The Sting The Sting The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving 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 the western "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Created by screenwriter David S. Ward, the story was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his book "The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man". The title phrase refers to the
Jack Lemmon a recovering alcoholic. Lemmon's production company JML produced "Cool Hand Luke" in 1967. Paul Newman was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role of the Sundance Kid, later played by Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before. Lemmon appeared in many films partnered with actor Walter Matthau. Among their pairings was 1968's "The Odd Couple", as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau). The first film they starred