20 facts you might not know about 'The Sting'

David S. Ward was working at a company that produced educational films when he decided to write the script for “The Sting.” At the time, he had no track record as a screenwriter. His first two scripts turned into movies both came out in 1973, “The Sting” and “Steelyard Blues.”

David Maurer had written a non-fiction book called “The Big Con” which was about two con artist brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff. Ward wrote a movie about two (non-brother) con artists, one of whom is named Henry Gondorff. Maurer was suspicious enough to sue Universal, citing plagiarism. Universal settled out of court, which annoyed Ward, who said that he used many different non-fiction sources in researching his book. On top of that, TV writer Roy Huggins said that the first half of “The Sting” is plagiarized from an episode of his show “Maverick.”

“The Sting” reunited the stars of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” in Newman and Redford. That’s not all, though. Both movies were also directed by George Roy Hill, who was nominated for Best Director for “Butch Cassidy.”

“The Sting” is about Johnny Hooker (Redford) teaming up with the older con artist Henry Gondorff (Newman) to take down the violent crime boss Doyle Lonnegan. Maybe that was always true, but initially, Gondorff was a minor character. He was also a slovenly guy. Then Newman signed on for the role. Suddenly, the role got bigger, and Gondorff got more dapper.

Hill wanted American actor Richard Boone for the role of Doyle Lonnegan, but Newman also sent the script to Robert Shaw, an English actor who grew up in Scotland, which probably made more sense for a character named “Doyle Lonnegan.” Shaw liked the part and signed on for the film. Two years later, he’d star in “Jaws.”

Lonnegan is a feared crime boss, even though he walks with a limp. It’s distinctive to the character, but it was not a choice by Shaw. He had slipped on a handball court in Los Angeles just a week before filming and damaged his knee pretty bad. That left him wearing a knee brace that could, fortunately, hide under 1930s-style pants. Shaw was really limping throughout the film.

While the movie is set in 1936, Hill didn’t want to make a movie that felt like the 1930s. Instead, he wanted to make a movie that felt like a movie made in the 1930s. The director watched a lot of films from that era and took things from them. For example, he didn’t use extras because he noticed how few extras were in ‘30s crime movies.

The different sections of “The Sting” are introduced with title cards. That’s not something you see very often anymore, but there was even more that was a throwback with these titles. The title cards were designed to look like illustrations from the “Saturday Evening Post,” a popular publication for the ‘30s.

“The Sting” is widely remembered for its ragtime soundtrack. This included a bunch of Scott Joplin songs that were reimagined by Marvin Hamlisch, who also contributed some original compositions. These days, you might think, “Of course, ragtime was surely popular in the ‘30s.” In reality, though, ragtime’s peak had already come and gone, and Joplin was not popular in the ‘30s. The reason they used the music was that Joplin songs were used in the 1931 crime movie “The Public Enemy.” It was another attempt to feel like a ‘30s crime film.

In spite of the fact, ragtime was antiquated music, “The Sting” sparked a renewed interest. The soundtrack became the number-one album in the United States. Yes, really. On top of that, Hamlisch’s version of Joplin’s song “The Entertainer” because a top-10 hit as well.

Each section of the movie is named after a different part of the con that Gondorff and Hooker are pulling off. “The Sting” is the final part of that con when the cons take their mark’s money. There is a lot of lingo that the audience was not necessarily aware of, but “The Sting” did its best to explain it.

These days, we think of Newman as one of the biggest movie stars of all time. However, in the 1970s he endured a bit of a dry spell. Heading into “The Sting,” Newman’s five preceding films had all been considered disappointments. Had “The Sting” been lackluster as well, it could have sunk Newman’s career.

Basically, everybody loved “The Sting.” The critics adored it, including Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. The audience went to see it in droves as well. “The Sting” was made for $5.5 million, but it made a hair under $160 million. Adjusted for inflation, that’s over $800 million.

“The Sting” was nominated for a whopping 10 Oscars. On top of that, it won seven of them. Ward took home Best Original Screenplay, which basically made his career. Hill won for Best Director. It also won the big prize of Best Picture, sandwiched in between the first two “Godfather” movies.

A decade after “The Sting” came out, Hollywood decided it was time for a sequel. “The Sting II” is written by Ward, but that’s it for connections to the first film. Hill, Newman, Redford, and Shaw are nowhere to be seen. This time, Doyle Lonnegan is played by Oliver Reed, and Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis are the stars.

Newman’s character is a con artist and therefore is unsurprisingly a bit of card sharp. Learning card tricks would have taken Newman quite some time to get right, and they didn’t have the time for that. Instead, technical adviser John Scarne served as a hand double for Newman anytime he was doing card manipulation.

Edith Head is perhaps the most famous name in costume design. In her career, she was nominated for a stunning 35 Academy Awards. She ended up winning eight Oscars total, the last of which came for “The Sting,” which was her third-to-last film.

“The Sting” wasn’t a movie that shot on location for a variety of reasons. You can’t just travel to 1936 Chicago. Instead, it was shot on the Universal backlot and sets often get reused in backlots. The diner in “The Sting?” It’s also the diner where Marty McFly meets his father George in “Back to the Future.”

Tony Bill, one of the producers of the film, was also a fan of antique cars. This came in handy because he was able to loan the movie the 1935 Pierce Arrow that serves as Lonnegan’s car in the movie. It was extremely rare and had Bill not been a producer on the film they likely would have never found another car of that kind.

Redford won an Oscar for Best Director for “Ordinary People,” but he never won an Oscar for acting. In fact, he only has one nomination for acting. That nomination came for “The Sting.” Redford has said he’s retired from acting, though since then he has made a cameo in a Marvel movie and done a voice role. Still, it’s likely “The Sting” will go down as the iconic actor’s only nomination for acting.