Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The poker scene – 'this whole 10 minutes is just a giant long scene. Newman showing off card tricks, the gin trick.' Also: the first con (the switch in the pants with Luther).
• Sean: The first time Gondorf and Hooker meet – 'Luther said I could learn from you' / Gondorf's hung over, barely conscious. 'That's my most rewatchable.'
• CR: The poker scene. 'Always drink gin with a mark, kid – they can't tell if you cut it.'

• Bill: Robert Shaw looking 65 years old at 45. Also: payphones; the Depression setting played as a charming throwback.
• Sean: The great clothes – three-piece suits, fedoras. Started a fashion trend. 'The inverted tone where a Depression setting is fun and everyone's cool.'

• Sean: The movie inverts everything it's about – 'a Depression-era movie that feels like the most fun anyone's ever had.'
• Bill: Great character names (Horse-faced Lee, Slim, Suitcase Murphy, Kid Twist). Train trips with stars. Pretending to be drunker than you are as a con.
• CR: Pickpocketing as a movie device. The whole concept of a triple con within a con.

• Bill: Hooker losing at roulette – 'you can't be a good gambler and a bad gambler at the same time. He bets the 3000 right away.'
• Sean: The Selena waitress/assassin subplot – you forget it between viewings, which is actually a benefit.

Bill: 'It's a con movie' – everyone is performing within a performance. Nobody really overacts.

• Sean: Even though it's his only Oscar nomination, this wouldn't make his top 10 Redford performances. 'He's better in Three Days of the Condor, The Natural, All the President's Men, and many others. He's a little too old for the kid role.'
• Bill: This movie is best seen every 10 years – 'the more details you forget, the more fun it is to revisit.' If you forget the FBI is fake, the Selena twist, etc., it all hits harder.
• Sean: First installment of 'old Paul Newman' era – Newman was already in a career slump before this revived him.

• Jack Nicholson was offered the lead role.
• Newman turned down Dirty Harry (too right wing, recommended Eastwood) and was too expensive for French Connection.

• Sean: Jack Kehoe – 'that guy from 'Midnight Run', to me.' He's the con team member with the great face.
• Also: Robert Earl Jones (Luther, father of James Earl Jones); Ray Walston; Charles Durning.

Bill: Selena the waitress/assassin. Also: the Lonigan poker game dealer who's secretly working for Gondorf.

• Newman and Redford both drove Porsches and loved them – led to a famous prank story Bill told.
• David S. Ward won the Oscar for Original Screenplay at 28.
• Robert Earl Jones (Luther) is James Earl Jones's father.
• 'The Sting' started a three-piece suit and fedora fashion trend in 1973-74.

• Newman/Redford pairing: The last great 'get the band back together non-sequel' pairing. Modern comps: Ferrell/Reilly (Talladega Nights/'Step Brothers'), Chalamet/Leo potential.
• George Roy Hill: Possibly – two Best Picture nominees back-to-back with Butch Cassidy and this.
• Con movies: Yes – #1 con movie of all time.
• Scott Joplin ragtime: Yes.

Spielberg.

Multiple options discussed – could have played several of the con team members. The Paymer/Azaria comedy team dynamic (from 'Quiz Show') would have been perfect for PSH.

• Bill: Hooker losing $3,000 at roulette immediately – a good gambler wouldn't bet it all at once.
• Sean: The Selena subplot is the weakest thread.

The writing – David S. Ward's screenplay.

• Bill: All the poker chips from the poker scene. Also: Henry's playing cards.
• CR: Lonnegan's wallet – 'money in there or the fake money.'
• Sean: Newman's overall tank top fedora combo – 'will I ever see you in a tank top like that?'

• Bill: 'Revenge is for suckers.' Also: 'Even after you take his money, he can't know you took him.'
• Sean: Lonnegan's line – 'Take a look at that face, Floyd, because if he ever finds out I can be beat by one lousy grifter, I'll have to kill him.'

• Sean: 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (obvious Redford/Newman/Hill companion).
• CR: Focus or 'Ocean's Eleven' (con double feature).
• Bill: The Hot Rock (similar breezy Redford style, same era).

Bill and Sean: Redford – 'walks out smelling like gold.' There's also a George Roy Hill case (this + Butch Cassidy).

Craig enjoyed it but noted the movie benefits enormously from forgetting the twists between viewings.