Robert Redford, legendary actor, producer, director, and co-founder of the Sundance Film Festival, passed away on Tuesday. While in Savannah, Georgia back in November 2009, serendipity struck and I was able to photograph him directing a scene from “The Conspirator.” In between takes, he gave quiet direction to actors James McAvoy and Tom Wilkinson. It was truly impressive to see this man in action without any attitude or ego-boosting entourage. I am sure everyone has their favorite Redford film, but for me, it will always be “The Sting.” Released in 1973, I remember being mesmerized by the twists and unexpected turns of the plot, along with the visual style of the film. Title cards by artist Jaroslav Gebrsplit divide the film into segments, created in a style that is reminiscent of The Saturday Evening Post. TOTALLY up my alley! Just in case you wondered, the font is Bookman Demi Italic. Yes, I’m a font geek, too.
The film’s catchy tunes originally came from turn-of-the-century Ragtime composer Scott Joplin. I immediately had my mother take me to Theodore Presser in Bryn Mawr so that I could buy the sheet music and learn to play all those piano pieces myself. In the 2005 documentary, “The Art of The Sting,” Redford explained director George Roy Hill’s thought process behind choosing Joplin for the score.
I remember George giving me a call and saying, “Hey come on over to the house.” We had rented a place out in California where I was making a film. “I want to play something for you,” he said, as he had discovered Scott Joplin, which nobody had heard of; we had heard of Ragtime, but I’d never heard of him. He [Hill] was quite a good pianist and he would play it. And he had it in his head that the rhythm of the film should follow that, because it had to do with the character ability of the piece itself, a period piece. It was just so much about George.
Writer David S. Ward was not in agreement at first about Hill’s choice.
I was actually opposed to it at first, because I said it’s the wrong time. Ragtime was much earlier, Ragtime was turn of the century, 1910. And George said, “David, you may be one of five people who sees this movie that knows that. Nobody’s going to care; I think it’s right for the spirit of the movie, for the feeling of the movie. It expresses for me the kind of feeling I want the movie to have.” And he was right.
Composer Marvin Hamlisch adapted the Joplin songs and wrote the rest of the music for the film.
I had discovered this language called Scott Joplin. I had all the pieces that you needed, and they just literally felt as if they had been written for this picture. Particularly Ragtime worked for this picture because it’s very tongue-in-cheek, and though I was criticized when the movie came out by some critics who said, “How could you be using music that didn’t really take place in the same era? It wasn’t the same time.” I would say yes, but the Ragtime by itself tells you that it’s fun, it’s rhythmic, it’s sassy, it’s Chicago. So this was one of probably the most joyful experiences I ever had to work on a film. My kind of humor that I like and this film are very much akin, and therefore I could treat it with a little tongue-in-cheek, and I think that’s what George liked. In fact, we had a running gag which was that when we were going to record the film, I said to him, “Well if you get there first you can play the piano, and if I get there first, I’ll play the piano,” because George Roy Hill could play the piano. And so for the first day I got there about 45 minutes early.
Hamlisch’s adaptations gave Joplin an exposure and popularity that made him the “classical phenomenon of the decade,” according to Record World magazine. The film’s soundtrack, mainly comprised of Joplin tunes (with a few written by Hamlisch to blend in) spent several weeks at number one in Billboard’s Top LPs and Tape chart. LPs and Tape…a lost era…
As always I digress. Besides the audio style of the film set by Joplin’s music, art director Henry Bumstead along with cinematographer Robert Surtees created the warm nostalgic look of Chicago, 1936. With a combination of matte paintings, film locations, and perfectly appointed soundstage sets, the movie convincingly puts the audience right into a believable time warp. Above are two matte painting shots combined with live action. The one on the bottom was cleverly combined with footage of the Santa Monica Pier, seen below.
The above and below shots I took in April 2012. The historic Looff Hippodrome on the pier was used for both exterior and interior shots, showcasing the carousel.
Below are a few screenshots from “The Sting,” just in case you want to compare for yourself! The carousel is from 1922 and was installed in the Hippodrome in 1947.
A panoramic view of the Hippodrome, where Redford’s character, Johnny Hooker, meets the proprietress of the Merry Go-Round, Billie, expertly played by Eileen Brennan.
Brennan’s delivery is always understated but powerful. Her deep voice and penetrating eyes give her a commanding presence in every scene.
Brennan’s take on acting:
I feel that behavior is everything, and particularly on the screen. If you have great words, good, that’s terrific, but it’s the behavior that registers. So I approach things through that way. The character tells you what to do.
Even as a kid, I remember being mesmerized by the long takes of Brennan’s character walking languidly through the back halls of the Merry Go-Round/brothel that she runs.
George loved that walk! He would say, “I want you to walk down this hall,” and he said, “I want one hip to touch one wall, and another hip to touch the other. That’s what I want.” He just loved the walk, and he’d make me do it, and then Newman would laugh! And they would have me walk up and down.
