The Sting (1973) – Crime/Drama

When The Sting went into production, Robert Redford admitted he wasn’t entirely sure he understood the script. The tale of layered cons, double-crosses, and intricate twists felt almost too elaborate at times. “I wasn’t sure I got all of it,” he later confessed. “But I liked the guy I was playing, and that was enough.” That guy was Johnny Hooker, the quick-witted grifter whose charm and resilience carry the film.

Surprisingly, Redford almost never played Hooker. Universal executives initially resisted reuniting him with Paul Newman, fearing that pairing them again so soon after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would feel repetitive. But Redford pushed back, insisting their chemistry was vital. His instincts proved right: audiences adored seeing them together again, and their partnership became the film’s secret weapon.

The gamble paid off in more ways than one. The Sting became a box-office sensation and went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Redford himself earned his first—and only—Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Yet in a move that captured his lifelong ambivalence toward Hollywood pageantry, he didn’t attend the ceremony. Instead, he was off skiing in Utah, seemingly uninterested in the industry’s biggest night. It was the ultimate Johnny Hooker move—ducking out on the establishment while still walking away a winner.

Behind the camera, Redford and Newman’s off-screen dynamic mirrored their on-screen banter. The two constantly played pranks on each other between takes, continuing a friendly rivalry that had started years earlier on Butch Cassidy. From stolen lunches to tampered bikes, their antics added levity to a project that might otherwise have been bogged down by its complex plot.

In the end, The Sting became more than a clever con game—it was a testament to Redford’s instincts, his loyalty to Newman, and his ability to find truth in a character even when the twists seemed impossible to track.