Set in 1936 Chicago during the final years of the Great Depression, the film is about a grifter who steals money from a courier with his partner only for his partner to be killed as the money belonged to a rich mobster forcing the grifter to team up with a veteran con artist in creating the ultimate con against this mobster. It is a film that is a bit of a revenge film but a caper film in which two men decide to go after a man who killed an acquaintance of theirs as well as using criminal activities to gain influence in corrupting those in politics and in the law enforcement. David S. Ward’s screenplay has a unique approach to structure as it plays into the journey that both the young grifter in Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) and the veteran con man Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman) take in pulling the ultimate con on the Irish-American mob boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw).
Ward’s script plays into Hooker’s motivations as he and his partner in Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones) had stolen money from a courier with help from their friend Joe Erie (Jack Kehoe) as it turned out the man was carrying $11,000 that was to be delivered to Lonnegan. Coleman planned to retire with his cut of the money only to be killed forcing Hooker to go to a friend of Coleman in Gondorff who is reluctant to go into the con game due to his own experiences and failures but becomes convinced as he assembles a team to go after Lonnegan. Ward also plays into Hooker being pursued by a corrupt detective in Lt. William Snyder (Charles Durning) as well as people working for Lonnegan even though Lonnegan does not know that Hooker is the one who stole from him. The script is also filled with twists and turns with several of Gondorff’s friends playing different roles in the con including Erie who joins in the con.
George Roy Hill’s direction is rapturous in terms of its overall presentation displaying a period during the waning years of the Great Depression. Shot on location at the Universal Studios backlot in Hollywood along with additional location shots in Wheeling, West Virgina, the Santa Monica pier carousel that stands as Gondorff’s home, and Chicago. Hill maintains a feel of the times in the usage of wide and medium shots to play into the energy as well as the sense of despair that was happening at the time. Even as Hill gives the film a look that does play into that period with its muted colors while he also uses wide and medium shots to get a scope of what it was like in Chicago as well as in the interiors such as a club that Gondorff and his team create to fool Lonnegan. Hill also maintains an intimacy in his close-ups as well as scenes where a poker game happens including a scene on a train where Gondorff acts as a boorish crime boss to play against Lonnegan while also aware that Lonnegan is a cheat. Hill’s direction highlights the detail into how Gondorff would beat Lonnegan in his own game with Hooker playing a role in this con.
Hill also plays into this sense of intrigue that occurs on whether everyone is playing each other in the con with Hooker wondering about its outcome as the FBI gets involved. The presence of the FBI does add more suspense and intrigue with Lonnegan also trying to figure out what to do and who to trust leading to this climax that is all about his own ego and thirst for power. The climax is also about Gondorff and Hooker both trying to understand what they want to do as individuals but also as partners where the stakes are big in terms of the money, they want to swindle from Lonnegan. Overall, Hill crafts a whimsical and riveting film about two men who decide to create the ultimate con against an Irish-American mobster who craves money and power.
Cinematographer Robert Surtees does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its muted colors for many of the daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as the usage of stylish lights for some of the scenes at night. Editor William Reynolds does excellent work with the editing for its usage of transition wipes, montages, and other stylish cuts to play into the humor and its offbeat energy. Art director Henry Bumstead, along with set decorators James W. Payne and Emile Kuri, does amazing work with the look of the sets from the building that Gondorff buys to create a fake gambling house as well as the places the characters go to. Costume designer Edith Head does fantastic work with the look of the suits the men wear in the film as well as the clothes the women wore as well as the design of the hats in those times.
The sound work of Ronald Pierce and Robert R. Bertrand is terrific for its approach to sound as it is presented on location as well as the way sound is presented from a radio during the horse races and in the effects used in some scenes in the film. The film’s music by Scott Joplin, which is adapted by Marvin Hamlisch, is incredible for its playful approach to ragtime piano music. Notably as Hamlisch brings in that sense of energy and melodic elements to the music, including his take on some standards of those times as it is a major highlight of the film.
The casting by William Batliner and Robert J. LaSanka is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Sally Kirkland as a showgirl that Hooker goes out with early in the film, Ken Samson as a Western Union executive, Paulene Myers as Luther’s wife Alva, Joe Tornatore as a mysterious gunman, Lee Paul as a bodyguard of Lonnegan, James J. Sloyan as Lonnegan’s right-hand man Mottola, Dimitra Arliss as a diner waitress Hooker befriends in Loretta, Jack Kehoe as Hooker’s friend Erie Kid who joins Hooker and Gondorff in the con, and Dana Elcar as a FBI agent pursuing Gondorff. Other notable small roles as members of Gondorff and Hooker’s team include John Heffernan as Eddie Niles who pretends to be a casino cashier, Harold Gould as the veteran conman Kid Twist who would fool Lonnegan as a financier working with Hooker, and Ray Walston as J.J. Singleton who would get the racing results and help make the announcements.
Robert Earl Jones is superb as Luther Coleman as Hooker’s partner/mentor who has decided to retire only to get himself in trouble with Lonnegan and his business. Eileen Brennan is excellent as Billie as a brothel madam whom Gondorff is in a relationship with as she helps Gondorff and Hooker in the con as she also finds way to be involved and outsmart Lonnegan. Charles Durning is brilliant as Lt. William Snyder as a corrupt detective who is pursuing Hooker over some counterfeit money unaware that Hooker stole from Lonnegan as he is also a bully to others as he shares Lonnegan’s views on maintaining power. Robert Shaw is phenomenal as Doyle Lonnegan as an Irish-American mob boss that is eager to become legitimate through his connections as he becomes upset that someone stole money from him as well as endure some humility that he is unable to deal with.
Finally, there is the duo of Paul Newman and Robert Redford in spectacular performances in their respective roles like Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker. Newman’s performance has this air of charm and humor as a man who has been through the con game for years yet is inspired to do this to humiliate Lonnegan who he sees as a threat where Newman also brings a lot of laughs during a poker game where he acts like a buffoon. Redford’s performance as Hooker is the more serious of the two as someone that wants to avenge Luther’s death as well as learning more about the con game where he also learns about the tricks of the trade. Newman and Redford together has this rapport where they know how to play off one another, where they know what the other person thinks as well as the sense of trust that they have in one another as they are major highlights of the film.
The Sting is an outstanding film by George Roy Hill that features the tremendous leading performances of Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Along with its ensemble supporting cast, lively visuals, David S. Ward’s inventive screenplay, and a fun music soundtrack by Marvin Hamlisch. It is a caper film that is full of energy, wit, and suspense while also being this study of two men trying to outwit a powerful criminal and show him some humility. In the end, The Sting is a magnificent film by George Roy Hill.
George Roy Hill Films: (A Night to Remember) – (Period of Adjustment) – (Toys in the Attic) – (The World of Henry Orient) – (Hawaii (1966 film)) – (Thoroughly Modern Millie) – Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid - (Slaughterhouse-Five) – (The Great Waldo Pepper) – (Slap Shot) – (A Little Romance) – (The World According to Garp) – (The Little Drummer Girl) – (Funny Farm)
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