World Courant
Display screen legends Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s second and ultimate display screen pairing, in 1973’s The Sting, proved much more well-liked on the field workplace than their first, 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child. The movie — a few syndicate of confidence males planning cons within the Nice Despair — was a dream shoot on the Common backlot set, save for one persistent annoyance: Redford was at all times late.
To rejoice the fiftieth anniversary of its seven Oscar wins, the crew behind The Sting — producers Michael Phillips and Tony Invoice (the third producer, Julia Phillips, ex-wife of Michael and creator of You may By no means Eat Lunch in This City Once more, died in 2002) and screenwriter David S. Ward — joined The Hollywood Reporter’s It Occurred in Hollywood podcast for a rollicking dialog about getting the movie made.
“He at all times felt insufficient, and that he was employed for his blue eyes,” says Phillips of working together with his hero, Newman, who was 48 in the course of the shoot. “He was only a very humble, very humble man. The primary day he confirmed up on the set. And he was a large, , a hero to me. And I used to be completely starstruck. And he came visiting and he stated, ‘Hello, I am Paul. Nice script you bought right here. I hope I do not fuck it up.'”
Phillips continued, “He was a cheerful presence on the set. He would deliver popcorn, at all times make jokes, at all times skilled, on time, mock his personal errors. So it was a privilege.”
Redford, 37 on the time, was a pleasure to work with on set as effectively — that’s, as soon as he bought to the set. “Redford was chronically late,” Phillips reveals. “That was the factor — and it by no means ended, both.” The star would sometimes arrive 40 minutes late on daily basis. Ultimately, the perpetual tardiness led to a confrontation together with his co-star.
“At some point, Newman tore him aside for it,” Phillips remembers. “Paul was the largest star. And he stated one thing like, ‘What are you — a film star?’ Redford shrunk from it.” The dressing down led to a slight enchancment — Redford began displaying up simply 20 minutes late as an alternative of 40. Invoice calls the lateness “a psychological flaw … a compulsion to not be on time. It comes with the mantle of being a star. I did a film with Steve McQueen. Similar factor.”
The lateness didn’t enhance with age. Ward labored once more with Redford on 1988’s The Milagro Beanfield Conflict, which Redford starred in and directed. “You are supposed to begin taking pictures at 7:00 am,” says Ward. “And it bought to be 9:30. And we nonetheless hadn’t seen him — after which swiftly, we see this rider and horse using throughout a mesa within the distance. The AD had some binoculars: ‘Yeah, there’s Redford.’ … Then he got here to set and did not say something about being late. The remainder of it was all regular {and professional} and he did not play God. He wasn’t abusive to anyone.
“I do not know what it was,” Ward continued. “He had a perhaps some form of superstition about being on time. He had Cheech Marin ready two days up in Sundance for his audition (for Milagro). He introduced him as much as audition him on a Tuesday and he did not get to him till Thursday. He put him up at Sundance in a pleasant cabin and all the pieces — however Cheech was dropping his thoughts.”
Sting grossed $156 million (the equal of $1.1 billion in 2023), whereas Butch earned $102 million ($889 million immediately). Each movies have been stylishly directed by George Roy Hill and proved enormously well-liked with the Academy: Butch was nominated for seven Oscars and gained 4 (together with greatest authentic screenplay), however Sting gained seven of its 10 nominations, together with greatest image, authentic screenplay and director for Hill.
