The Sting (1973) — Robert Redford

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ROBERT REDFORD · 1973 · SIGNATURE ROLES

Johnny Hooker is a small-time Chicago grifter who, with the veteran con man Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), sets out to avenge a murdered friend by running the most elaborate con in film history on a mob banker.

Johnny Hooker is a small-time Chicago grifter who, with the veteran con man Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman), sets out to avenge a murdered friend by running the most elaborate con in film history on a mob banker. Robert Redford plays Hooker as the eager apprentice — funny, reckless, and just skilled enough to be dangerous.

Black-and-white 1858 view of Chicago from the courthouse, with Randolph Street in the foreground.
Photo: Alexander Hesler (1823–1895), Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Source

The film’s pleasures are all in the construction: the fake betting parlor, the period detail, Scott Joplin’s ragtime on the soundtrack, and a final twist that reframes everything you just watched. Redford and Newman, reuniting after Butch Cassidy, are a perfect comic partnership — the older man’s calm against the younger man’s nerves — and The Sting won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, with Redford nominated for Best Actor.

A 1916 view looking north along South LaSalle Street in the Chicago Loop, crowded with pedestrians, cars and streetcars between tall buildings.
Photo: Chicago Daily News, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · Source

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