May 6, 2026

Newman & Redford’s Perfect Con — The Sting (1973) A Masterclass in Deception

Newman & Redford’s Perfect Con — The Sting (1973) A Masterclass in Deception
Newman & Redford’s Perfect Con — The Sting (1973) A Masterclass in Deception
Cinematic Flashback Podcast
Newman & Redford’s Perfect Con — The Sting (1973) A Masterclass in Deception
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Season 2

If you love smart storytelling, unforgettable performances, and movies that play you as much as you watch them, this episode is for you.

In this episode of the Cinematic Flashback Podcast, we dive into The Sting—the Academy Award-winning classic that redefined the con artist genre. Directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, this 1973 masterpiece blends charm, deception, and precision into one of the most entertaining films of the decade.

Set in 1930s Chicago, The Sting follows two grifters pulling off an elaborate long con against a ruthless crime boss—but as the layers unfold, the real question becomes: who’s actually in control… and who’s the mark?

We break down:

  • The difference between a heist movie vs. a con movie (and why The Sting is in a class of its own)
  • The film’s play-like structure and how it pulls the audience into the con itself
  • The unforgettable performances of Newman, Redford, and Robert Shaw
  • Why the film’s perfectly orchestrated storytelling still holds up decades later
  • How the twist ending works—and why even savvy viewers still fall for it
We also explore the film’s historical context—arriving in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate—and how its mix of escapism, justice, and style made it a massive cultural hit . And of course, we answer the ultimate question: Did The Sting groove through the decades… or lose its beat?

Whether you're revisiting a favorite or discovering it for the first time, this episode will have you second-guessing everything—just like a great con should.

👉 Listen now, and don’t forget to join us for Paper Moon as our “Art of the Con” series continues.

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WEBVTT

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You stink, mister, he'll be a sap. It's not her

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I want. If you're too dumb to save yourself, there's

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no sense dragging her down with you. It's over, Hooker.

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You can save me a lot of trouble, but I'm

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gonna get Henry Gondorf. Whether you help me out or not.

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You wait till the chump is played.

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Hell, yes, we don't care about the mark.

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He deserves what he gets, I mean completely played.

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You come in before we beat him and I'll kill.

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Him, all right, Hooker, But you try to take it

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on the lamb and we'll shoot you down on sight.

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Welcome to the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Get ready to hop

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into the wayback machine as we journey through the wild, bold,

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and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventies. Episode we break

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down a classic movie or a forgotten jim, seeing how

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it performed then and now, and wrapping things up by

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asking did it groove through the decades or did it

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lose it speak? I am your host, Chuck Bryan, and

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today we are taking a look at nineteen seventy three's

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The Sting, the Academy Award winning film directed by George

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Roy Hill, reuniting Paul Newman with Robert Redford and bringing

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Robert Shaw along for the fun. And what would a

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great con be without my partner in crime, Matt.

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Sergeant Matt.

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This is our first film of our art of the

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con pairing months where we're going to dive into the

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criminal underworld of the con artist. And we have two

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films from the same year on tap, The Sting and

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Paper Moon.

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I think The Sting will be recognizable to everyone as

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a classic nineteen seventies Jim So in this episode, I

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think maybe we're celebrating a landmark film more than uncovering

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one for our audience.

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Death This would come underneath the heading of big films

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that you and I typically don't cover quite as often.

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You might remember last season we reviewed The Great Train Robbery.

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That was the one with Sean Connery Donald Sutherland and

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the scene stealing Leslie and down, and I might call

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that more of a heist movie, even though it had

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some con elements to it.

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It seems to me that a con or a confident

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scam centers on deception and possibly slight a hand to

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trick the quote unquote mark into giving the valuable that

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money or you know whatever to the con artist or

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the team. While a heist is a direct in your face,

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no deception, hold up, possibly with a weapon. There's really

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very little subtlety in a heist versus a con which

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is nothing but subtlety. I think the perfect con convinces

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you that you were not fooled. You simply lost your

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money and made may be a fair game or something

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that happened, or or maybe you're happy to get away

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with your freedom and maybe not with your money. But

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that's sort of the trick is you want them to

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not be aware that you were fooled. I think that's

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the best gone because then they're not going to come

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back after you. Yeah, Chuck. Do you have any other

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examples of heist versus con movies?

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Well, there are two films that always come to mind,

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and I don't know if you remember. It was a

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nineteen eighties film called Dirty Rotten Scoundrel with Michael Caine

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and Steve Martin. These were two con mens who were

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continually trying to out con one another, only to find

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out that a third party was conning them the entire time.

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The other film was one from nineteen eighty seven by

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David Mammont called House of Cards, where the main character,

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she's a psychiatrist and she gets drawn down into the

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world of grifters.

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What about you. I always think of a film called

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MATCHI Men. Oh yeah. The other one I was thinking

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about is maybe Rounders with Matt Damon. Okay, I mean

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it's kind of a con film, but it's really a

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type of con called a card hustle. Okay, okay. It's

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much like a pool hustle or you know, which we

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of course saw in the Color of Money and other

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films about pool hustles. This is a card hustle. It's

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the same thing. You you fool the person into believing

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you're not that great of a player, and then you

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just happen to win the entire pot. They're very hard

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to be subtle and not people around the table realize

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that they lost all their money to the person they've

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never seen before. That is basically the summary of Rounders.

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Now you've just introduced Rounders, the Hustler, and of course

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I think the bridge maybe between the Hustler and Rounders

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being the Color of Money, both of those starring Paul Newman.

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We have our heist films, and now we also have

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our hustler genre. Yeah, I each of these is that

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whenever you watch the films, and why they're so entertaining

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is because you're brought into the world that they're building

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and you become a participant in the game itself.

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Yeah. I would like to point out one thing that

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drives me crazy about, for instance, the Mission Impossible films.

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Right back in the day when it was a television show,

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the Mission Impossible was was great to watch because everything

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worked like clockwork, right. Mission Impossible often did cons there

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they're basically fooling people. It was it basically cons but

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they're doing it for the government, which was going to unavow.

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But the thing about the TV show is everything was perfect.

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You know, things happened, bang, bank, bank, bank, bang, and

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at the end it all was revealed and your like, amazing.

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They planned everything. The movies, on the other hand, is chaos.

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Everything goes wrong, and yet they still succeeded. Me bananas,

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because that's not the point of Mission Impossible. It was

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supposed to be this perfectly planned set of occurrence is not.

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Something goes wrong and everybody does whatever they want to

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do and jumps out of a plane and saves the day.

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That drives me nuts.

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Anyway, just a dog pile on the Mission Impossible movies.

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And I apologize for anyone who loves Mission Impossible. I

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don't think we're saying that we hate it. We're just

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saying that there's certain elements of it that, you know,

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just seems to be kind of so. For instance, every

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time you get invested into somebody and then they rip

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off their face and they're wearing the mask, I think

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that is so cheap cheats, right, it's cheap and it's cheat.

