The Sting

The Sting, motion picture about two con artists, set in Chicago during the 1930s. Released in 1973, this box-office hit won seven Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, best screenplay and best film editing. After a gangster has a con man murdered, John Hooker (played by Robert Redford), Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), and a slew of other con men join forces to avenge their friend’s death. They set up a fake off-track betting business and cheat the gangster out of half a million dollars. Marvin Hamlisch earned an Academy Award for his musical score, which featured several ragtime songs by Scott Joplin and revived popular interest in Joplin’s music. The film inspired a sequel, The Sting II (1983).

Director

• George Roy Hill

Cast

• Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff, Mr. Shaw)
• Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker, Kelly)
• Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonnegan)
• Charles Durning (Lieutenant William Snyder)
• Ray Walston (J. J. Singleton)
• Eileen Brennan (Billie)
• Harold Gould (Kid Twist)
• John Heffernan (Eddie Niles)
• Dana Elcar (FBI agent Polk)
• Jack Kehoe ('Erie Kid')
• Dimitra Arliss (Loretta Salino)
• Robert Earl Jones (Luther Coleman)
• James J. Sloyan (Mottola)
• Charles Dierkop (Floyd)
• Sally Kirkland (Crystal)
• John Quade (Riley)
• Paulene Myers (Alva Coleman)
• William Benedict (Roulette dealer)
• Avon Long (Benny Garfield)
• Arch Johnson (Combs)
• Lee Paul (Bodyguard)
• Ed Bakey (Granger)
• Brad Sullivan (Cole)
• Larry D. Mann (Train conductor)
• Leonard Barr (Burlesque comedian)
• Joe Tornatore (Black-gloved gunman)
• Jack Collins (Duke Boudreau)
• Tom Spratley (Curly Jackson)
• Kenneth O'Brien (Greer)
• Ken Sanson (Western Union executive)
• Ta-Tanisha (Louise Coleman)

Awards

• Academy Award for Best Picture (1973): Tony Bill—Producer, Julia Phillips—Producer, Michael Phillips—Producer
• Academy Award for Best Director (1973): George Roy Hill
• Academy Award for Best Writing—Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced (1973): David S. Ward
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction (1973): Henry Bumstead—Art Direction, James Payne—Set Decoration
• Academy Award for Best Costume Design (1973): Edith Head
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing (1973): William H. Reynolds
• Academy Award for Best Musical Score—Original Song Score and/or Adaptation (1973): Marvin Hamlisch

Trivia

• George Roy Hill also directed Newman and Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

Quote

• Henry Gondorff: “No sense being a grifter if it’s the same as being a citizen.”