Classic 70s Movie: “The Sting”

September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Michael Waters.

Movie Title: The Sting

Year: 1973

Writer: David S Ward

Lead Actors: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

Director: George Roy Hill (also directed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

IMDB Plot Summary: In 1930s Chicago, a young con man (Johnny Hooker/Robert Redford) seeks revenge for his murdered partner; teaming up with a master of the big con (Paul Newman/Henry Gondorff) to con half a million dollars from the mobster (Robert Shaw/Doyle Lonnegan), the man who murdered his partner.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: With so much darkness and violence in 70s movies it’s a rare gem to see one where smart beats violent. Robert Shaw’s performance of an irate bully with too much money is compelling. As a 10 year old boy watching this on TV, yeah, I really wanted Lonnegan to get it.

Watching this in my tender years I was excited by the idea that grifters and con artists (apparently bad people) could in fact be heroes in their own story universe (1930s mobster driven Chicago). Better still they weren’t violent people and their actions were to me as admirable as Robin Hood.

The idea that corrupt authority figures who couldn’t be overthrown, could in fact be out foxed, was to the younger me a radical one. And one I enjoyed! The plot is not overly complicated. It has a series of unexpected twists and turns as any good yarn will have. Sex plays an entirely peripheral role, essential to keep the interest of a 10 year old boy.

Before on demand there was DVD. Before DVD there was the video. And before video there was getting the TV listings magazine and marking your movies with a pen in your grandma’s house. The Sting is a movie which I still remember getting excited about and planning my holiday life around to watch as many times as I could at Easter and Christmas — the movie season way back when before video.

My Favourite Moment In The Movie: Denouement moment when Hooker leaves without his share of the take realising that stealing Lonnegan’s money wasn’t enough — something that Gondorff warned him earlier in the movie.

My Favourite Dialogue In the Movie:

Hooker to Gondorff — He’s not as tough as he thinks. Gondorff — Neither are we.

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: The movie is deliberately structured to mirror the structure of a confidence trick. Each of the 7 Acts is accompanied by a card and its own musical score: The Players, The Set-Up, The Hook, The Tale, The Wire, The Shut Out, and The Sting. 30 years before Tarantino did it!

The simple and effective interaction of the main sub plots with the main plot: Sub Plot (1) Someone is trying to kill Hooker, (2) Lt Snyder and FBI Agent Polk’s interference with the grafter group’s plans.

Thanks, Michael! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 70s Movies.

Thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies we should all watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!