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Yeah, but yeah, no again for what they are, they're

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hugely entertaining, but you have to forget about their history

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of being the original Mission Impossible, right, because that was cool,

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because everything, and this is what I love about the sting, right, Yeah,

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it is, in my opinion, nearly perfect. The only thing

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that kind of throws it off with some of the

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people trying to get why's and stuff like that, but

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it is planned to a te executed. I love it

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for that, all right, Matt. Do we have any listener

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feedback this week? We certainly do, and it appears that

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our dear listeners are clamoring to be called out in

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this segment. We are featuring one we got from Neil

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ka Left directly on our website. He gave us a

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five star review and said that he is a former

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Navy sailor who never watched the Last Detail quote. Thank

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you for the great content and trivia that comes along

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with your reviews. When I saw that you did a

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show on the Last Detail, and as a Jack Nicholson

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fan who had never seen this movie before, I made

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sure to watch it before listening to your podcast. Keep

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up the great work end quote.

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You know, one of my favorite things about doing this podcast, Matt,

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is when somebody lets us know that they have never

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seen a film before and then they go and watch it.

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That actually means a lot to us, more than you'll

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ever know. And thank you Neil for the kind words.

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Thank you for using that feature on our website. You

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might be the first or second to actually use that

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and we appreciate that so much.

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So thank you so much. Amazing and thanks Neil. Kay

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be like Neil and post a reviewer comment. Heck, we

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hope that you can give us some pointers as well.

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Read them all, tell us what you like, how you listened,

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and where you're coming from. I know we have some

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international listeners, let's hear from you, Matt.

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What I found interesting in researching the Sting is how

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it developed through ongoing relationships rather than it being a

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standard studio package. What I mean by that it really

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started as a meeting between actor turned producer Tony Bill

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and a young film school graduate named David Warre. Ward

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had a screenplay called Steelyard Blues. Bill asked the next

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logical question, what's next? Ward went on to describe a

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story about a young con man whose best friend is

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killed by a powerful figure, and he decides to take

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revenge by conning him out of everything he has with

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the help of an experienced grifter. Bill liked the idea

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and asked how it ended. Ward's reply, that will be

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my surprise. Bill partnered with Julie Phillips and Michael Phillips

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to move Steelyard Blues into production, and they established relationships

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with producers Richard D. Zannak and David Brown. Ward's been

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about a year writing the Sting, and when he had

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completed the script, Bill and the Phillipses brought it over

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to Zannak and Brown, who by then had moved their

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company to Universal Pictures. Ward was initially considered to direct

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when Tony Bill and the Phillipses brought the script to

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their good friend Robert Radford. He loved it, but he

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thought that it needed to be in the hands of

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a more experienced director. The script was then passed to

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George Roy Hill, who agreed to direct and brought it

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to Paul Newman. With Hill directing and Redford and Newman attached,

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the film moved into production.

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Well, I think we're ready to get into production details

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of this film. The first we need to take a

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quick break. We'll be right back.

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It's the manic flash back the show. It's the cinematic

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flash back the show.

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She picked him clean. You never remember that?

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Remember that sting experience?

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How good you felt? Now?

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The sting, winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture,

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is back. Chicago was the place to be in nineteen

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thirty six. In those days, the Big Con was a

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dying art until the first class script on the Lamb

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from the FBI and a young gaffer from Joliet joined

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forces to con the Big Mick.

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He's not as tough as he thinks. Neither are we.

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Paul Newman is Henry Gondolph. There wasn't a Connie couldn't run,

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and there wasn't a sucker.

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He couldn't gaff.

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Robert Redford as Johnny Hooker, a young drifter with plenty

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of mocks.

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Three grand on the ranch.

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Jimmy, but he's a sucker for lady Luck. Tough luck

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kid and a sap for lady love.

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There's the big evening hook.

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Let's tell you hippie.

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Bucks on me nail.

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Robert Shaw's the mark in the underworld. He's the big

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mick names Lonigan, Dald Lonagan. It starts with the sucker.

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You only fifteen grand.

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Tal then you bait the hook losses quite a card player,

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mister Kelly, how do you do it?

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It cheats your play him.

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On the wire.

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The wire's been out of day for ten years.

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That's why I won't know it.

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Now he's ready for the Sting. He's there.

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Let's get on it.

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Listen to me.

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Don't go back to your place tonight.

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Five hundred thousand dollars to win Lucky down.

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Paul Newman and Robert Redford. This time they might get

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away with it.

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Welcome back. Let's get into the production details. The Sting

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was released on Christmas Day, nineteen seventy five. It was

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produced to the Xenig Brown Company and distributed by Universal Pictures.

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With a budget of five and a half million, The

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movie would go on to gross two hundred and fifty

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seven million at the box office. Tony Bill, Michael Phillips,

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and Julia Phillips were the producers. The Phillips were a

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husband and wife team and were the producers of films

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such as Taxi Driver in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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The story was by.

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David s Ward. The Sting was shot by Robert Sertiz,

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who had recently worked on the Last Picture Show and

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The Cowboys. It was edited by William Reynolds, who had

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completed his work on The Godfather. Marvin Hamlish arranged the

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music of Scott Joplin, as well as providing additional music cues.

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The Sting went on to win seven Academy Awards, including

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Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction,

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Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Scoring. There

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was a less successful sequel in nineteen eighty three, starring

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Jackie Gleeson and Mac Davis. The Sting was also adapted

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as a stage musical in twenty eighteen and starred Harry

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Connock Junior as Henry Gondorf. It had a pretty Broadway

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try output never opened. The film not only did well

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at the box office, but it was critically well received

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by The Chicago Times, The New York Times, Variety, and

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the Los Angeles Times. The review in The New Yorker

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by Pauline Kale found it to be totally mechanical. Today,

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the Sting continues to fare well on sites like Rotten Tomatoes,

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with a ninety three percent score with an audience rating

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of ninety five percent on over fifty thousand reviews. Andrew

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Saris of The Village Voice summed it up as pure popcorn,

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like this is hardly worthy of serious analysis. Fortunately, the

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stars have not lost their charm and authority. So Matt,

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let's talk about the stars.

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I'm going to start out and talk about Paul Newman.

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He plays Henry Condorf. Gondorf is the maaster. He's cool,

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he's controlled, and always two steps ahead. Now, this plays

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to Paul Newman's care He played in movies like Cool Hand,

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Luke Butch Cassidy, The Color of Bunny, The Hustler, all

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of those films where he plays that same sort of

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very put together guy, although when you first meet him

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in the movie, he's had a bit of a rough night.

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Can I make a slight confession?

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Sure, I don't know if I've ever seen Butch Cassidy

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and the Sun Dense Kid. Honestly, Paul Newman has never

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been one of my favorite actors until the moment he

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steps through the train card door into the card room

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and sits down in front of Robert Shaw.

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So, I am, guys, I was taking a crap. The

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name is Shaw, Mister Shaw. I met mister Jamison from.

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Chicago, Client Lombard, Philadelphia, mister Lonigan from New York.

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Pleasey meet you, mister Clayton Pittsburgh.

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Any of you guys want to make a little book

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in Chicago. I'm the guy to seat.

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Yeah. He was hilarious, isn't that?

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And that whole scene. I fell in love with him

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right there. I'm like, I get the Paul Newman charm.

