Facts About "The Sting"

It was Newman and Redford at their best.

The StingPhoto byGiorgio TrovatoonUnsplash

It seems a shame that Paul Newman and Robert Redford only starred in two movies together. Both Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting are two of my all-time favorites. I would have loved to have seem them work together some more.

In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the audience was disappointed that Butch and Sundance paid for their lawless ways. The Sting had a more satisfying conclusion. Now, on to some things you didn’t know about The Sting.

1: The Henry Gondorff role wasn’t written with Paul Newman in mind.

Originally the Gondorff character was written as being older and heavier than Newman. He also was going to be older and gruff. The character underwent a transformation to fit Paul Newman. It was basically a metamorphosis from Peter Boyle to Paul Newman. If I'm ever in a book, I hope the writer gives me the Gondorff treatment.

2: Initially, the Redford character was written as a 19-year-old Johnny Hooker.

I wonder if when Redford was approached about the role, he was told he was going to play a 19-year-old Hooker?

3: The musical score drew a lot of attention to its creator, Joplin.

Scott, not Janice. The Sting was set in 1936, but the music of Scott Joplin was written between 1902–08. It didn’t matter, the music was wildly popular.

4: Robert Shaw was not the original choice to play Doyle Lonnegan.

Actually, the first choice was Richard Boone, who dropped out at the last minute, without giving a reason. I’m not sure if he had a gun or was traveling.

5: Shaw’s limp was the result of a racquetball accident.

Shaw hurt his leg two days before filming started and just went with the limp. Well, Lonnigan was in the rackets.

6: The movie gave rise to four lawsuits.

It seems a lot of people felt they were victims of a sting.

7: Newman and Redford were each paid $500,000 for their work on the movie.

Based on the success of the movie, it seems like Newman and Redford were stung themselves.

8: The Sting was nominated for 10 Oscars and won seven of them.

Included in the Oscar wins was the big one for Best Picture. In both the previous year and the next year, the Godfather movies won the Best Picture Oscar. There was a preoccupation with crime movies back then.

9: There was a sequel.

And The Sting II was awful by all accounts. The stars were Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis. Really, the Sting II wasn’t really like a sting, more like A Minor Irritation.

10: Newman wasn’t the one doing the fancy card dealing.

He had a hand double to do that. I believe however, that Robert Redford did his own running.

11: The diner where Hooker met Lonnigan was used in Back to the Future.

Maybe it was a franchise.

12: Dimitra Arliss played Redford’s love interest/ potential assassin.

Actually, some studio execs didn’t think she was pretty enough to play Redford’s love interest, but I guess she was pretty enough to be his killer.