UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Sting-- in 4k (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

One of the greatest screenplays.

Ever.

 

[MartinP.]

I noticed an Associate Producer credit on this film for Robert Crawford!

 

[Robert Crawford]

I noticed an Associate Producer credit on this film for Robert Crawford!

A former girlfriend of mine pointed that out to me while we waited for the movie theater crowd to thin out during the closing end credits.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

Remind me .... how does it end again?

 

[TonyD]

Remind me .... how does it end again?

 

[B-ROLL]

Remind me .... how does it end again?

!

 

[Jeffrey D]

Remind me .... how does it end again?

The butler did it.

 

[Will Krupp]

Remind me .... how does it end again?

He was dead the ENTIRE time!

 

[TonyD]

Ok.
I guess that’s all for The Sting?

 

[PMF]

The butler did it.

Which is why, in our house, we only use margarine.

 

[sbjork]

One of the greatest screenplays.

Ever.

One of life's delightful little ironies is that David S. Ward was unhappy when Universal chose to settle a plagiarism suit from The Big Con author David W. Maurer out of court, as while Ward had used the book as a source, is is non-fiction and it was just one of many such sources that he used. So he really had the last laugh when he later won Best Original Screenplay (deservedly so, may I add.)

 

[sbjork]

DNR is still evident, and I wish it was gone completely from this release. It is random, and it is minor, but it is there.

This could have been perfect, but for some reason it isn't. Like I said this is still by far the best it has ever looked on home video. I'm happy but just a bit confused as to why the film wasn't handled with the same level of respect throughout the entire film.

I don't agree that there is anything random about it. The Sting is loaded with optical transitions such as wipes, dissolves, & fades, and the shots with DNR are generally the leading and trailing shots surrounding those transitions. Universal must have opted for DNR in those shots to soften the grain structure and better match the surrounding material. The reason why it may seem random is that there are so many such transitions that after awhile you don't really associate the softer shots with them. Some of those shots are pretty long, too, which also makes it easy to forget that they are attached to the transitions.

 

[AnthonyClarke]

I think 'Frankly My Dear I Don't Give a Damn' wins B-Rolls' competition. How many spoilers can fit in one file in one thread? Congrats and here are your half-dozen steak knives.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I don't agree that there is anything random about it. The Sting is loaded with optical transitions such as wipes, dissolves, & fades, and the shots with DNR are generally the leading and trailing shots surrounding those transitions. Universal must have opted for DNR in those shots to soften the grain structure and better match the surrounding material. The reason why it may seem random is that there are so many such transitions that after awhile you don't really associate the softer shots with them. Some of those shots are pretty long, too, which also makes it easy to forget that they are attached to the transitions.

It would seem so... though unfortunately, it's still fair enough that many will find that to be seemingly "random" (and jarring) for their actual experience and enjoyment of the movie.

Personally, I just mostly ignored/overlooked that artifact (of the overall process), but it's obvious enough and may well be too jarring for many others...

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

A former girlfriend of mine pointed that out to me while we waited for the movie theater crowd to thin out during the closing end credits.

So, was she impressed by your movie career?

 

[Robert Crawford]

So, was she impressed by your movie career?

She knew that my middle name didn't start with an L.

 

[MartinP.]

In 2012 there was a 100 year retrospective of 36 Universal Studios Films at the Hammer Museum's Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood. When I saw The Sting, Robert L. Crawford was a Q&A guest afterwards. (I also saw Cobra Woman and Sweet Charity during the two month series.)

 

[PMF]

A former girlfriend of mine pointed that out to me while we waited for the movie theater crowd to thin out during the closing end credits.

So, was she impressed by your movie career?

She knew that my middle name didn't start with an L.

A middle initial is but a mere technicality.

BTW, does she know you’re famous now?

 

[MartinP.]

​

UNIVERSAL PICTURES CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY​

OF THE LANDMARK OSCAR® WINNING CLASSIC "THE STING"​

WITH AN EXCLUSIVE SCREENING EVENT OF
THE RECENT STUNNING 4K RESTORATION
AT THE LEGENDARY TCL CHINESE THEATRE IN HOLLYWOOD
______________________________________________________________

THE SPECIAL SCREENING EVENT WILL BE FOLLOWED
BY A PANEL DISCUSSION MODERATED BY
ACCLAIMED TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES HOST BEN MANKIEWICZ

PANELISTS INCLUDE THE STING's
ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING PRODUCERS
TONY BILL AND MICHAEL PHILLIPS,
OSCAR® WINNING SCREENWRITER DAVID S. WARD
AND ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE AND FORMER STUDIO EXECUTIVE MIKE MEDAVOY
________________________________________________________________________

THE SCREENING EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE
ON DECEMBER 11, 2023, at 7 P.M. PACIFIC TIME ​

The film opened on Christmas Day throughout the U.S. in 1973. In Hollywood it opened at the Cinerama Dome.

Notice the "Special New Year's Eve Midnight Show!" Also playing at the Buena Park Drive-In!​

 

[MartinP.]

I went to the above event last night! The film looked great and the panel was like friends getting together to reminisce about the old days. Most of the things they talked about I'd known from other things over the years, so nothing that new for me to learn. I did not know that Richard Boone was actually set to play the part of Gondorff, but he inexplicably stopped taking any of the producers phone calls. Also, Peter Boyle was considered for the role for a long period.

Don't know why it just occurred to me right now, I should've asked what any of them thought about the musical version of the film with Harry Connick, Jr., that had a production at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2018, billed as a pre-Broadway tryout, but yet to arrive there.

There's a theatre adaptation of the screenplay and I saw a little theatre production of it in Los Angeles once. It worked quite well and the person who adapted it, David Rogers, added his own little twist (con) for the audience as an extra bonus for those that know the film.

When I went to see it I was pretty dubious, because one thing I like about the film is how Henry Bumstead's (and John Payne's) art direction/set decoration, immerses you into the place and time the film is set so well that I couldn't imagine it being as enjoyable, but the production was mostly done on sparse multi-level platform like sets and it still worked. It's the script!

When I watch The Sting, I love George Roy Hill's use of wipes and pans and other film techniques no one uses much any more. It seems it's all quick film edits and jumps. I also like in movies when there's a shot of extras with interesting faces and such that comment on what they're looking at with that one great shot or something. You always see that in films of the 30s and 40s. You hardle see it in any movie now.

If the AMPAS Museum has a screening of it, I'll go see it there, too!