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Now here's the thing with Paul Newman. I I get

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where you're coming from. Paul Newman, He's never been my

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super favorite. Because I'll be honest with you, I mean,

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just listening to that list of starring roles, he literally

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was playing someone very similar in most of those movies

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except for Butch Cassidy. The Sundance Kid is he's a

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little bit different in that movie. I do have to

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say that I'm not sure if we can be friends anymore.

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Not seeing the Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid is

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very close to saying you have never seen The Godfather.

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You definitely got to see that movie.

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You will love it. You will love it. It's a

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great movie. It's got a very iconic end. Yeah, I'll

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check that out. I'll let you take. Robert Redford as

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Johnny Hooker looks like he missed you.

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Yeah this time anyway, good night, missus Hillard. I I

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was wondering if you might want to come out for

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a while.

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Maybe I have a drink or someone.

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You move right along, don't you.

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Hey, I don't mean nothing by it. I just don't

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know many regular girls as all.

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Can you expect me to come out just like that?

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If I expected something, I wouldn't still be standing here

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in the hall.

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I don't even know you.

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You know me, and just like you, it's two in

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the morning and I don't know nobody.

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Okay, time for confession number two. Robert Redford also falls

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in that same category of actors that I really knew

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more from the eighties The Natural or Out of Africa,

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and even in more modern times when he had that

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role in Captain America Winter Soldier, I never quite got it.

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I would see him, I'm like, Okay, yes, he's charming,

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he seems very well put together, but I just I

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don't know. I never really quite got him, just like

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Paul Newman in this film is like, I see it

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because he was so good as Johnny Hooker.

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I get it. I see it in him. What do

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you think of Robert Redford. I'm of the same opinion,

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I think to some extent, but I think his body

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of work billies a great deal of talent and obviously

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went on to found the Sun Dance Film Festival. Yeah. Really,

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I think impacted the industry in a super positive way,

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definitely for the Independence. But honestly, you know, he's not

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exactly my favorite actor. But I did really like him

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in Out of Africa and The Natural.

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I was too young, let's say not too young. I

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was too immature at the time to really understand Out

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of Africa. I do like him in the Natural just

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because The Natural is such a great baseball film. Maybe

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one of the best baseball movies, if not the best.

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Any film that can make baseball not boring. Yeah, we're

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definitely going to get some calls on that because there

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are people out there who just love baseball. We've been

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to a.

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Couple of Nationals games to get and enjoyed the ride

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more so than the game.

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Anyway. That brings us to Robert Shaw, one of my

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favorite actors. It's back a cooler price.

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Come on, we'll be in the station in another hour.

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The other guys are the big losers.

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You're still okay, tixs.

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Me that Clayton nines.

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I'll cut it in on Clayton's steel and Clayton gets nothing.

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I want them out of earlier.

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I'm going to fust that fast bucket. In one play,

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Life cut way too short. I think we spoke about

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that before. He died very young, in fact, fifty to

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fifty one or something, early fifties. So he plays Lonigan.

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He's a high stakes crime boss who's actually in the

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process of moving into what we would call more legitimate businesses,

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but when described by the people that know him or

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know the information about it, he's not really moving to

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be legitimate. He's just using it to make him look better,

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which is part of the whole stick that helps them

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get a handle on him. He's he wants to appear

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this way. So we've actually covered a few of Robert

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Shaw's film was gonna say Jaws, the Taking of Tellham one,

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two three, Black Sunday. In Jaws, I burned him down

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about what is a guy who's on the Indianapolis have

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a British accent.

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But even in Black Sunday, I think you and I

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kind of were like saying, Okay, Robert Shaw's good, but

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we don't buy him as an Israeli Masad agent. Okay,

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Now Robert Shaw is Irish and his character in this

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movie is Irish. Yeah, it's perfect. I fully bought him

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in this film. So the remaining actors are more of

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the supporting cast. Charles Derning as Lieutenant William Snyder. He

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had a huge career with well over two hundred credits,

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and he shows up from everything from Dog Day Afternoon

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to TUTSI. You might not know his name, but when

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you see his face he's he's like, Oh, he's that guy.

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I actually recognized his name. Charles Darning because he's played

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in Tons of Stuff television as well as move as

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well as stage. Yeah.

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Oh oh, hi, there Snyder does a matter of things.

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A little slow down of the Bunco department tonight. Huh

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somebody who lose the dominoes us.

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Good blood money today?

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Hooker, you need a friend, Go find yourself a shop

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in the row.

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Something else we heard about Snyder is that he is

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a member of the Bunco Squad. So I'm not sure

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if you've heard of the term Bunco before.

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Yeah, I definitely heard that before.

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Bunko was a dice game that was used to swindle players.

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The term Bunco became synonymous with a confidence game where

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someone was about to be swindled. Police departments in major

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cities began forming these Bunco squads, and these units would

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investigate everything from fraud to phony psychics to fixed gambling.

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Lieutenant Snyder was a playing closed detective responsible for investigating

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con artists like Johnny Hooker, and he was pretty crooked himself.

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I am today years old when I learned that the

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Neighborhood Bunco game is the same game that gave the

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name to the Bunko squads. That's hilarious. And to be clear,

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is there any way that she did bunko. I could

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be making a killing reselling knickknacks and wineglasses from my neighbors.

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I am sure that your your neighbors. I am sure

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that the ladies at the church group, I am sure

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that all of them are playing this game above board.

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That is so funny. I didn't even put the two

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together that Bunco, being that I did know that Bunko

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was a dice game, you know, in the thirties and

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twenties and stuff, and I knew this game that's played

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in the neighborhood is a dice game. I never put

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two and two together together. Just yeah, that is hilarious.

402
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It's just so funny.

403
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Thanks Lace.

404
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Let's see what we got here. Let's see horse Face Lea,

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Slim Miller Suitcase, Murphy and the Big Alabama in from

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New Orleans, Crying Jonesy and the Boone Kid from Denver,

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Jeffy Burke and Limehouse Chappie from New York. Well, these

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and the guys outside should give you thirty or more

409
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to choose from.

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Good Dookie, haven't done at Santa's Old Pool?

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Will before six o'clock. We're gonna run the route tonight. Okay, Twist, but.

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If this thing blows up, I remember, I can't tell

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you know good downtown kind of his Federal dookie.

414
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If this thing blows up, the Feds will be the

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least of our problems.

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Then we had Harold Gould who played kid Twist. Many

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people may remember him from The Golden Girls as Rose's

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boyfriend Mina.

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That's funny. That brings us to Ray Walston, who plays

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JJ Singleton. You will, yeah, I think so. I get

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a conducer a seno. Did you find out the deck?

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He usually plays with a tali Ho fan or a

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tally Ho circle.

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I got your on a beach.

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He likes to call deck low eight Sonias.

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That's a nice work. JJ Walston had a long career,

427
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but a lot of people jambram as Uncle Martin from

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My Favorite Martian And I bring up one which is

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funny because he played the iconic mister Hand in Fast

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Times at Ridgemont High, and I'll be honest with you,

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his portrayal of mister Hand is flat out the funniest

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thing in the world. And I recently was watching Ten

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Things You Didn't Know About Fast Times. H huh. The

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character mister Hand was directly a person. This person was

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exactly how Ray Walston played. That was Cameron Crow that

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wrote that.

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By the way, really I didn't realize that it.

