The Sting (1973) or, Partners in Hoax

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Those good old days ... Poster for George Roy Hill's The Sting

The Sting is a crime thriller, action drama, buddy comedy, caper film according to who you ask, because it is a difficult one to label. It's probably a mix of all of these things.
It reunites Robert Redford (All the President's Men (1976)) with co-star Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke (1967)) and director George Roy Hill (The World According to Garp (1982)), who had first teamed up on the successful Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), which is very similar to The Sting in tone: Everyone seems to be having a wonderful time, and Redford-Newman have a great partnership on screen in a frank, vivaciously directed movie.
This one takes place in 1936, mostly in Chicago, where two con men decide to team up, after the younger of the two (Redford) has fouled up by robbing a mob guy and loosing the dough. They now plan to rob the head of the Irish mob in the city, Doyle Lonnegan, by staging an elaborate charade and have the guy risk half a million $ of his own money, and then run off with it.
The plot has some twists and quite a bit of cleverness, mostly in connection with the two guys' hoaxes and tricks. It is a celebrated, Oscar-winning script by David S. Ward (Sleepless in Seattle (1993)).
Besides the great chemistry among our two heroes, Sting also has Robert Shaw (Jaws (1975)) playing the tense, dangerous Lonnegan to great effect. He makes the film stick, because he plays it dead-serious and if he didn't, it wouldn't have worked, I think.
The film has a very light tone to it, - like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, - with fun scenes, especially chase scenes, that have a silent comedy feel to them, along with old-fashioned 20's ragtime music, which the film gave a revival through its popularity. It is an impressive and very well-achieved production that also has some really lovely matte shots of old Chicago in it.
And there's some great scenes, like the tense poker game on the train, in which Newman pulls off a poker face for the ages:

The Sting is based on the real life exploits of the con men brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff as portrayed by David Maurer in The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man.
It is a true classic and a film that just seems to get better every time you see it.

Beautiful artwork on the title cards in George Roy Hill's The Sting, but unfit for the movie, unfortunately

The Sting really was extremely popular, making itself back almost 30 times, and The Sting was also 10 times (!) Oscar-nominated, winning 7 (!!!), including Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Best Music, Best Costumes, Best Editing and Best Art and Set Direction. - Its Best Film Oscar is on display at the Hollywood Museum off Sunset Boulevard.

Related review:

George Roy Hill: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) or, Friendly Outlaws

Watch a wonderful old trailer for the film here

Budget: 5.5 mil. $
Box office: 159.6 mil. $
= Blockbuster

What do you think of The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
Do you agree that they feel old?