The Sting (1973)
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Two professional grifters hatch a complex scheme to con a powerful mob boss during the Great Depression.
The story
In 1936, during the Great Depression, grifter Johnny Hooker and his partners execute a con in Joliet, Illinois. After a complication leads to the death of his partner, Hooker seeks out his old friend Henry Gondorff in Chicago to learn "the big con." Together, they orchestrate an elaborate, multi-layered scheme involving a phony off-track betting parlor to target a ruthless crime boss, Doyle Lonnegan. As the plot unfolds, the men must navigate the dangers of the underworld while keeping their identities hidden from both the law and the mob's enforcers.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1936, Johnny Hooker and his partners perform a con in Joliet, Illinois, but the operation ends in tragedy when the mob boss Doyle Lonnegan's men kill Hooker's partner. Hooker flees to Chicago and teams up with Henry Gondorff to execute "the wire," a complex scheme involving a fake betting parlor. They target Lonnegan by using a front man, "Shaw," to lure him into a high-stakes game. While Hooker poses as "Shaw's" employee, he manages to evade assassination attempts and keep the con alive. The plan involves a rigged horse race where Lonnegan is tricked into betting $500,000 on a horse that is not positioned to win. The climax occurs when a man posing as an FBI agent (actually a fellow con man) leads the police to believe the money is safe while the con men seize it. In the end, Hooker and Gondorff emerge victorious, and Hooker walks away from the winnings.
- First release year
- 1973
- Runtime (minutes)
- 129
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George Roy Hill
- Writers
- David S. Ward · writer
- Cast and characters
- Paul Newman · Johnny Hooker; Robert Redford · Kid Twist; Robert Shaw · Doyle Lonnegan
- Genres
- caper; crime; drama
- Themes
- Deception; Loyalty; Risk
- Tone and mood
- Stylish; Sophisticated
- Premise and plot tags
- Heist; Con Artist; Crime; Period Piece
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, praised for its style and direction. It was selected for the National Film Registry and is considered to have one of the best screenplays ever written.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 93% · scale: percentage · review count: 109; Metacritic · score: 83 · scale: 100 · review count: 17
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Picture · Win; Academy Award · Best Director · Win; Academy Award · Best Film Editing · Win; Academy Award · Best Original Screenplay · Win; Academy Award · Best Costume Design · Win; Academy Award · Best Production Design · Win; Academy Award · Best Actor · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's use of ragtime and Scott Joplin's music led to a resurgence of interest in his work.; Robert Shaw's limp in the film was authentic due to a real injury.; The film was selected for the National Film Registry in 2005.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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