MovieChat Forums > The Sting (1973) Discussion > The alley scene at the end...made the co...

The alley scene at the end...made the conclusion unbelievable

posted 2 years ago by JohnBraun604 (159)
6 replies | jump to latest

Yes The Sting is wildly entertaining. Yes, I was completely fooled at the end on first viewing....but I was 7 when I first watched it.

Now years later, the scene with the assassine lady walking up to Hooker in the alleyway really bothered me. That could have been another scam as it was just as, or even more convincing than the cartoonish shootout after that fooled a hardened criminal and a detective????

Surprising sloppy direction.

Detective Synder was there and could most certainly spot a fake.

[–] kwestmo (4114) 2 years ago

That is a very strange scene for such a light hearted film. Up until that scene GHandolph is like Spanky from the Our Gang comedies. Then we find out he has hired a thug to protect Hooker and kill someone if necessary, which he does. This is dramatic like Vito Coreleone in the Godfather.

A misstep for sure.

[–] strntz (10816) 2 years ago

I disagree. The main theme of this movie is that these grifters were extremely creative and accomplished in their "craft" - so much in fact that we as the audience are also conned throughout the whole movie.

We knew that "Salino" was the head hitman that Lonnegan specifically asked for and was put on Hooker's trail. We assume the hitman with the black gloves is Salino. We didn't know the tough but kindhearted waitress that helped Hooker escape another hitman would turn out to be Salino and the guy we thought was Salino was hired by Henry to look after Hooker! Whew. The back alley scene where Salino gets a round in her forehead shocked us because we didn't know the waitress was actually Salino and was going to kill Hooker right there. We expected the hitman with the black gloves to kill Hooker. Again we were conned.

Detective Synder was there and could most certainly spot a fake.

But he didn't. Snyder was conned just like Lonnegan and the audience was. Henry and his cast of grifters pulled a beauty of a con and everyone was involved until the last scene.

I think it was brilliant.

[–] JohnBraun604 (159) 2 years ago

The shooting in the head was cartoonish and then 3 minutes later another silly shooting. We are not sure if it is real or fake because the violence depicted is done in a way that you don't know what is real or fake. I guess it's not the point, of the film I know.

Thanks for the post! :)

[–] strntz (10816) 2 years ago

I guess it was meant to be shocking (although hardly Tarrantinoish in scope). We thought the hitwoman was the waitress who helped Hooker escape the second hitman, so her death was unexpected to say the least.

Thanks for the post! :)

You're welcome!

[–] JohnBraun604 (159) 2 years ago

haha Tarrantinoish!!! :)

I thought Booker was getting conned in the alleyway and the guy with the gun was the Salino, by the level of realism you don't know.

1) I watched The Sting after re-watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2) What did you think of The Sting 2?

[–] strntz (10816) 2 years ago

I honestly don't recall watching 2, and the more I think about it, I'm pretty sure I never did. If I did, it was on TV and forgettable. I know I would never pay for it at a theater.

I'm not a big fan of reviewers, but reviewers at the time pretty much all agreed this was a money grab and a bad one to boot.

If you ask me, any sequel with Mac Davis tells me it's not a serious attempt to recapture the magic of the first movie. Any movie with Davis in it is not a serious film. Imagine Godfather II having Mac Davis in it???

If the original cast reprised their roles, I would have gone to see it for sure.