Poker In Movies: The Sting
by Bodog Poker | Oct 26 2010
Another Robert Redford movie involving cards, The Sting is widely considered a classic 70s movie and for good reason. Witty, fast-paced and bearing a plot that constantly surprises the viewer, The Sting is a movie that holds up to multiple viewings. The film's inspiration comes from David Maurer's book The Big Con; The Story Of The Confidence Man and features Robert Redford as John “Kelly” Hooker with Paul Newman starring as Henry “Shaw” Gondorff. The 1973 picture made over $160,000,000 at the box office, easily qualifying it as a massive success and won seven Academy Awards. Poker's a big part of the film's part, but the real heart lies in the characters and the cons they bring to life.
Set in the 1930s, the film begins with Redford's Johnny Hooker, a small-time grifter from Illinois who is working with two other men: Luther Coleman, and Joe Erie. They con $11,000 from a mark, and Luther informs Johnny that it's his last job; he's retiring from crime to move to Kansas City and start a new life. His parting advice is for Hooker to seek out Henry Gondorff in Chicago to learn the ways of larger con operations and make the most from his skills.
There's a hitch, though: the mark they conned was a runner for Chicago mob boss Doyle Lonnegan. William Snyder, a lieutenant for the corrupt Joliet, Illinois police, takes advantage of the situation and demands a cool $2,000 to protect hooker from the wrath of the mob. Luther Coleman is murdered by Lonnegan's gang before Hooker can warn him, and Redford's character heads to Chicago to meet with Newman's Gondorff.
When he arrives, however, he's disappointed: Gondorff is past his prime and living on the lam from the FBI, staying in a brothel in an amusement park. Gondorff is hesitant to take on Lonnegan, whose reputation precedes him, but he eventually agrees to assist Hooker in a sting. The conmen erect an elaborate ploy to take down Lonnegan, centered around a poker game.
Gondorff takes on the name "Shaw" and enters a high stakes poker game with Lonnegan on a train, using money he conned from Lonnegan earlier. Shaw and Lonnegan both cheat viciously, with Shaw managing to outdo Lonnegan and win $15,000 in a single hand. Lonnegan is unable to pay the debt because his wallet is in his room. From this point, there's a plethora of double-crosses
The old-school stud poker game, despite the proliferation of cheating, is presented very well and it's easy to follow. In fact, I'd rank the poker in this movie well above most movies centered around the game, mostly because of how plainly it's shot and presented. A minimum of hype and fanfare keeps you engaged much more than the too-dramatic angles and unnecessary flash of films like Rounders.
Of interest to a lot of poker players is the fact that The Sting's soundtrack, which heavily uses the music of Scott Joplin, has become the sound of the sport to a lot of people. Ragtime jazz is frequently used by modern TV shows and movies to accentuate poker scenes, even if it's not something that's listened to very much at all anymore.
