The Sting

The Sting is a 1973 American caper film. Set in 1936, it involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss (Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had directed Newman and Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). The screenplay, by David S. Ward, was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his 1940 book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man. The film plays out in sections introduced by old-fashioned title cards, drawn by artist Jaroslav "Jerry" Gebr in a style reminiscent of the Saturday Evening Post. It is noted for its use of ragtime, particularly the melody "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, which was adapted (along with other Joplin pieces) for the film by Marvin Hamlisch, producing a Billboard-topping soundtrack and a top-10 single. The film's success created a resurgence of interest in Joplin's work. Released on Christmas Day of 1973, The Sting was a critical and commercial success and hugely successful at the 46th Academy Awards, where it won seven of its 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Original Screenplay; Redford was also nominated for Best Actor. The film grossed $257 million worldwide and rekindled Newman's career after a series of big-screen flops. Regarded by the Writers Guild of America as having one of the best screenplays ever written, The Sting was selected in 2005 for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A sequel film, also written by Ward, was released in 1983.