The Sting 62440 226010134 2008-07-16T12:45:36Z Baseball Bugs 4436277 No advertising. {{Infobox Film | name = The Sting | image = Stingredfordnewman.jpg | image_size = | caption = The Sting movie poster | director = [[George Roy Hill]] | producer = [[Tony Bill]]<br>[[Michael Phillips (producer)|Michael Phillips]]<br>[[Julia Phillips]] | writer = [[David S. Ward]] | narrator = | starring = [[Paul Newman]]<br>[[Robert Redford]]<br>[[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]<br>[[Charles Durning]] | music = [[Marvin Hamlisch]] | cinematography = [[Robert Surtees (cinematographer)|Robert Surtees]] | editing = [[William Reynolds (film editor)|William Reynolds]] | distributor = [[Universal Pictures]] | released = [[December 25]], [[1973]] | runtime = 129 min. | country = | language = [[English language|English]] | budget = | gross = | preceded_by = | followed_by = ''[[The Sting II]]'' | website = | amg_id = 1:46920 | imdb_id = 0070735 }} {{two other uses|the 1973 film|Futurama episode|The Sting (Futurama)|other uses|Sting}} '''''The Sting''''' is a [[1973]] [[caper film]] set in September 1936 and revolving around a complicated plot by two professional [[Confidence trick|grifters]] ([[Paul Newman]] and [[Robert Redford]]) to [[confidence trick|con]] a mob boss ([[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]). The story, created by screenwriter [[David S. Ward]], was inspired by some real-life con games perpetrated by the brothers Fred and Charley Gondorf and documented by [[David Maurer]] in his book ''[[The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man]]''. The movie was directed by [[George Roy Hill]], who also directed Newman and Redford in the classic ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]''. The title phrase refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the [[Mark (victim)|mark]]'s money. (Today the expression is mostly used in the context of law enforcement [[sting operation]]s.) If the con game is successful, the mark does not realize he has been "taken" (cheated), at least not until the con men are long gone. The movie is divided into distinct sections with old-fashioned [[title card]]s with lettering and illustrations rendered in a style reminiscent of the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]''. The film is noted for its musical score - particularly its main theme melody, "[[The Entertainer (rag)|The Entertainer]]", a [[ragtime|piano rag]] by [[Scott Joplin]], which was lightly adapted for the movie by [[Marvin Hamlisch]]. <ref>[[Gunther Schuller]], president of the [[New England Conservatory of Music]], led a student ensemble in a performance of period orchestrations of Joplin's music. Inspired by Schuller's recording, the producer of "The Sting" had Marvin Hamlisch score Joplin's music for the film, thereby bringing Joplin to a mass, popular public. [http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/joplin.html]</ref> The film was a major [[box office]] success in [[1973 in film|1973]], taking in more than [[United States dollar|US$]]160 million. The film won seven [[Academy Awards]], including Best Picture and Best Director. A less-successful sequel with different players, ''[[The Sting II]]'', appeared in [[1983]]. In the same year a prequel was also planned, exploring the earlier career of Henry Gondorff. Infamous confidence man [[Soapy Smith]] was scripted to be Gondorff's mentor. When the sequel failed, the prequel was scrapped. A deluxe [[DVD]], ''The Sting: Special Edition'' (part of the Universal Legacy Series) was released in September, [[2005]], including a "making of" featurette and interviews with the cast and crew. ==Plot== The movie's protagonist is Johnny Hooker ([[Robert Redford|Redford]]), a small-time con man (also known in the movie as a "grifter") from [[Great Depression in the United States|Depression-era]] [[Joliet, Illinois]]. Hooker and his accomplices Luther Coleman ([[Robert Earl Jones]]) and Joe Erie ([[Jack Kehoe]]) manage to swipe $11,000 in cash from an unsuspecting victim or "mark". In the wake of this apparent success, Luther tells Johnny that he is retiring from his life of crime and moving to [[Kansas City, Missouri]] to work in a "mostly legal" business with his brother-in-law. He advises Hooker to seek out an old friend, Henry Gondorff, in Chicago, who will be able to teach him the art of the 'big con'. Unfortunately for the three con artists, the griftee they robbed was a [[numbers racket]] courier named Mottola ([[James Sloyan]]), transporting the money to Chicago for crime boss Doyle Lonnegan ([[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]). Corrupt Joliet police Lieutenant William Snyder ([[Charles Durning]]) confronts Hooker, demanding a $2,000 cut of the $11,000 and revealing Lonnegan's involvement. Realizing that he and his partners are in danger, Hooker pays Snyder in counterfeit bills, having already squandered all of his share of the money. Hooker goes to warn Coleman, but he arrives too late to save him from Lonnegan's [[hit man]]. With nowhere else to turn, Hooker flees to Chicago to ask Gondorff for help in avenging Coleman's murder. ''Note:'' The film is divided into several parts, like acts of a play, and each part has its own [[title card|title]]. In the film, the title of the next part is always presented with a single frame, accompanied by a short musical interlude. The actual titles of the parts are used in the rest of this section. ===Part I: The Set-Up=== Gondorff ([[Paul Newman]]) is a seemingly broken-down con artist on the run from the [[FBI]], living in the back of an amusement park that doubles as a tavern and [[brothel]]. He is initially reluctant to take on Lonnegan because "revenge is for chumps," and also because the New York [[gangster]]/banker has a reputation for ruthlessly killing his enemies. Gondorff nevertheless agrees to help Hooker run a sting on Lonnegan, since he is touched when Hooker says that he'll take Lonnegan on anyway "Because I don't know enough about killin' to kill him." Since Lonnegan is a shrewd man of few vices ("Doesn't drink and he doesn't chase dames.") and not to be taken in by a simple [[confidence game|confidence scheme]] as he is a banker and knows the [[Stock market|market]], Henry and Johnny will concoct an elaborate plan involving placing Hooker as the inside man in an off-track betting scam known as "The Wire." It is felt that this is ideal since the Wire is considered out of date as a scam, and therefore unlikely to be recognized. A large number of con artists are required to create the atmosphere of the betting establishment; they are recruited from the drinking den of Duke Boudreau (played by [[Jack Collins (actor)|Jack Collins]]), where they congregate. ===Part II: The Hook=== First, Gondorff's lover and partner in crime, Billie ([[Eileen Brennan]]), [[Pickpocketing|picks]] Lonnegan's wallet aboard the famous [[20th Century Limited]] train en route from New York to Chicago. Gondorff, posing as drunk, boorish Chicago bookie, "Shaw," then buys his way into Lonnegan's private high-stakes [[poker]] game on the train with the latter's own money. He bursts into the game late, feigning drunkenness, and proclaims to the other card players, "Sorry I'm late. I was taking a crap."<ref>IMDb quotes from [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070735/quotes ''The Sting''] Retrieved March 20, 2007.</ref> Gondorff, a [[Card sharp|cardsharp]], and brilliant cheater, wins the first few hands and, through arrogance and by deliberately mispronouncing his name, goads Lonnegan himself into cheating with a [[cold deck]] to "bust that bastard bookie in one play." Gondorff, having anticipated this, out-cheats a shocked Lonnegan, who loses $15,000 in a single hand and, without his wallet, cannot immediately pay the debt. Surrounded by a table full of upper-crust (and purportedly legitimate) business magnates, Lonnegan cannot call Gondorff on his cheating since he only knew Gondorff cheated because he cheated as well, and so Lonnegan has to sit and take it while Gondorff grins in knowing satisfaction. [[Image:Redford2.png|thumb|left|150px|Redford earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Johnny Hooker.]] Gondorff tells Lonnegan that he will "send a boy" to his room to collect the money, who turns out to be Hooker, posing as a disgruntled employee of Shaw's, and calling himself "Kelly." ===Part III: The Tale=== "Kelly" plays on Lonnegan's desire for revenge by asking for his help to break Shaw and take over his business. Johnny convinces Lonnegan that he has a partner in the Chicago [[Western Union]] office (portrayed at a meeting by con man "Kid Twist," played by [[Harold Gould]]), and that he can use this connection to win large sums of money in the [[off-track betting]] (OTB) establishment run by Shaw by [[past-posting]]. All of this, including the OTB establishment itself, is in reality an immense hoax instigated solely for hoodwinking Lonnegan; for example, the con men get the supposed play-by-play from a surplus [[tickertape]] wire and then have an accomplice in the back (the con man "J.J.," played by [[Ray Walston]]) read it through a microphone to make it sound as if it were