curly Jackson
Kenneth O'Brien	Greer
Ken Sansom	Western Union Executive
William Benedict	Roulette Dealer
James J. Sloyan	Mottola
Harold Gould	Kid Twist
John Heffernan	Niles
Dana Elcar	FBI Agent
Jack Kehoe	Erie Kid
Dimitra Arliss	Loretta Salino
Scott Joplin	Piano Rags

Technical Credits

Marvin Hamlisch

David S. Ward

George Roy Hill	Director
Tony Bill	Producer
Henry Bumstead	Art Director
Robert L. Crawford	Producer
Ray Gosnell	Asst. Director
Marvin Hamlisch	Score Composer,Screenwriter
Edith Head	Costumes/Costume Designer
James W. Payne	Set Decoration/Design
Julia Phillips	Producer
Michael Phillips	Producer
Ronald Pierce	Sound/Sound Designer
William H. Reynolds	Editor
Robert Surtees	Cinematographer
David S. Ward	Screenwriter
Bob Warner	Special Effects
Ernest B. Wehmeyer	Production Manager
Albert J. Whitlock	Special Effects
Richard D. Zanuck	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A defiantly old-fashioned romantic drama tinged with fantasy, Somewhere in Time has acquired a cult following in the two decades since its theatrical release, and is among the few non-Superman movies for which Christopher Reeve's work is remembered. Based on a little-known novel by Richard Matheson, this modest film directed by Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws 2) reinforces the dreamy notion that true love transcends time and place. Reeve plays an inexplicably sad Chicago playwright who, upon seeing a 1912 photo of a famous actress (Jane Seymour at her most luminous), believes he's met her before. Transported some seven decades into the past through the power of his will, he encounters the woman and begins a passionate affair with her. Obviously mindful of Hollywood's classic period romances, Szwarc re-creates the early 20th century with painstaking care, capturing the pictorial beauty of Michigan's Mackinac Island with diffused lighting and warm colors. Reeve and Seymour make such a beautiful couple that even the bittersweet conclusion of their relationship won't dampen viewer enthusiasm.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Reuniting the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) dream team of Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and director George Roy Hill, The Sting (1973) showed that box-office lightning could strike twice, especially with a cleverly and lavishly produced comedy. Amid the meticulously recreated 1930s setting, with costumes designed by grande dame Edith Head and shiny vintage cars, The Sting's elaborate con game is driven along by properly jaunty Scott Joplin ragtime music, re-orchestrated by Marvin Hamlisch, further adding to the period flavor. Even as film-school graduate David S. Ward's script dealt with a corrupt world, the charming Redford/Newman chemistry and the period appeal lent the potential darkness a glossily entertaining surface. A few critics may have complained that the box-office formula was too obvious, but nobody could deny that Universal's money had resulted in a well-executed film. Produced by actor Tony Bill and young newcomers Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips, The Sting appealed to audiences young and old, turning it into one of the biggest hits of the 1970s. Nominated for ten Oscars, The Sting won seven, including Director, Screenplay, Art Direction, Adapted Score, and Costumes, while Julia Phillips became the first woman to win a Best Picture prize.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola