The Sting
The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill. Created by screenwriter David S. Ward, the story was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his 1940 book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man.
Plot
In 1936, during the Great Depression, Johnny Hooker, a grifter in Joliet, Illinois, cons $11,000 in cash in a pigeon drop from an unsuspecting victim with the aid of his partners Luther Coleman and Joe Erie. Buoyed by the windfall, Luther announces his retirement and advises Hooker to seek out an old friend, Henry Gondorff, in Chicago to learn "the big con". Unfortunately, their victim was a numbers racket courier for vicious crime boss Doyle Lonnegan. Corrupt Joliet police lieutenant William Snyder confronts Hooker, revealing Lonnegan's involvement and demanding part of Hooker's cut. Having already blown his share on a single roulette spin, Hooker pays Snyder in counterfeit bills. Lonnegan's men murder both the courier and Luther, and Hooker flees for his life to Chicago.
Awards
Cast
- Arch Johnson
- Avon Long
- Brad Sullivan
- Charles Dierkop
- Charles Durning
- Dana Elcar
- Dimitra Arliss
- Eileen Brennan
- Harold Gould
- Jack Collins
- Jack Kehoe
- John Heffernan
- John Quade
- Kathleen Freeman
- Larry D. Mann
- Paul Newman
- Paulene Myers
- Ray Walston
- Robert Earl Jones
- Robert Redford
- Robert Shaw
- Sally Kirkland