Released in 1973 under the precise direction of George Roy Hill, The Sting is the quintessence of the con artist film, blending comedy, crime drama, and suspense in a charming recreation of Depression-era Chicago. Starring the incomparable duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford, the film not only captured the imagination of 1970s audiences with its memorable ragtime soundtrack but also cemented itself as a cultural landmark, winning seven Academy Awards and defining the direction of the heist and con artist subgenres for decades to come.
Analysis and Plot
To understand the impact of The Sting, one must place it within the context of the so-called New Hollywood. In the early 1970s, American cinema was immersed in a visceral, dark, and politically charged realism, reflecting the disillusionment with the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Amidst this landscape of dense and pessimistic films, George Roy Hill delivered a work that, although set in the underworld of crime and corruption, overflowed with pure escapism, elegance, nostalgia, and technical intelligence.
The Intricate Chessboard: Plot Summary
The narrative is set in 1936, at the height of the American Great Depression. The story follows Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford), a young street grifter operating in Joliet, Illinois. Alongside his partner and mentor, the veteran Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones), Hooker pulls a random con on a passerby, securing the impressive sum of 11,000 dollars. What they didn't know was that the victim was a money courier working for Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), a ruthless and cruel organized crime boss from Chicago and New York.
In retaliation, Lonnegan's henchmen murder Luther. Consumed by guilt and a desire for revenge, Hooker flees to Chicago before he can also be caught by the corrupt police lieutenant William Snyder (Charles Durning), who demands a cut of the stolen money in exchange for his freedom. In Chicago, Hooker seeks out Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), a legendary master of the "big con" who is hiding from the FBI, living in a run-down carousel managed by his girlfriend, Billie (Eileen Brennan).
Initially reluctant due to the decay of his own life, Gondorff is convinced to help Hooker upon realizing the scale of the challenge: taking down Doyle Lonnegan. However, Gondorff makes it clear that men like Lonnegan cannot simply be murdered; they must be destroyed where it hurts most — in their pockets and their pride. To do this, they decide to pull the classic "Big Con," specifically the variation known as "The Wire."
The operation requires military-style logistics and the recruitment of dozens of unemployed professional grifters. The duo sets up a fake horse racing betting parlor in Chicago, equipped with stage-prop telegraphs and telephones. The premise of the con is to make Lonnegan believe that Gondorff (under the alias Shaw) manages a successful illegal betting parlor, and that Hooker (under the alias Kelly) is a disgruntled employee of a telegraph office who can provide race results with a few minutes' delay, guaranteeing certain and easy wins.
The plan progresses amidst a series of tense subplots: Lonnegan discovers Hooker's identity and sends professional hitmen after him; Lieutenant Snyder pursues Hooker relentlessly; and the FBI itself, led by Agent Polk, apparently locates Gondorff's whereabouts and blackmails Hooker into betraying his partner in exchange for the safety of Luther's widow.
The Ending Explained: The Con Within the Con
The film's climax is a masterclass in screenwriting and cinematic editing. On the day of the final con, Lonnegan is instructed by Kelly (Hooker) to bet 500,000 dollars on the victory of a specific horse named "Lucky Dan." Lonnegan places the massive bet at Gondorff's fake betting parlor.
Seconds after the money is placed on the table, Kelly meets his telegraph contact and realizes a terrible mistake: the contact had told him to bet that the horse would place second, not that it would win. In a panic, Lonnegan runs to the counter to try to get his money back before the race ends, but it is too late. Chaos ensues when, suddenly, armed FBI agents led by Agent Polk raid the premises.
Polk tells Hooker he is free for having cooperated, but Gondorff, realizing his pupil's betrayal, draws a gun and shoots Hooker in the back. In immediate response, Agent Polk shoots Gondorff in the chest, and he falls, bleeding. Lieutenant Snyder, who was accompanying the FBI, is horrified by the double homicide. Polk tells Snyder to get Lonnegan out of there immediately so the tycoon is not associated with a murder and illegal betting scandal.
Terrified by the possibility of having his name involved in a federal shootout, Lonnegan allows himself to be dragged out of the location by Snyder, abandoning the 500,000 dollars in cash on the table.
As soon as the door closes and silence reigns in the room, Hooker and Gondorff open their eyes, stand up, and start laughing. The blood on their shirts was just artificial dye. The supposed FBI Agent Polk was, in fact, Hickey (Harold Gould), a talented grifter allied with Gondorff, and the entire team of "federal agents" was composed of local actors and grifters. Lieutenant Snyder was manipulated into helping remove Lonnegan from the room without him being able to verify the money or the bodies. The con was an absolute success. Hooker decides not to keep his share of the money, because, as he says, "I'd only blow it," proving that his true motivation was never greed, but justice for Luther.
Hidden Meaning: The ending of The Sting functions as a brilliant metaphor for the art of filmmaking itself. Director George Roy Hill doesn't just con Doyle Lonnegan; he cons the viewer. The audience watches the supposed betrayal of Hooker and the FBI raid believing that everything is going wrong, sharing the same tension as the characters on screen. When the farce is revealed, we realize we were victims of the director's "big con." The film reminds us that cinema is, in its essence, a consensual illusion where we pay to be deceived with style.