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Actually supposedly is responsible for a national surge in pizza's

439
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being delivered to classrooms and sausage it is. And finally

440
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we have Eileen Brennan as Billy.

441
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I'm looking for a guy named Henry Gondor.

442
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No, you sure dated Luther Coleman, Sammy, are you looking? Yeah?

443
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Why didn't you say so?

444
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You heard about it the last.

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Night we saw her on The Scarecrow. She was also

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in the Last Picture Show. She ran the cafe that

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was owned by Ben Johnson's character Sam the Lion. And

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she also was in the film Private Benjamin, for which

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she won an Academy Award for and she reprised that

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role in the TV version of Private Benjamin. What did

451
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you think of Eileen Brennan as Billy in the Sting?

452
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Yeah?

453
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I think it was a great role and it was

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really funny because when I picture the people of the

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nineteen thirties, how she was dressed and how her hair

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was done, and a little bit of how she spoke

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really set the stage for me, so I thought it

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was a great casting choice, and I did not remember

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that she appears later as part of the con when

460
00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:23.839
I watched it the second time, and I was happy

461
00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.119
to see her then participate further in the con and

462
00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:29.920
it was neat and she was great in this, really

463
00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:31.480
an amazing actress.

464
00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:35.960
She and Charles Darning actually had worked together previously on stage,

465
00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.640
and I believe this might have been one of Charles

466
00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.079
Dirning's most early films. And he was very nervous until

467
00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:44.039
he was working with Eileen. And in the scene where

468
00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.799
she gives him the small little glass of beer, which

469
00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.880
basically is drink it, get out, he was supposed to

470
00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:52.039
take the beer and just put it onto the bar,

471
00:26:52.440 --> 00:26:56.079
but he accidentally spilt it on her hand, and Eileen,

472
00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:59.119
just being so in the moment, just flicks it off.

473
00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.079
That's funny. I remember that scene very distinctly, so it

474
00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:06.160
was it really. It obviously rang very authentic. Matt.

475
00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:10.839
Could you give us a summary of The Sting just

476
00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:13.279
in case any of our listeners have never heard of

477
00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:14.039
this film before?

478
00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:17.799
Yeah? Sure. The Sting follows two con men in the

479
00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.079
nineteen thirty Chicago who set out to pull off an

480
00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:25.039
elaborate long con against a powerful crime boss after one

481
00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:28.119
of their own is killed. Gondorf and Hooker agree that

482
00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:30.200
the only way to get a person like this is

483
00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:34.240
by taking what they value money. Hooker says the classic

484
00:27:34.359 --> 00:27:36.839
line when asked why he wants to get Lon again,

485
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:39.559
because I don't know enough about killing to kill him.

486
00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:43.279
This strikes Gondorf as the perfect and answer. Hooker will

487
00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:45.400
use what he knows to get back at Lon again.

488
00:27:45.559 --> 00:27:49.079
This leads us into a carefully orchestrated game of deception

489
00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:52.519
where no one is quite who they seem, and every

490
00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:54.279
move is part of something bigger.

491
00:27:54.640 --> 00:27:56.759
Let's go ahead and take a quick break, and when

492
00:27:56.799 --> 00:27:59.440
we come back, we're getting into the con.

493
00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:03.559
Manic flash back the show begin.

494
00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:10.079
Hey, this is Matt and I'm dark.

495
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:13.680
We're just out here riding our bikes circle in the

496
00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.200
cul de sac, talking about the movies, music, and TV

497
00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:20.000
shows that we all love and remember, but just as

498
00:28:20.039 --> 00:28:22.440
easily could have fallen by the wayside and been forgotten.

499
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:26.480
These are the tales of creative chaos, last minute miracles

500
00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:30.160
and lightning strikes no one saw coming. So settle in

501
00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:34.599
because every legend has a backstory, and sometimes the best

502
00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:37.799
ones start by mistake. This is where we talk about

503
00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:40.680
and discuss the accidental legends.

504
00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:45.160
It's a summatic flash back.

505
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:46.599
The shop.

506
00:28:48.359 --> 00:28:50.960
Boss is quite a card player, mister Kelly, how does

507
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:57.039
he do it? It cheats, But in that case, I'll

508
00:28:57.119 --> 00:28:59.000
keep my money and we'll just have another game.

509
00:28:59.319 --> 00:29:00.279
You don't have any keep.

510
00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:03.000
Shaw has been planning to beat your game for months.

511
00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:04.759
You've just been waiting for you to cheat him so

512
00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:07.240
you can clip you either, right. I want to take

513
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:09.119
over his operation, and I need you to help me

514
00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:09.640
break him.

515
00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:12.279
Welcome back. As of this recording, the Sting is not

516
00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.759
available on AD supported streaming services like tob, but it

517
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:18.920
is available to rent at all of the usual locations.

518
00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:21.160
We are now going to talk about the movie, and

519
00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:24.599
as such we may give out some details about the

520
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:27.920
film that might be considered spoilers. So this is the

521
00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.279
official RB spoilers ahead to beware.

522
00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:35.440
Matt Let's start off by asking is this thing even

523
00:29:35.559 --> 00:29:38.319
a crime movie? Or is it something else altogether?

524
00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:41.920
Well, I see how that question could be asked about it,

525
00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:45.359
because you know, it's almost it almost appears like a

526
00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:48.400
play or a performance, you know, with the title cards

527
00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:51.440
and the white transitions, you can almost imagine, you know,

528
00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:55.279
a dancing girl walking across the stage holding a card

529
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:57.920
as you scene goes from one to the other. But

530
00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:01.920
maybe that was part of the for the time you

531
00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:05.160
know that, you know, maybe before the time of talkies

532
00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:07.559
and things like that. So yeah, I think, sure, I

533
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:10.920
think there's some question there. I like it because I

534
00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:14.720
think it adds some levity to what could be a

535
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.880
pretty I mean, parts of the movie are quite dark.

536
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:21.720
You know, somebody gets murdered, they get you know, a

537
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:23.720
friend is murdered. It's not great.

538
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:26.599
So yeah, I think when we compare it to other

539
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:30.680
movies that we have reviewed, like take, for example, the

540
00:30:31.039 --> 00:30:36.519
French Connection, that is just absolute real world. It's realistic,

541
00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:41.240
it's gritty, it's grimy. But this it always felt like

542
00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:45.000
it was constructed and, like you said, almost as if

543
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:46.039
it was a.

544
00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:48.240
Stage play.

545
00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:52.279
Something that came to my mind was with the music

546
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.079
of Scott Joplin, and that music was a little bit

547
00:30:55.160 --> 00:30:58.680
anachronistic to the timeframe, but it works and it makes

548
00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:00.720
it feel like a musical comedy.

549
00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:03.799
Yeah, I think you definitely can get that feel from it.

550
00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:06.160
I would agree with what you're saying. You know, when

551
00:31:06.160 --> 00:31:08.519
you compare it to something like the French Connection, which

552
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.240
is shaky cameras and incredible chase scenes and high high tension.

553
00:31:13.640 --> 00:31:15.880
This is not that there is some conflict. There is

554
00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:18.880
some tension, but it's much more like the con. It's

555
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.880
well planned. It evolves very step wise with a lot

556
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:27.000
of control, I think, and that may be it's reflecting

557
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:30.799
that the film itself is trying to reflect that situation,

558
00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:34.240
that it's portraying this long con. I like that idea

559
00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:36.440
that George roy Hill is.