live on the radio; meanwhile, Erie manages to prove his own worth as a con man, posing as a regular gambler in "Shaw's place" to help convince Lonnegan of the reality of the place. In addition to luring Lonnegan into this con as Kelly, and eluding the assassins Lonnegan has sent to kill him as Hooker, Johnny must continually avoid Snyder, who has followed him to Chicago, looking for either his cut of the original $11,000 or revenge on Hooker for cheating him. Snyder's efforts are derailed when [[FBI]] agents make their presence known to him and Hooker. Snyder is brought into a warehouse serving as a front for FBI operations. Special agent Polk is discussing strategy with another agent in the foreground, heard plainly by the film audience though not necessarily by Snyder at first. Snyder observes while special agent Polk coerces Hooker into helping them capture Gondorff. Snyder is to be part of that operation also. Meanwhile, Hooker begins a romance with a local waitress named Loretta. Unbeknownst to Hooker, Lonnegan has grown frustrated with his own men's inability to find and kill Hooker, so he arranges for a professional killer, "Salino," to finish the job. (Not having previously met Hooker, Lonnegan is unaware that Hooker and "Kelly" are the same person). A mysterious figure with black leather gloves is soon seen following and observing Hooker. ===Part IV: The Sting=== All the pieces of the elaborate puzzle come together on the morning of the sting that is planned to swindle Lonnegan. Various players are seen making preparations for the day. Then the action begins:‎ *After Hooker had spent the night with Loretta, he wakes up alone and begins walking to work. He sees Loretta coming toward him, but does not see the black-gloved man behind him, lining up to fire a gun in his direction. The bullet hits Loretta in the forehead and kills her instantly. It turns out that the hired killer was "''Loretta'' Salino", who was carrying a concealed gun and was preparing to kill Hooker at that moment. The gloved man, who had been hired by Gondorff to protect Hooker, drives him to work. The reason Loretta had not killed him in her room is that the nosy old lady next door had seen Hooker go into her room. *After getting word from Kid Twist to "place it on" a particular horse, Lonnegan brings a briefcase containing half a million dollars to bet on the horse to win. "Shaw" argues that the bet is too large. Lonnegan calls him a "gutless cheat". Gondorff, feigning stung pride, accepts the bet. *Kid Twist drops by and quietly asks Lonnegan how it's going. Lonnegan informs him that he has half a million dollars on the horse to win. Kid Twist feigns shock and tells him he was supposed to bet on the horse to "place", as it was going to finish second. The angry Lonnegan goes to the window and demands his money back from mild-mannered con man "Fast Eddie" Niles (played by [[John Heffernan]]). Niles begins to argue that that is against the rules. *Just then the FBI and Snyder burst in and order everyone to freeze. In the noise and the chaos, Polk is seen stepping up to Gondorff and saying quietly (compared with the noise level in the room), "Hello, Henry, it's been a long time!" *Polk gestures to Hooker and says, "You can go," revealing to all that Hooker had betrayed Gondorff to the FBI. Hooker starts to walk toward the door but Gondorff pulls a gun and shoots him in the back. Polk then shoots Gondorff in the heart. Polk orders Snyder to get Lonnegan out of there. Lonnegan realizes that, for his reputation's sake, he cannot allow himself to be involved in this incident; but he is torn, because he has left half a million dollars inside, as he tries to explain to Snyder while the detective whisks him away. *With Lonnegan and Snyder safely away, Polk leans over Hooker's body and says, "He's gone!" Hooker opens his eyes and gets up, as does Gondorff, to the cheers and laughter of the rest of the group. Not only have Lonnegan and Snyder been "stung", so has the film audience. Gondorff expresses as much as "Polk" helps him up: "Nice con, Hickey. I thought you were Feds myself, when you first came in." Hooker and Gondorff then proceed to nonchalantly walk out of the alley way, as the rest of the players and members of the Sting strip the room of its contents before Snyder and/or Lonnegan and his men can come back to retrieve the money. ==Cast== [[Image:PaulNewmanTheSting.jpg|thumb|right|175px|Paul Newman as Henry Gondorff.]] * [[Paul Newman]]: Henry "Shaw" Gondorff * [[Robert Redford]]: Johnny "Kelly" Hooker * [[Robert Shaw (actor)|Robert Shaw]]: Doyle Lonnegan * [[Charles