Feature Movie Description... continued.
The Sting - 1973
Redford (nominated for Best Actor) re-teams with his Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid partner Newman as Johnny Hooker and Henry Gondorff, a couple of 1930s confidence men who plot a wickedly elaborate swindle of mobster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Lonnegan is a local baddie who has drawn the ire of a whole group of con men with his cheatin' ways and his murder of their beloved fellow grifter (and Hooker's partner) Luther. The winding sting unfolds with style (thanks to authentic '30s sets, automobiles and costumes from famed Oscar-winning designer Edith Head), humor and a jazzy soundtrack (the movie brought about a revival of Scott Joplin's ragtime music), and so many twists that, as the old cliché goes, you can't always tell the players without a score card. In fact, the Best Picture winner takes so many twists and turns that, if you know the final surprise before it's revealed, it's probably only because you wrote the script. The jackpot scene: Newman's masterful poker game with Lonnegan, when he cheats the cheat, while giving the impression that he's drunk off a bottle of gin (which is really filled with water).