Paul Newman (The Sting) The Sting
Paul Newman signed on to The Sting after five consecutive box-office disappointments, negotiating top billing, $500,000, and a percentage of the profits. The film restored his standing as a first-rank star and gave him what may be his most purely entertaining performance. Henry Gondorff -- the drunk in a brothel who turns out to be the sharpest operator in any room -- let Newman play against his matinee-idol image while exploiting the authority that image conferred.
Newman's previous five films had flopped, and The Sting was a comeback
By 1973, Newman's commercial standing had eroded. Films like The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Pocket Money, and The Mackintosh Man had underperformed. The Sting was not charity -- Newman demanded and received top billing over Redford plus profit participation -- but it carried career stakes beyond the paycheck. The film's $257 million worldwide gross made it one of the defining commercial triumphs of the decade and returned Newman to the A-list. (wikipedia)
Newman described the film as "a corker" and his part as grittier than Redford's
In a December 1973 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Newman offered his assessment of the finished film and the division of labor between the leads.
"I think the film's a corker, a very juicy movie, with a great feeling for a particular time in history." — Paul Newman, Click Americana (reprinting The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1973)
"I'd say there's a lot more grit in my part. Redford carries a lot of luggage in the movie." — Paul Newman, Click Americana (reprinting The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1973)
The distinction is precise. Gondorff plans, performs, and stays cool; Hooker grieves, improvises, and nearly gets killed. Newman's role is the con's architecture; Redford's is its emotional cost.
The hangover scene drew on personal experience
Gondorff's introduction -- drunk and disheveled in a brothel, recovering through an ice bath -- is one of the film's most memorable sequences. Newman improvised elements of the scene, and multiple sources note that the performance drew on his own struggles with alcohol. Sean Keeley described it as "a case of art imitating life." (thedispatch)
The gap between Gondorff's apparent dissolution and his actual precision is the scene's structural purpose: it teaches the audience that surfaces lie, which is the film's governing principle.
Newman was a natural card player and admitted to being "a good cheat"
The poker game on the 20th Century Limited required Newman to play a man playing drunk while actually executing a cold-deck switch. When asked about his card skills in 1973, Newman was characteristically blunt.
"I'm a natural card player. I've always been a good... [Asked 'Cheat?'] Yeah, a cheat. I'm a good crook. Not in my income taxes, though. Only at cards." — Paul Newman, Click Americana (reprinting The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1973)
The friendship with Redford was real and lasted decades
Newman and Redford's on-screen chemistry reflected an off-screen friendship that ran on mutual respect and escalating practical jokes. For Newman's fiftieth birthday, Redford bought a junked Porsche from a towing service and had it delivered to Newman's porch. Newman had the car compacted into a cube and returned it. The exchange continued for years. (cnn)
Newman fought for Redford's casting in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, telling the younger actor: "I want to work with an actor." By The Sting, four years later, the partnership was established. Newman described it simply: "We bounce off of each other very well." (cnn)