The movie
The adventure, crime movie The Sting directed by George Roy Hill, was released in 1973. It has a top-of-the-line cast: Paul Newman and Robert Redford are supported by Robert Shaw, Charles Durning and Eileen Brennan. It is a masterpiece.
The atmosphere is excellent. The scenario is marvelous, with a plot full of twists. The music is imposing. The photography and direction are flawless. It won seven Oscars, among which for categories of best director and best picture, and was nominated for three more. No wonder it enjoys an IMDB rating of 8.3 (based on 262,000 votes) and you can watch it again and again.
The scene
The movie is a collection of classic scenes. One of the best is the train poker scene.
Henry Gondorff (Newman), a grifter, manages to join the private high stake poker game organized by Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw). It takes place in a cabin of the train going to New York.
During the last round of the game there were only three players left. The third player deals. He offers the deck to Lonnegan to cut. Lonnegan replaces the deck with a fixed one.
The dealer gives three threes to Gondorff and two nines to Lonnegan. There is one round of bets and changing cards. The third player folds. Lonnegan ends up with four nines. Gondorff has four threes. Lonnegan’s bodyguard sits behind Gondorff. He has a smile on his face.
Gondorff opens betting, 500. Lonnegan calls and raises it by 1000. Gondorff calls and raises it by 2000. Lonnegan calls and raises it again by 10000. As soon as Gondorff says ‘I call’ Lonnegan shows his cards and says full of confidence and with a sharp smile on his face ‘four nines’.
The scene (The Sting; Universal Pictures)
The bodyguard smiles. His boss wins. He is 100% sure! He fixed the deck! He saw the four threes!
Gondorff secretly looks at his cards. Then he looks Lonnegan in the eyes. He says with a smile on his face and a cigar hanging from his lips ‘four jacks’.
The bodyguard’s and Lonnegan’s faces freeze. Their facial expression is a mixture of surprise, anger, hatred, and curiosity. How the hell did he manage to switch the four threes with four jacks?
Meantime, Gondorff says ‘you owe me 15 grands pal.’.
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