560
00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:41.200
He's constructing this movie of course, and he's opening up

561
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.279
each segment to bring us along so that I almost

562
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.599
feel like that I was participating. So whenever it would

563
00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:51.599
say I think it was like baiting the hook right, well,

564
00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:54.319
you knew that this segment was going to be about

565
00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:58.480
Gondorf getting something over on Lonagin to get him interested

566
00:31:58.519 --> 00:32:00.839
in pursuing the con. But I do think that the

567
00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:04.359
movie it's not all fantasy or made up narrative. I

568
00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:07.359
think that there's some things that are realistic in it

569
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:10.960
that it cared about, primarily the period costumes, the social

570
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:14.079
settings of the Great Depression. Although I think when we

571
00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:17.599
review Paper Moon, the setting of the Great Depression will

572
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:21.400
be better realized and in the sting, it's just more

573
00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:24.440
of a setting that's established early on and then after

574
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:26.920
that it kind of disappears. But one of the things

575
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:30.720
that I thought was interesting in researching was that a

576
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:33.000
lot of the cons that were pulled in the movie

577
00:32:33.000 --> 00:32:36.680
that we see were actually based on real cons that

578
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:39.039
had taken place over the years. So I thought that

579
00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.119
was all really really good.

580
00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.039
Yeah, I agree, and you're right, the cons that we're

581
00:32:44.119 --> 00:32:46.319
done are are cons. I mean, honestly, some of these

582
00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:49.640
cons were probably pulled in Roman times, the confidence game

583
00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:51.680
and all of those things that were doing on the

584
00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:55.440
small time, where things that have been done universally, and

585
00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.440
like you can point out when we are going to

586
00:32:57.480 --> 00:32:59.839
go see Paper Moon, you're going to see even more

587
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.920
of those sleight of hand type cons and that sort

588
00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:05.240
of thing. Oh yeah, but the real point of this

589
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:08.599
movie is this long con, this large. You know, this

590
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:11.720
is really cast of characters. And when I say cast

591
00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:15.240
of characters, that's a play comes to mind, because they

592
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:18.920
are playing roles, they have fake names, they have I'm

593
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:21.440
going to be the Patsy, I'm going to be the drunk,

594
00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:22.799
I'm going to be this, I'm going to be that.

595
00:33:23.000 --> 00:33:26.319
So you know, I think, you know, it's it's reasonable

596
00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:28.720
that you're kind of seeing this movie almost as though

597
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.519
it's a play being done for for our benefit to

598
00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:35.359
see it. As we talk more, the idea is Lonnigan's

599
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:38.799
hooked into the con, But are we also hooked on

600
00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:42.799
the con? I mean, we think we know what's happening, right,

601
00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:46.119
we think we're in on it, and you know, just

602
00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:49.920
beware there's more going on than is shown to us,

603
00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:52.960
which is the whole point of a con, right, Like

604
00:33:53.079 --> 00:33:57.519
we're shown just enough to fall for it, and in

605
00:33:57.559 --> 00:34:00.960
some respects the movie does that to the audience as well.

606
00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:04.720
I think, did you remember the film when you watched it? Yeah? Sure,

607
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:08.920
okayn't remember the details, but I knew how things generally

608
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:09.599
turned out.

609
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:12.079
Right, And that was kind of the same with me,

610
00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.360
is that I remember there was something, but I didn't

611
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.760
quite remember it until literally like the last minute or so.

612
00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:21.199
Yeah. Same here.

613
00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:24.320
I thought at one point I actually had the movie

614
00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.480
figured out, and it turned out I didn't. Because there's

615
00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:30.599
an FBI angle that gets set up late in the

616
00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:35.719
show where they approach Hooker to portray Gondorf. That was

617
00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:39.519
an interesting angle that I wasn't seeing. But I felt

618
00:34:39.519 --> 00:34:41.320
like the movie gave me a lot of confidence and

619
00:34:41.400 --> 00:34:43.599
what I was, what I thought I knew, and then

620
00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:46.199
it pulls the rug out from underneath me. Well, I

621
00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:49.079
think it was good, you know, because you know I don't.

622
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:52.239
Probably everybody listening to us has seen The Sixth Sense,

623
00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:54.440
so you know I'm not giving anything away here. But

624
00:34:54.519 --> 00:34:57.679
when you rewatched the Sixth Sense, all the clues were there,

625
00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:01.079
right right. All the clues are there for the big reveal.

626
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.280
You just weren't paying attention. And to some extent, that's

627
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:08.039
the same here. All the clues were there that this this.

628
00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:10.760
FBI angle at the end was gonna play out the

629
00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:13.440
way it played out. But if you didn't quite pay

630
00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:17.320
one hundred percent attention, you were duped. It's easy to

631
00:35:17.320 --> 00:35:20.039
slip by. I think that's part of the genius of

632
00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.559
this film is that although we were in on it,

633
00:35:22.719 --> 00:35:27.199
we even the sharpest among us, are fooled ye by

634
00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:30.400
that little twist at the end, which is which they

635
00:35:30.440 --> 00:35:34.039
got us too, and we we saw everything. It was neat.

636
00:35:34.199 --> 00:35:37.320
It reminds me earlier we were talking about the writer

637
00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:40.199
when he was selling the script and or he was

638
00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:42.440
pitching the story for the script. He was asked how

639
00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:45.880
it ended, and he told the producers that that's a

640
00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:48.360
little something he wanted to keep for himself until the

641
00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:51.280
script was finally finished because he had an idea of

642
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:53.280
where it was going to go. But you know, he

643
00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:56.559
just wanted to make sure that the surprise was held

644
00:35:56.639 --> 00:35:59.920
for the very end. So to some degree, did you

645
00:36:00.079 --> 00:36:02.360
ever felt like afterwards that maybe you were the mark?

646
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:05.360
Yeah, exactly. And I think that's part of it is

647
00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:07.440
even you know, we think we're so smart and then

648
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:11.079
we're shown we're not so smart, and it's it's it's fun.

649
00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:14.360
The difference is with Lan again, everyone wants him to

650
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:17.000
get his come uppance, and then it's almost a bit

651
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:20.119
of a laugh once we realize. I mean, I didn't

652
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:22.519
walk away feeling like, oh man, I just felt like

653
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:25.000
I was manipulated. I just at the end, like kind

654
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:27.039
of like you said, like it all the all the

655
00:36:27.079 --> 00:36:28.679
marks are there, everything is there.

656
00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:30.159
It's just maybe you.

657
00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:33.039
Didn't see it because you had already thought you'd figured

658
00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:35.960
out what was going on, and so your mind was already.

659
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:38.480
Racing to the ending of the movie. Yeah, and you

660
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:41.320
totally missed it. Well, and I think nobody watching this

661
00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:45.079
movie has any love for Loan again, right, he's is

662
00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:49.599
definitely he is a one dimensional bully. Right. He's a bully, yeah,

663
00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:52.000
plain and simple, And everybody hates a bully, right, and

664
00:36:52.199 --> 00:36:54.880
everybody wants to see a bully. Get has come up? Yeah,

665
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:57.559
and you're worried that it's at the last minute things

666
00:36:57.559 --> 00:36:59.960
aren't going to go right. That's sort of a little

667
00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.239
bit of the tension that's built.

