by Patrice Downing, Contributing Writer
Happy fall, y’all, and welcome back to a new edition of 20th Century Flicks. As you can probably tell by my opening with a southern staple of autumn salutation, our Aussie pal Adam has graciously agreed to let me take over this month and explore a cinematic hole in my viewing history.
Having been a fan of film from a very early age, and growing up in a multigenerational home (and in a time before the ability to stream anything from the comfort of your bedroom existed), I was exposed to a pretty wide collection of genres and time periods. Turner Classics was a channel of choice for weekend family viewing, exposing me to some of my favorite films of all time, like Arsenic and Old Lace, Some Like It Hot, Pride & Prejudice (1940),and Lover Come Back. Because of this early exposure, I always felt I had a pretty well-rounded viewing history; however, I have recently found a giant hole in this timeline… the ‘70’s. Looking back, it makes a lot of sense. Films from the ‘70’s were not quite old enough to be part of the TCM lineup, but were just old enough to not be mainstays in the battle for cable viewing supremacy between HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime.
In an effort to fill in the cinematic gap, this month, I watched The Sting for the very first time. I can’t believe it slipped through the cracks for so long! No beating around the bush: I love this movie! I wish I had taken the time to watch it sooner, as it’s been recommended by Amazon more times than I can count over the years, and I just never took the time because, honestly, the movie poster never grabbed my attention. I had no idea it stars two of the top leading men of the ‘70’s (Paul Newman and Robert Redford), takes place in the ‘30’s, and is centered around scheming conmen. Looking at the poster now, it’s clear the two pictured are Newman and Redford, the phone on the table and Redford’s cap indicate the time period, and Newman’s lighting of a cigar with cash while Redford flaunts the playing cards clue in on the plot.
Before I get into the meat and potatoes of what makes The Sting such a fun watch, a few quick facts (because you know I love digging up details). For starters, it didn’t just bring home the Academy Award for Best Picture, but six additional Oscar statuettes were awarded of the 10 nominations it received in 1974. This The Sting puts it in the company of an elite group of winners to achieve such recognition, including Ben-Hur, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, West Side Story (not that I think it needs clarification, but 1961), On the Waterfront, Gandhi,and Amadeus. It was also the second highest grossing film of 1973, and in the top 20 for the entire decade, beating out popular titles like Love Story and Alien. Lastly, it’s worth mentioning this is not the first pairing of Newman with Redford. Four years earlier, they starred in another film directed by George Roy Hill, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid(Newman and Redford respectively).
Now pardon me while I gush about the merits of this magnificent movie. Everything about The Sting is pure perfection. From the choice to use hand-painted portraits and lettering on the opening credits, title cards, and movie poster, its piano centric soundtrack and score, meticulously fleshed-out backgrounds, bustling city streets, dialogue, and of course the costuming, every detail helps to envelop the audience into the feel of the prohibition era America.
The main plot centers around a semi successful, small-time, street hustling, confidence tricker, Johnny Hooker (Redford) accidentally pulling a grift on a mob underling. He quickly loses most of the money, and with no way to repay the mob, he skips town to go “apprentice” under the tutelage of Henry Gondorff (Newman), a master of the long con. After picking their intended mark, the con is on, and that’s really all I want to say to avoid spoiling any of the hijinks, revelations, and double-crosses. Every little hiccup that arises brings another ingenious addition to the grift, and makes trying to figure out what’s really going on even more fun.
If you’re a fan of ‘80s TV and cinema, you’ll recognize a host of tertiary characters played by Dana Elcar (Pete Thornton in MacGyver), Charles Durning (he’s played everyone from Santa to Doc Hopper in the original Muppet Movie), Eileen Brennan (Mrs. Peacock in Clue, as well as an absolutely bonkers drunk in a Disneyland special about the Mouseketeers running a muck in the park), and Harold Gould and Ray Walston, who guest starred on just about everything from Murder, She Wrote to The Golden Girls. Everyone fits right into their assigned roles and plays their parts to perfection. I honestly can’t think of a single low point or anything I’d like to see done differently, with the exception of the sequel. If only they’d kept the band together for one more show. I wish Newman and Redford had done another — it could have been so much fun to see them go to another city and try a new con.
I couldn’t be happier that I had the opportunity to check out this ‘70s gem! I’m looking forward to continuing my adventure to experience more films from the rest of the decade, Butch Cassidy in particular. Thanks for joining me this month as I crossed another film off my ever-expanding watchlist of 20th Century Flicks.
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