Durning]]: Lt. William Snyder * [[Ray Walston]]: J.J. Singleton * [[Eileen Brennan]]: Billie * [[Harold Gould]]: Kid Twist * [[John Heffernan]]: Eddie Niles * [[Dana Elcar]]: FBI Agent Polk, aka "Hickey" * [[James Sloyan]]: Mottola * [[Larry D. Mann]]: Mr. Clemens * [[Sally Kirkland]]: Crystal ("Hooker's hooker") * [[Jack Kehoe]]: Joe Erie * [[Robert Earl Jones]]: Luther Coleman (credited as Robertearl Jones) * [[Dimitra Arliss]]: Loretta * [[Joe Tornatore]]: Black-gloved gunman * [[Charles Dierkop]]: Floyd, Lonnegan's Bodyguard * [http://LeePaulUSA.com Lee Paul:] Lonnegan's bodyguard * [[Leonard Barr]]: Leonard (burlesque comic) * [[Jack Collins (actor)|Jack Collins]]: Duke Boudreau ==Awards== ===Wins=== *[[National Film Registry]] - 2005 *[[Academy Award for Best Picture]] *[[Academy Award for Directing]] - ([[George Roy Hill]]) *[[Directors Guild of America|Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]] - (George Roy Hill) *[[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay]] - ([[David S. Ward]]) *[[Academy Award for Best Art Direction]] - ([[Henry Bumstead]] and [[James W. Payne]]) *[[Academy Award for Best Costume Design]] - ([[Edith Head]]) *[[Academy Award for Film Editing]] - ([[William Reynolds (film editor)|William H. Reynolds]]) *[[Academy Award for Original Music Score|Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation]] - ([[Marvin Hamlisch]]) ===Nominations=== *[[Academy Award for Best Actor]] - ([[Robert Redford]]) *[[Academy Award for Best Cinematography]] - ([[Robert Surtees (cinematographer)|Robert Surtees]]) *[[Academy Award for Sound]] - ([[Ronald Pierce (sound engineer)|Ronald Pierce]] & [[Robert R. Bertrand]]) *[[Golden Globe|Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture]] - ([[David S. Ward]]) *[[Writers Guild of America|WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen]] - (David S. Ward) ==Music== The soundtrack album contained the following selections, most of which are [[Scott Joplin]] [[ragtime]] pieces. There are some variances from the actual film soundtrack, as noted. Joplin's ragtime music was no longer popular during the 1930s, although its use in ''The Sting'' evokes a definitive 1930s gangster movie, ''[[The Public Enemy]]'', which also featured Scott Joplin theme music. The two [[Jazz Age]] style tunes written by Hamlisch are chronologically much closer to the film's time period than are the Joplin rags: # "Solace" (Joplin) - orchestral version # "[[The Entertainer (rag)|The Entertainer]]" (Joplin) - orchestral version # "The Easy Winners" (Joplin) # "Hooker's Hooker" (Hamlisch) # "Luther" - same basic tune as "Solace", re-arranged by Hamlisch as a [[dirge]] # "Pine Apple Rag" / "Gladiolus Rag" medley (Joplin) # "The Entertainer" (Joplin) - piano version # "The Glove" (Hamlisch) - a Jazz Age style number; only a short segment was used in the film # "Little Girl" (Madeline Hyde, Francis Henry) - not in the final cut of the film # "Pine Apple Rag" (Joplin) # "Merry-Go-Round Music" medley (traditional) - "Listen to the Mocking Bird" was the only portion of this track that was actually used in the film, along with the second segment of "King Cotton", a [[John Philip Sousa|Sousa]] march, which was ''not'' on the album # "Solace" (Joplin) - piano version # "The Entertainer" / "The Ragtime Dance" medley (Joplin) The album sequence differs from the film sequence, a standard practice with vinyl LPs, often for aesthetic reasons. Some additional content differences: *Selected snippets of Joplin's works, some appearing on the album and some not, provided linking music over the [[title card]]s that were used to introduce major scenes. (The final [[title card|card]], "The Sting", introducing the film's dramatic conclusion, had no music at all.) *Some of the tunes in the film are different takes than those on the album. *A Joplin tune used in the film but not appearing in the soundtrack album was "Cascades". The middle (fast) portion of it was played when Hooker was running away from Snyder along the [[Chicago 'L'|'L']] train platform. ===Chart positions=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Chart !Position |- |1974 |''Billboard'' 200 |&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1 |- |} {{start box}} {{succession box | before = ''[[Chicago VII]]'' by [[Chicago (band)|Chicago]] | title = [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]] [[Number-one albums of 1974 (USA)|number-one album]] | years = [[May 4]] - [[June 7]] [[1974]] | after = ''[[Sundown (album)|Sundown]]'' by [[Gordon Lightfoot]] }} {{end box}} ==Other production information== *Plans were