668
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:02.960
Well.

669
00:37:03.079 --> 00:37:06.400
Talking about Hooker and Gondorf, what kind of character growth

670
00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:09.719
did they actually have in the show? Is Hooker the

671
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:12.079
same guy at the end as he was at the beginning?

672
00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:14.760
What did you think? Well? I actually think he did

673
00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:17.639
evolve because at the beginning of the show, once he

674
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.199
got some money, he'd immediately go out and blow it

675
00:37:20.480 --> 00:37:23.599
right and be, you know, just be silly with it.

676
00:37:23.679 --> 00:37:26.039
At the end, he doesn't even take his cut because

677
00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:28.360
he's like, I'm just gonna blow it. Oh, I'm just

678
00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:30.880
not going to take it. Okay. To me, that shows

679
00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:34.519
some growth. I think he's a pretty is not exactly

680
00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:39.079
two dimensional, but he's pretty pretty thin. Yeah, in my opinion,

681
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:39.719
And I.

682
00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:42.559
Think though that it goes to show that Hooker was

683
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.000
never in it for the cut. He was never in

684
00:37:45.079 --> 00:37:47.280
it for the money, right, Yeah, he was in it

685
00:37:47.320 --> 00:37:49.800
to get He was in it for revenge. Yeah, because

686
00:37:50.280 --> 00:37:54.079
Lonigan's men had killed his mentor and good friend and

687
00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:57.559
good friend. Now, Gondorf felt to me like he grew

688
00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:00.280
quite a bit because when we first see him at

689
00:38:00.280 --> 00:38:04.079
the beginning, he's laid out drunk. His whole goal was

690
00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.679
he wanted to pull this con off because he wanted

691
00:38:07.719 --> 00:38:11.519
to get back into his glory days when he used

692
00:38:11.519 --> 00:38:13.159
to work the Chicago racket.

693
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:15.440
Yeah, I think one hundred percent. I think Gondorf was

694
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:21.039
playing the washed up athlete, you know, with one last shot,

695
00:38:21.840 --> 00:38:24.519
and this was his opportunity to show that he could

696
00:38:24.599 --> 00:38:28.920
go out on top. Also, Hooker's friend was Gondorf's friend. Yeah,

697
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:33.119
he was not happy with him being hurt and his

698
00:38:33.159 --> 00:38:35.639
family being hurt. So yeah, he was in it for

699
00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:38.320
a little bit of revenge too, but he was not

700
00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:41.039
unwilling to make the money. Yeah.

701
00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:43.559
I would kind of hope that maybe and we never

702
00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.920
get to see this, And unfortunately there was a follow

703
00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:50.519
up movie called The Sting Too, with Jackie Gleeson and

704
00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:53.800
Mac Davis, but we never get to see Hooker and

705
00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:58.360
Gondorf work together again. Would you have like to see

706
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:03.159
another Sting? Up or another sting chapter of another job.

707
00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:06.199
I don't think so. I think that's one of those

708
00:39:06.320 --> 00:39:08.760
you can't get lightning in a bottle twice. I think

709
00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:10.239
it would have true. I think it would have been

710
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:12.760
flat personally. That's probably why they didn't do it. I'm

711
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:15.320
sure they were offered lots of money for it, lots

712
00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:17.880
and lots of money to do a sequel, and they

713
00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:20.920
probably just said no. In the future, there will be

714
00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:24.800
this guy who does a podcast who hates sequels, and

715
00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:27.119
I do not want to piss him off.

716
00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:34.440
Well, if you ever want to get angry, just watch

717
00:39:34.519 --> 00:39:35.320
the Sting too.

718
00:39:35.480 --> 00:39:37.559
I think I've actually seen it because I'm a fan

719
00:39:37.639 --> 00:39:39.360
of Jackie Gleeson. But who's not.

720
00:39:39.639 --> 00:39:41.599
But it's like, how far can you get into it?

721
00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:45.199
Yeah? Exactly. But now here's another question.

722
00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:47.519
What actually takes Lonigan down?

723
00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:48.079
Oh?

724
00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:51.079
I mean it's because he's a bully. His ego is anger,

725
00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:54.079
you know, just his I mean being a bully is

726
00:39:54.119 --> 00:39:56.639
like he needs to be on top of everybody and

727
00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:59.159
he can't stand it if he loses. So that's how

728
00:39:59.199 --> 00:40:01.599
he get the hook in it right, make him lose, right,

729
00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:05.320
and I mean embarrassing him by taking his wallet and

730
00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:07.920
then pretending like he didn't have the money to pay

731
00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:12.039
his gambling debt. That is just that that just slap

732
00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:12.559
in the face.

733
00:40:12.760 --> 00:40:15.679
That whole sequence on the train has to be my

734
00:40:15.840 --> 00:40:19.599
favorite sequence of the whole movie, starting with Billy picking

735
00:40:19.599 --> 00:40:22.840
his pocket and stealing the wallet. Yeah, to JJ telling

736
00:40:22.920 --> 00:40:26.599
him exactly how Lonagan is ultimately going to cheat him.

737
00:40:26.599 --> 00:40:28.880
I JJ already knows that he's going to deal him

738
00:40:29.039 --> 00:40:31.519
a cold deck, right, and he tells him this is

739
00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:35.119
this is how he likes to deal, and and all

740
00:40:35.159 --> 00:40:37.800
of that happens just like they said. For me, it

741
00:40:37.880 --> 00:40:41.519
was just so satisfying to see something so well done,

742
00:40:41.559 --> 00:40:44.400
even to the point to where you begin to doubt

743
00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:48.119
that Gondorf is actually going to be able to out

744
00:40:48.320 --> 00:40:50.519
cheat Lonigan right in that sequence.

745
00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:54.000
I mean he had We saw the cards and yeah,

746
00:40:54.039 --> 00:40:57.039
if Lonagan hadn't cheated, he would have won. Yeah, So

747
00:40:57.079 --> 00:40:59.559
it was it was cool to see that he didn't

748
00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:05.920
win because yeah, Dondorf cheated better. And it even even

749
00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:08.719
says it later, which is a funny clip in the movies,

750
00:41:08.920 --> 00:41:11.039
like how can I call him out for cheating better

751
00:41:11.079 --> 00:41:11.599
than me?

752
00:41:13.639 --> 00:41:15.800
I would say that that this scene made me a

753
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:19.480
believer in Paul Newman and just really really liked him

754
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:23.159
in this particular film. I like how they draw lo Again.

755
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:26.840
If they would have made Lonigan more in different shades

756
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:31.559
of gray or kind of this nebulous, you know, neutrality

757
00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:34.840
that so many villains are painted with today, I don't

758
00:41:34.880 --> 00:41:36.239
think it would have played as well.