The Cast and Standout Performances
The resounding success of The Sting rests largely on the shoulders of its stellar cast, led by the magnetic chemistry of Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
- Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff): Newman exudes a cynical, weary charisma as the master of the con. His introduction in the film — drunk, sleeping on the floor of a carousel, and needing a cold shower to wake up — contrasts perfectly with the sophistication he demonstrates when putting on his suit and assuming the role of "Shaw," the arrogant bookie and betting parlor owner. Newman balances the roguishness with an almost paternal warmth toward Hooker.
- Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker): Redford, at the height of his beauty and popularity, plays Hooker with a perfect mix of vulnerability, youthful arrogance, and desperation. He is not a criminal genius; he makes crucial mistakes driven by emotion, which makes him the ideal counterweight to Gondorff's pragmatism. Redford's Oscar nomination for Best Actor was a well-deserved recognition of his transition from a heartthrob to a top-tier dramatic actor.
- Robert Shaw (Doyle Lonnegan): Shaw delivers one of the most intimidating villains of 70s cinema. With a slight limp, a cold gaze that rarely blinks, and a thick Irish accent, Lonnegan is the embodiment of danger. He is not a cartoonish gangster; he is intelligent, meticulous, and ruthless. The fact that Shaw filmed much of the movie with a real knee injury (which he incorporated into the character's physicality) only added a layer of threatening rigidity to his performance.
- Charles Durning (Lieutenant William Snyder): Durning is spectacular as the corrupt small-town cop. He is pathetic and dangerous at the same time, driven by a petty greed that makes him the perfect pawn in the hands of the Chicago grifters.
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- Golden Reunion: The film marked the reunion of Newman, Redford, and director George Roy Hill after the resounding success of Butch Cassidy (1969). Initially, Universal Pictures did not want George Roy Hill to direct, but the mutual support between Newman and Redford ensured the filmmaker's return.
- Robert Shaw's Injury: A few days before filming began, Robert Shaw tore his knee ligaments playing handball. Instead of replacing him or delaying production, the director suggested the actor wear a metal knee brace under his pants and that the character's limp be incorporated into the story as the result of an old physical injury.
- Successful Musical Anachronism: The soundtrack based on Scott Joplin's ragtime pieces (especially the iconic song "The Entertainer"), adapted by Marvin Hamlisch, became a sales phenomenon. However, ragtime was a musical genre that peaked in the 1900s and 1910s. In the 1930s (when the film is set), the dominant musical style was Big Band Swing and Jazz. Despite the historical anachronism, the music perfectly captured the film's tone of lightness and nostalgia.
- The Art of Cards: In the famous poker game scene on the train, where Gondorff humiliates Lonnegan by cheating with the cards, the hands performing the intricate card tricks (though they appear to be Paul Newman's) actually belong to the legendary magician and card-cheating expert John Scarne, who was hired as the film's technical consultant.
Behind-the-Scenes Controversies and Copyright
Although the production of The Sting was relatively smooth on set, the post-release period was marked by a significant copyright legal dispute.
Screenwriter David S. Ward based much of the mechanics of the cons portrayed in the script — including "The Wire" and "The Rag" — on the 1940 non-fiction book written by David Maurer, titled The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. Maurer, a linguist and university professor who had spent years interviewing real turn-of-the-century grifters, sued Universal Pictures and David S. Ward for intellectual property plagiarism.
Maurer claimed that the script used not only the specific jargon described in his book but also replicated the exact structure of the real cons he documented. After a legal battle that threatened to tarnish the film's reputation during awards season, Universal Pictures opted to reach an out-of-court financial settlement for an undisclosed amount with David Maurer, ending the litigation, although the studio never formally admitted guilt.
Critical Reception, Box Office, and Legacy
The Sting was one of the greatest commercial and critical successes in the history of American cinema. Released in late December 1973, the film grossed over 156 million dollars at the US box office alone. Adjusted for current inflation, this figure places it among the top 20 highest-grossing films of all time in the domestic American market.
At the 1974 Oscars, the film dominated the night with 10 nominations, winning in 7 major categories:
- Best Picture (Tony Bill, Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips)
- Best Director (George Roy Hill)
- Best Original Screenplay (David S. Ward)
- Best Art Direction
- Best Costume Design (Edith Head)
- Best Film Editing
- Best Adapted Score (Marvin Hamlisch)
Julia Phillips' win as a producer made her the first woman in cinema history to receive the Oscar for Best Picture.
Critics of the time unanimously praised the film's pacing, its nostalgic aesthetic inspired by Norman Rockwell's illustrations, and the innovative use of book-page style transition cards to divide the chapters of the con. Roger Ebert, the renowned Chicago Sun-Times critic, gave the film a perfect 4-star rating, calling it "one of the most entertaining movies of the year, made with style and pinpoint precision."
The legacy of The Sting is immeasurable. It practically established the visual and narrative grammar for the modern con artist genre. Contemporary films like Ocean's Eleven (by Steven Soderbergh), American Hustle (by David O. Russell), Nine Queens (by Fabián Bielinsky), and even modern TV series like Better Call Saul drink directly from the structural fountain created by George Roy Hill and David S. Ward. More than a crime film, it is a celebration of intelligence over brute force, professional camaraderie, and the pure pleasure of telling a good story.
Researched Sources
- American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog of Feature Films: catalog.afi.com
- Box Office Mojo (Historical Data): boxofficemojo.com
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars Database): awardsdatabase.oscars.org
- Roger Ebert's Official Review Archive (1973): rogerebert.com
- Variety Archives - Original Review (December 1973): variety.com
- David Maurer's "The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man" (Historical Reference): books.google.com
