Love the little emphasis on what a petty person Lonnegan is, that for all his power and money he can't resist going over and gloating at a small-time gambler that just lost, the very character trait they use to hook him.
According to a story I read on-line, a junior reader at the studio found the script on the "slush-pile," the stack of rejected stories and decided to look it over. This newbie realized this was THE All American Caper, a real ruby in a pile of rocks. He pitched it to the studio boss and the rest is history. If it's true, it makes a fitting back-story to the movie, with it's theme of the underdogs vs the Big Baddie.
it's a fun movie. The type of movie you watch ONCE every year or 2 because it's a masterclass in film-making. Robert Shaw, like Quint, was perfect as Lonnegan.
I always thought that short actor who plays one of the henchmen looked just like the "thug" wise guy that the Looney Tunes used to trout out when they needed a stereotype of a bad guy.
And yet no one else spoke to him at all.. not withstanding that he is about as friendly as a white shark .. to those who understand how humans interact its a big tell ...make of this what you will.
One thing I like about this movie is that is a total team effort, not just the work of Redford and Newman to pull off the con. Apollo 13 is another movie like that.
This is such a well crafted scene. Paul Newman pretends to be a sore loser and lays out his strained relationship with Redford in such a natural way in less than 30 seconds.
Note that actor Dana Elcar appears in the left rear of the scene for two seconds beginning at the 2:51 mark. He played con man Hickey who pretended to be FBI agent Polk. This is one of several proofs that the Redford character (Hooker/Kelly) knew all along that the supposed FBI agent was fake and actually another member of Gondorff's (Newman's) gang of con men, and that Hooker never had any intention to betray Gondorff. Temporarily fooling the audience about this was the ultimate sting.
'Aloha. My name is Mr. Hand. I have but one question for you. Can you attend my class, it is for your benefit and if you can't make it, I can make you. We have a 20 question quiz every Friday which counts as 1/3 along with the midterm and final. Also, there will be no eating. No eating in this class. get used to doing your own stuff on your own time. Just like you wouldn't want me coming over to your house and discussing us history.'
Charles Dierkop was the actor who played Floyd, the shorter bodyguard (aka Flat Nose Curry in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, along with a long list of other movie credits). That's a classic scene at 2:29 and again at 2:38 where he looks at Redford as though to say, "Yeah, go ahead buddy, show me how tough you are." Every scene in this movie was so well thought-out.
Always wonder when I see Floyd give that look to Kelly, if it goes back to when they were n Butch/Sundance together. Maybe n that movie they did the same there too !!
My mom took me to see this in ‘73 at the Andrews AFB theater in Maryland when I was 7 years old . It was a double-feature with another timeless & thoroughly enjoyable film: American Graffiti.
N the upcoming Western Union office scene where Lonnegan, Kelly, and Twist meet, I spotted a blooper. As J J leaves the place, he switches back the pic off the desk and grabs a coat off the coat rack. That COAT was already there when JJ and Twist were trying to convince the Western Union guy of painting the office. So if any of u have noticed this or any other blooper, speak now or.......THANX. I luv this movie, really !!
Listen as they say Narragansett Park Rhode Island. I grew up in Rumford, a small part of East Providence, and the race track was not far up the road and still running while I was a kid
In another scene they mention Rockingham Park, a track that closed a few years back here in New Hampshire. This movie wasn't just stylish, but well-researched.
Yes he does have unbelievable blue eyes but his best quality to me is his unbelievable acts of generosity as witnessed by the camps he started for underprivileged children and the fact that he gave all of his profits from his foods to charity. Now that’s how a rich person should act
Plot twist. About 5 seconds after Paul Newman says "that's it fellas" and they all start high-fiving, Lonnegan walks back into the betting shop because he forgot his umbrella.
Ray Walston, in my opinion was a great all around actor from doing this, My Favorite Martian to South Pacific & Star Trek The Next Generation as well as Silver Streak and Damn Yankees. Awesome performances all ....😊
@@nicholasmuro1742 , Of course, it's the same person calling the races as betting parlors received the racing information via ticker tape from a wire service company, in this film Western Union, and the person who receives the tape calls the races. They are not live broadcasts as that was not very common back in 1936. That is why they were conning him as Lonnegan thought that the insider person at Western Union gave him the race results before they put the results out to the general public, called post-betting back then. Of course, live broadcasting, via OTB which was becoming common when the movie came out, ended that practice.
@@nicholasmuro1742 That's how it was done in that era. Results were wired to a central broadcasting facility and one person did a simulated call of every event.
Great scene and movie. I always found it odd that Newman and Redford actually had chemistry together because Newman could out-act Redford by a mile. Love Mr. Hand calling the "race."
Even when I saw this movie for the first time when I was a youngster I right away picked up that they have the same man "calling" all the races from different tracks...to me that is an immediate dead giveaway that they are running a scam....and surely a seasoned pro gambler would have picked up on it sooner than me...kind of a big whole in such an expensive movie.
I still say that newman should have gave red a slap in the head when he went to question him...like disrespect him in front of everyone to sell it even more to Lonnegan he wanted out. Treat him like an underling for even approaching him.
AND.......THAT little wire from the door bell buzzer to SHAWS place..... HMMM..... back n those days would have to run across the street under ground to SHAWS place......Now, come on !!!
@@CB-xr1eg LOL! No, it's "they're off," a contraction of "they are off." "Their" is a possessive pronoun. Would you say "his off" or "her off"? Of course not; it would be "he's off" or "she's off." "He is off," "she is off," "they are off." Let me give you a tip: don't "correct" someone's grammar if you don't know what the heck you're talking about.