759
00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:38.960
One hundred percent agree. I think he definitely needed to

760
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.199
be a little bit larger than life. He needed to

761
00:41:41.199 --> 00:41:44.119
be that that bully that you ran into in grade

762
00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:46.800
school that you could never get back at. That was

763
00:41:46.840 --> 00:41:49.360
all part of it, and it's also it feeds in

764
00:41:49.440 --> 00:41:52.239
well to how to handle him, how to how to

765
00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:54.920
set the hook with him, because that personality type is

766
00:41:55.440 --> 00:41:58.960
susceptible to that situation that was going to cause him

767
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:00.360
to make him stake.

768
00:42:00.679 --> 00:42:03.559
It was his greed for money, and he already had,

769
00:42:03.679 --> 00:42:05.400
He already had a lot, right, But it was his

770
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:09.960
greed for money, his need to win, that ultimately made

771
00:42:10.039 --> 00:42:12.679
him susceptible to be conned. And I think that's true

772
00:42:12.679 --> 00:42:15.920
in real life, that sometimes a con will work because

773
00:42:16.119 --> 00:42:18.880
it might play into our foibles. You know.

774
00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:21.599
Sure, I would point out that he was not above

775
00:42:21.679 --> 00:42:25.880
revenge because he was mad that Gondorf stole from him.

776
00:42:26.159 --> 00:42:30.199
So he was very happy to take money from Gondor,

777
00:42:30.679 --> 00:42:33.880
so that definitely played into his part. He wanted he

778
00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:36.960
wanted revenge too. He wanted revenge for the embarrassment of

779
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.360
the train. I mean, this wasn't any old scam. They

780
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:40.880
were going to run and he's going to win a

781
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:44.239
batch of money. It was against Gondorf, right, and that

782
00:42:44.239 --> 00:42:47.239
that also drove him because he was avengeful. I mean,

783
00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:51.000
he was basically everything bad. Right. It's a bully avengeful.

784
00:42:51.079 --> 00:42:52.599
He's greedy, he's prideful.

785
00:42:52.719 --> 00:42:54.920
But at the same time, you know, the way the

786
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:58.000
con works, of course, is that Gondorf and Hooker are

787
00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:00.239
actually going to do the same thing to him. They're

788
00:43:00.239 --> 00:43:03.320
going to take everything that he has and leave him

789
00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:06.440
just standing there asking what happened.

790
00:43:06.679 --> 00:43:09.559
Or better yet, standing there going wow, I'm so glad

791
00:43:09.639 --> 00:43:11.599
I got out of that place and didn't get Oh

792
00:43:11.599 --> 00:43:16.360
my gosh, you're right, I forgot about That's like, you

793
00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:18.639
didn't care about the money. So that was the whole

794
00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:20.519
beauty that he didn't go back and say, these guys

795
00:43:20.559 --> 00:43:23.039
stole my money. It was like, I barely got out

796
00:43:23.039 --> 00:43:23.400
of there.

797
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:26.400
So this movie was I mean, it was big, you know,

798
00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:29.519
it was really big at the time, and it landed really,

799
00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:32.599
really good with the audiences. I think some of that

800
00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:36.400
had to do with the way in which Gondorf and

801
00:43:36.559 --> 00:43:40.679
Billy and Hooker and all of those characters were drawn

802
00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:43.119
to where you knew that they were the good guys,

803
00:43:43.239 --> 00:43:46.840
and then Lonigan and his crew were painted with the

804
00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:49.960
brush of being the bad guy. So it was very

805
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:52.400
black and white and you knew who to root for.

806
00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:56.000
And I think that played into the timing of the

807
00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:58.320
year that it came out. I mean, we're still kind

808
00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:01.639
of at the tail end of Vietnam, the Watergate has happened,

809
00:44:01.679 --> 00:44:05.320
and people are looking for escapism from all of this

810
00:44:05.599 --> 00:44:08.559
doom and gloom that's happening in the country. You bring

811
00:44:08.599 --> 00:44:13.400
in a movie like The Sting and it's romanticizing a

812
00:44:13.440 --> 00:44:16.639
period of time. There's going to be wrong that has

813
00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:19.480
been done, and that wrong is going to be rectified

814
00:44:19.519 --> 00:44:22.320
by the end. I think that that really connected with

815
00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:24.440
audiences in nineteen seventy three.

816
00:44:24.679 --> 00:44:27.519
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And I don't think

817
00:44:27.559 --> 00:44:30.800
we can say enough about the score and the music. Yeah.

818
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:33.039
I mean I lived through it. I remember is that

819
00:44:33.159 --> 00:44:37.199
tune was playing everywhere. Every kid learned how to play it. It

820
00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:40.199
was crazy. So yeah, it was just a coming together

821
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:43.480
of all those things. Also, you know, it was two

822
00:44:43.519 --> 00:44:46.800
pretty big stars, oh, coming together in a movie. They

823
00:44:46.800 --> 00:44:49.320
were both big stars in their own right. I mean

824
00:44:49.360 --> 00:44:51.880
it may were even bigger after this film, but before

825
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:56.440
that they were quite quite famous. So you see it.

826
00:44:57.000 --> 00:44:58.880
We go to a movie. Now you have you know,

827
00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:02.599
Brad Pitt and anyone else you know, in the same movie.

828
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:04.840
You're gonna go, Oh, it's gonna be a great movie.

829
00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:06.719
We'll go see it. So there is a little bit

830
00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:07.440
of that going on.

831
00:45:07.639 --> 00:45:11.760
I think everyone coming already came I think predisposed to

832
00:45:11.800 --> 00:45:14.440
want to like this film just because it was by

833
00:45:14.480 --> 00:45:18.480
George roy Hill. It started Robert Redford, It starred Paul Newman,

834
00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:21.599
and both of these had starred in that film that

835
00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:24.800
I haven't yet watched, Palled Butch Cassidy and The Sundance.

836
00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:26.400
Kid, Yeah, which was really big.

837
00:45:26.519 --> 00:45:28.519
Well that's one of my cinema sins, and I'm going

838
00:45:28.599 --> 00:45:31.039
to correct here, really really soon.

839
00:45:31.119 --> 00:45:32.800
I don't think we can be friends anymore.

840
00:45:33.800 --> 00:45:36.960
Well, I don't know about you, but I really got

841
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:39.679
involved in this film. I went along with it. I

842
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:41.760
think I had a big dopey smile on my face.

843
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:44.320
For most of the time, I really felt like I

844
00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:46.719
understood what was going on and that I was a

845
00:45:46.760 --> 00:45:48.800
part of it, and I was one of the gang

846
00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:51.239
that was there, and yeah it was. It was one

847
00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:52.960
that I really really enjoyed.

848
00:45:53.159 --> 00:45:56.800
Yeah, me too. As we said before and we'll probably

849
00:45:56.840 --> 00:45:59.320
say again, but yeah, it had all the elements. The

850
00:45:59.400 --> 00:46:03.639
pacing is correct, the setup was correct, what was made

851
00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:07.119
clear to the audience was made pretty clear, and parts

852
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:09.840
that weren't made clear just added that little bit of

853
00:46:09.880 --> 00:46:12.159
spice at the end to where like, oh they got

854
00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:15.000
me too. Yeah, it still turned out okay, and oh

855
00:46:15.039 --> 00:46:17.159
it was all part of the planet. Like I said before,

856
00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:20.559
what I don't care for about Mission Impossible nowadays is

857
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.840
the idea that it's chaos and it's not all planned

858
00:46:23.880 --> 00:46:27.199
and orchestrated. This movie really shows that orchestration.

