15 thoughts on “TBT: The Sting (1973)

  1. Love Eileen Brennan! She was really terrific in The Cheap Detective, playing a character based on Lauren Bacall (the costumes were great, too). :)

    1. Ooo! Thanks for the rec! I have a feeling I’m about to go on an Eileen Brennan deep dive… ;)

      1. Don’t forget her earlier Neil Simon detective spoof MURDER BY DEATH, which is also a hoot. (You even get views of Oakley Court you didn’t see in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as a bonus.)

  2. Just caught this the other night myself! I am old enough to remember seeing this in the theater and it holds up beautifully as a complex, beautifully detailed caper film and as a period piece. The language feels right, the art design is spot on, the Scott Joplin arrangements by Marvin Hamlisch are perfection.

    And that first jumpsuit Billie (Eileen Brennan) wears? The back of it is the best part!

  3. It is a fabulous film! Like Boxermom I loved Eileen Brennan as Billy – she is a total powerhouse in this, though, as you say, you randomly see flashes of her playing Mrs Peacock and the Captain in Private Benjamin (in her expressions and delivery) which is most amusing – but is not at all distracting as a whole from a great performance. I love her polka-dot jumpsuit, which is so fitting for her character, practical yet feminine. The boys are fantastically dressed and ALWAYS look sharp and sexy, even when they are in slight déshabillé and showing their braces – just as they should be. Their hat game is on point! Nothing to do with costuming but I especially love Newman’s smoulder! Grrrrrrgh!

  4. I remember reading an interview with Paul Newman, the reporter asked him if he ever watched any of his movies. He said no, but when he was on vacation with his grandkids and they were looking for a movie to watch, they all pointed to the sting and asked him if they could rent that one. The reporter asked him what did you think after watching it? He said “It was pretty good.”

    Understatement of the year!

  5. Technically, I’ve “seen” it–because I feel like all of Robert Redford’s movies were on the TV in the background of my 80s childhood. I guess my mother and grandmother were taking advantage of VCRs and/or just network TV to indulge in man candy (with regard to films starring Robert Redford and also Omar Sharif). And who can blame them? I sure followed suit later in life! But I couldn’t tell you anything about The Sting other than it was a heist movie starring Newman and Redford who looked gorgeous. Definitely time for a re-watch as an adult. Thanks for the nudge!

  6. I’ve seen this many times and love it – but I never once flagged that Billie’s dresses are in fact jumpsuits! Wild. Such a great movie; when a con movie cons you it’s a good time.

  7. I watched this with my mom because she considered it part of my education! In classic entertainment or handsomeness or something.

    I really liked the waitress and her chemistry with Redford.

    The jumpsuits are fabulous and it looks like the first one has dress clips! Which I love.

  8. I was actually in a stage performance of The Sting in high school. (They gender-swapped some of the characters in the script so as to get a better balance—I was Countess Bordreaux.) I had watched it before then numerous times and owned it for a long time.

    We had a good student pianist who did all the Joplin pieces live. It really added a lot.

    There’s one more woman character featured in the movie: Alva, the wife of the third partner at the beginning of the movie. You really don’t see much of her, of course.

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