made for a prequel to ''The Sting''. The film was to be based on the early days of Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman). His mentor was to be the infamous 19th century confidence man [[Soapy Smith]], known as "the king of the frontier con men." Plans were scrapped after the failure of the sequel, starring [[Jackie Gleason]]. *Harold Gould's character, "Kid Twist," shared that nickname with (though apparently not the profession of) at least two different mob hit men, [[Max Zwerbach]] and [[Abe Reles]]. *At the beginning of the film, the Universal Pictures logo from 1936 (the glass Art Deco globe with the words "A UNIVERSAL PICTURE") is used instead of the contemporary version to establish the film's time setting. *In 1974 ''The Big Con'' author David Maurer filed a $10 million dollar lawsuit claiming at least part of the film's story had been taken from his book. The matter was resolved out of court in 1976. *Four years before the release of ''The Sting'', the film ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]'' ended with Redford's and Newman's characters being shot to death. ''The Sting'' appears to end the same way, until the final plot twist reveals that the shootings were part of the film's central hoax. Both films were directed by [[George Roy Hill]]. *The movie was filmed on the backlot of [[Universal Studios]]. *The diner in which Hooker meets Lonnegan is the same diner interior used in the 1985 movie ''[[Back to the Future]]'', in which Marty McFly first meets his father and calls Doc Brown, and re-used as the interior for the Cafe 80s in the sequel, ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]''. *Doyle Lonnegan's limp in the film, used to great effect by actor Robert Shaw, was in fact completely authentic as Shaw had slipped on a wet handball court at the Beverly Hills Hotel just a week before filming began and had split all the ligaments in his knee. He had to wear a leg brace during production which was kept hidden under the wide 1930s style trousers he wore. This incident was revealed by Julia Philips in her 1991 autobiography 'You'll never eat lunch in this town again'. She said that Shaw saved ''The Sting'' since no other actor would accept the part and that Paul Newman hand delivered the script to Shaw in London in order to ensure his participation. He no doubt paid the price for the extremely high salary his agent John Gaines held the producers up for since he was not nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, the general feeling being, as Philips states in her book, that he should not have demanded that his name follow those of Newman and Redford before the film's opening title. == Cultural Reference == *In [[Xena: Warrior Princess]], the plot for the episode, "King Con" closely resembles The Sting. *The BBC series "Hustle" frequently makes reference to The Sting, and series 1 episode 6 "The Last Gamble" features a con similar to the plot, with a horse-racing scam as the central plot. == External links == {{wikiquote}} *{{imdb title|id=0070735|title=The Sting}} *[http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/thesting.html Early draft of the screenplay at awesome film.com] *[http://www.geocities.com/thestingcaps Screen Captures of the Film] == References == <references/> {{start box}}{{s-awards}} {{succession box | | before = ''[[The Godfather]] | after = ''[[The Godfather Part II]] | title = [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] | years = 1973 |}} {{end box}} {{George Roy Hill Films}} {{AcademyAwardBestPicture 1961-1980}} <!-- Robert Redford --> {{DEFAULTSORT:Sting, The}} [[Category:1973 films]] [[Category:Films set in Chicago]] [[Category:Films shot in Chicago]] [[Category:Gangster films]] [[Category:Criminal comedy films]] [[Category:Mafia films]] [[Category:Buddy films]] [[Category:Heist films]] [[Category:Gambling films]] [[Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners]] [[Category:Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award]] [[Category:Films whose director won the Best Director Academy Award]] [[Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award]] [[Category:Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award]] [[Category:United States National Film Registry films]] [[Category:Films directed by George Roy Hill]] [[de:Der Clou]] [[es:El golpe (película de 1973)]] [[eu:The Sting]] [[fa:نیش (فیلم)]] [[fr:L'Arnaque]] [[it:La stangata]] [[nl:The Sting]] [[ja:スティング (映画)]] [[no:Stikket]] [[pl:Żądło (film)]] [[pt:The Sting]] [[ru:Афера (фильм, 1973)]] [[sk:Podraz]] [[fi:Puhallus (elokuva)]] [[sv:Blåsningen]]