859
00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:29.960
Will pause here for just a moment. Think of it

860
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:33.800
as a real change stick around. There's more Cinematic flashback

861
00:46:33.880 --> 00:46:38.440
coming up right after this, and we're back. The lights

862
00:46:38.440 --> 00:46:40.360
are down, the film's rolling, and the.

863
00:46:40.199 --> 00:46:41.360
Final act begins.

864
00:46:41.639 --> 00:46:45.880
Let's jump back into the Cinematic Flashback podcast. Matt time

865
00:46:45.960 --> 00:46:48.480
to ask the question does the sting groove through the

866
00:46:48.519 --> 00:46:49.519
decades or did it.

867
00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:51.920
Lose its beat? This is easy, a walk in the park,

868
00:46:51.960 --> 00:46:54.960
a home run with the basis loaded. This still grews.

869
00:46:55.079 --> 00:46:57.800
And even if you have seen it before, I promise

870
00:46:57.880 --> 00:47:00.280
you you will see new things in it. And you

871
00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:02.840
watch it again, I think we did a good job

872
00:47:02.880 --> 00:47:06.039
of not giving away the con Watch this one for sure,

873
00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:10.000
you will enjoy it and thank us gratefully for reminding

874
00:47:10.039 --> 00:47:12.840
you about this film. What about you, Chuck? Did this

875
00:47:12.880 --> 00:47:15.760
one work for you? Or only lift your wallet? Oh

876
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:16.599
that's funny, Matt.

877
00:47:18.079 --> 00:47:22.239
So, I think that what I really loved about George

878
00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:27.559
roy Hill's film is just how freaking thoroughly entertaining it is.

879
00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:29.119
I was entertained.

880
00:47:29.199 --> 00:47:31.280
I mean, the name of the song was The Entertainer,

881
00:47:31.400 --> 00:47:34.480
right the Scott Joplin ragged that composer Marvel and Hamlish

882
00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:37.599
played throughout the film. Speaking of the music, how cool

883
00:47:37.679 --> 00:47:40.400
is it that Joplin's music was rediscovered by a whole

884
00:47:40.440 --> 00:47:44.079
new generation. I mean, if anyone grew up taking piano

885
00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:48.119
lessons as a kid, you probably played this song, and

886
00:47:48.159 --> 00:47:51.360
if not, you heard it, So thank you mister Hamlish.

887
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:55.800
The Entertainer even hit number three on the American Top

888
00:47:55.880 --> 00:48:00.199
forty on May twenty fifth, nineteen seventy four. That is

889
00:48:00.199 --> 00:48:04.639
incredible from an artist who lived nearly a century before.

890
00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:07.920
If I was going to say anything negative is that

891
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:11.280
sometimes I felt the film's running time was a little long.

892
00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:13.480
There were a lot of moving pieces and a lot

893
00:48:13.519 --> 00:48:15.920
to keep in your head. And even though the film

894
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:18.639
is rated PG, can we just agree and call this

895
00:48:18.719 --> 00:48:21.400
a seventies PG because there is a scene in a

896
00:48:21.400 --> 00:48:25.039
burlesque show that might be a little awkward if you're

897
00:48:25.079 --> 00:48:28.840
watching with younger viewers, just be aware. But with that said,

898
00:48:29.159 --> 00:48:33.199
there is such special chemistry between the actors. It was

899
00:48:33.320 --> 00:48:36.519
more like you were watching an ensemble play where everyone

900
00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:40.039
was just really there to make the other guy look great.

901
00:48:40.320 --> 00:48:42.480
And the payoff to this film, I'm just going to

902
00:48:42.519 --> 00:48:46.119
tell you it's satisfying. So yes, for me, the Sting

903
00:48:46.360 --> 00:48:48.360
is still grooving through the decades.

904
00:48:48.679 --> 00:48:52.719
Matt Any final thoughts, Yeah, I would say possibly the

905
00:48:52.760 --> 00:48:55.840
only R rated thing was when someone got shot right

906
00:48:55.880 --> 00:48:59.559
in the forehead. But even the burlecue scenes were pretty

907
00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:01.960
tame as these things go. I mean, there were no

908
00:49:02.079 --> 00:49:04.199
nude scenes at all in the movie, So I think

909
00:49:04.199 --> 00:49:07.599
you're you're probably reasonable to watch this with an early

910
00:49:07.719 --> 00:49:10.920
teenager or older. Sure, sure's a little bit of risk gainess,

911
00:49:11.000 --> 00:49:13.360
but I don't think bad to compare to what you

912
00:49:13.400 --> 00:49:16.480
see in music videos nowadays. So wait a minute, do.

913
00:49:16.480 --> 00:49:18.480
People still watch music videos these days?

914
00:49:18.519 --> 00:49:22.440
Come on that same what you see on the YouTube's

915
00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:28.000
what you see on the instagrams. We're so it. Well

916
00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:29.840
we're showing our cards.

917
00:49:29.960 --> 00:49:34.039
Yeah, well, hey, join us next time as we review

918
00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:36.800
our second film from our Art of the con month.

919
00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:41.039
We're staying in nineteen seventy three with Peter Bogdanovinc's film

920
00:49:41.119 --> 00:49:44.440
Paper Moon, starring real life father and daughter Ryan and

921
00:49:44.519 --> 00:49:47.599
Tatum O'Neil. I have not seen this movie before and

922
00:49:47.679 --> 00:49:51.480
I am looking forward to it and speaking up Bogdanovich,

923
00:49:51.760 --> 00:49:55.239
I want to direct our listeners over to a film

924
00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:57.440
by podcast with Brad Kozo.

925
00:49:57.719 --> 00:49:59.320
He and I recently took.

926
00:49:59.119 --> 00:50:01.480
A look at the script for the Last Picture Show

927
00:50:01.880 --> 00:50:05.199
and it also starred Eileen Brennan and she is just

928
00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:07.199
showing up all over the seventies.

929
00:50:07.239 --> 00:50:09.199
So head on over there and let me know what

930
00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:11.559
you thought of that episode. Thanks for tuning in let

931
00:50:11.639 --> 00:50:14.079
us know your thoughts about the movie. You can reach

932
00:50:14.159 --> 00:50:18.679
us at www. Cinematic flashback dot Com, and don't forget

933
00:50:18.679 --> 00:50:20.800
to leave us a rating and review. It just might

934
00:50:20.840 --> 00:50:22.960
get read on the air. If you enjoy the show,

935
00:50:23.079 --> 00:50:25.760
help us grow by sharing it with your friends. Join

936
00:50:25.880 --> 00:50:28.159
us next time as we hop back into the wayback

937
00:50:28.199 --> 00:50:30.840
machine and head once again to the nineteen seventies for

938
00:50:30.920 --> 00:50:33.280
another classic. We'll see you then.

939
00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:37.119
Where the Euros were gritty, the buildings were bowled from

940
00:50:37.159 --> 00:50:44.400
the est to those every twistic flashback show.

941
00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:52.400
Again, Chuck Man, get this off to the department right away.

942
00:50:52.599 --> 00:50:52.840
That's you.