Another notable stride from the film came from Robert Shaw, who plays ruthless crime boss Doyle Lonnegan. Actor Ray Walston, who portrayed one of the con men recruited to foil Lonnegan, recalls the impetus for Shaw’s noticeable limp:
George Roy Hill had a habit, either while he was thinking or if he had a problem, or whatever, he would be doing this [shown above]. And I thought, hmm. One day during the rehearsal, I was sitting in a chair next to him and the stage door opened and Robert Shaw came limping in, walked over and he said right away, “Look, no money involved, I’m very sorry, this is all my fault, I was playing handball, and I sprained my ankle very very…it’s very bad. And, if you put another actor in, it’s ok with me, and no money involved.”
And George Roy Hill [made his characteristic gesture] and then he said, “Walk over there.” And Robert Shaw limped over. He said, “Now come back.” Shaw turned around, came back to where we were sitting. And George Roy Hill said, “Okay, that’s the way we’ll play it.” And that’s why Shaw had a limp in that picture.
Between Shaw and Paul Newman, who do YOU think wins the battle in this stare-down of the piercing blue eyes?
Actress Dimitra Arliss (below) memorably played the part of a waitress in a diner that hooks up with Johnny Hooker.
[Director George Roy Hill] wanted a totally unknown face. He wanted a face for the part of Salino that had never been seen before, so that nobody could endow her with anything, and there was a bit of opposition from Universal because they didn’t think I was pretty enough to go to bed with Robert Redford. That’s what I heard; I don’t know if this is true, but it’s delicious gossip. It wasn’t until years afterward that I could look back and appreciate how good a director George Roy Hill is, because he wanted somebody who wasn’t overly conspicuously good looking. By that, I mean when I first saw my hairdo and the way they put me together I was stunned. So, word got back to George that I didn’t like my hair. He knew actors better than any director I’ve ever worked with; he knew how to talk to actors, he knew how to handle these problems. He said, “Dimitra, if you were to ask me, is this a hairdo you should wear, I would say ‘no,’ but if you were to ask me, is this hairdo perfect for Loretta Salino, I would say ‘yes.’” Well, he had me. And at that point, I started really understanding that Loretta Salino is an actress. She’s got a job, and his is how she looks for this job. And then George said to me, “If you look too good in the diner, Redford’s character would think, ‘What is she doing here?’ He would get very suspicious about the whole thing. The fact is, you have to look good, but you have to also belong in a diner.” And I thought, my God, is he smart. He was so right.
Arliss also discussed the attention to detail of the production itself:
The quality of the sets, like in the bedroom…Henry Bumstead, he was the production designer. If you could have seen the bedroom; it was precious! There were little bottles of nail polish, used, half way. I would look around and I saw all these little things; it told me so much about the character. I mean, this man thought about all of these little knick knacks…not on camera. Nobody’s ever going to see them but me, but there they were and it was so enriching. It was the same thing with the great Edith Head. Every single thing she did, my costumes, everything, it was perfection. It gave you your character so that you weren’t out there by yourself.
Speaking of Salino’s bedroom, one thing that I’ve always wondered when you see him shirtless… how did a con man in Chicago have such a deep tan and sun-bleached hair? It is to Redford’s credit that once immersed in the movie and his character, you just don’t care.
Johnny Hooker is given a Cinderella transformation montage when his older mentor Henry Gondorff (played by Newman), attempts to class him up in anticipation of the Lonnegan con. In this early scene from the film, we see Redford dressed in rags. Interesting note: the man next to him who played Luther is Robert Earl Jones, father of James! All in the family…
And below are shots from the “after” transformation scenes. Although the manicurist (Patricia Bratcher) gives the flirtatious Johnny a disdainful look, you know she is melting on the inside.
As a kid, I thought Redford’s 1930s slicked-back do was the bees knees. Somehow though, it just didn’t look the same when I tried it on myself.
Another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it uncredited cameo was played by Susan French, as Hooker’s landlady (shown below).
She also played the older version of Elise, Jane Seymour’s character in “Somewhere in Time” (1980).
So ends my little tribute to a great film, selected in 2005 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Actress Pat Crowley died just a few days before Redford, so it is not surprising that her death was overshadowed. I remember loving her in the TV sitcom “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” (1965-1967) with Mark Miller.
Child actress Marilyn Knowlden passed the day before Redford. She had a bit part in the Shirley Temple film, “Just Around the Corner” (1938). More on her at a later date!
In other news, the preservation of Marilyn Monroe’s home has overcome another hurdle with the September 2nd judgment allowing the city of Los Angeles to maintain the Historical-Cultural Monument status of the icon’s former home. You can read more at the Saving Places website.
See more Classic Movie & TV photos at my main website.
