The Sting (1973)

Paul Newman: Henry Gondorff

Photos 

11 more photos

Quotes 

• Johnny Hooker : Can you get a mob together?

  Henry Gondorff : After what happened to Luther, I don't think I can get more than two, three hundred guys.

• [last lines] 

  Henry Gondorff : You not gonna stick around for your share?

  Johnny Hooker : Nah. I'd only blow it.

• Johnny Hooker : He's not as tough as he thinks.

  Henry Gondorff : Neither are we.

• [Figuring out which con to pull on Lonnegan] 

  J.J. Singleton : I dunno know what to do with this guy, Henry. He's an Irishman who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and doesn't chase dames. He's a grand knight in the Knights of Columbus, and he only goes out to play faro. Sometimes plays 15 or 20 hours at a time, just him against the house.

  Henry Gondorff : Roulette? Craps?

  J.J. Singleton : He won't touch 'em. The croupier at Gilman's says he never plays anything he can't win.

  Henry Gondorff : Sports?

  J.J. Singleton : Likes to be seen with fighters sometimes, but he doesn't go to the fights or bet on 'em.

  Henry Gondorff : Jesus. Does he do anything where he's not alone?

  J.J. Singleton : Just poker. And he cheats. Pretty good at it, too.

• [Gondorff enters the poker game pretending to be drunk] 

  Henry Gondorff : Sorry I'm late. I was taking a crap.

• Henry Gondorff : What's your problem?

  Doyle Lonnegan : I'm putting half a million dollars on Lucky Dan to win, third race at Riverside Park.

  Henry Gondorff : Can't lay that off in time. A bet like that could break us.

  [Hooker stares at him incredulously] 

  Doyle Lonnegan : Not only are you a cheat, you're a gutless cheat as well.

  Henry Gondorff : What are the odds?

  Eddie Niles : Four to one.

  Henry Gondorff : Take all of it!

• Henry Gondorff : Glad to meet you, kid. You're a real horse's ass.

  Johnny Hooker : Luther said I could learn something from you. I already know how to drink.

• Johnny Hooker : Listen, Gondorff! Am I gonna learn the big con or not?

  Henry Gondorff : What's your hurry?

  Johnny Hooker : I want to play for Lonnegan.

  Henry Gondorff : You know anything about the guy?

  Johnny Hooker : Yeah! He croaked Luther! Anything else I gotta know?

  Johnny Hooker : [after he calms down]  All right. He runs a numbers racket on the south side. He owns a packing house. A few banks.

  Henry Gondorff : Yeah, and half the politicians in New York and Chicago. Not a fix in this world is gonna cool him out if he blows on you.

  Johnny Hooker : I'll get him anyway.

  Henry Gondorff : Why?

  Johnny Hooker : 'Cause I don't know enough about killin' to kill him.

  Henry Gondorff : You can't do it alone, you know. It takes a mob of guys like you and enough money to make them look good.

  Johnny Hooker : I know plenty of guys.

  Henry Gondorff : It's not like playing winos in the street. You can't outrun Lonnegan.

  Johnny Hooker : I never played for no winos.

  Henry Gondorff : You gotta keep his con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him.

  Johnny Hooker : You're scared of him.

  Henry Gondorff : Right down to my socks, buster! You're talkin' about a guy who'd kill a grifter over a chunk of money that wouldn't support him for two days!

• Doyle Lonnegan : Mr. Shaw, we usually require a tie at this table... if you don't have one we can get you one.

  Henry Gondorff : That'd be real nice of you, Mr. Lonniman!

  Doyle Lonnegan : Lonnegan.

  [Gondorf nods and burps in response] 

• Henry Gondorff : Is Lonnegan after you too?

  Johnny Hooker : I don't know. I ain't seen anybody.

  Henry Gondorff : You never do, kid.

• Johnny Hooker : I gave him the breakout just like you said.

  Henry Gondorff : And?

  Johnny Hooker : 'S good. He threatened to kill me.

  Henry Gondorff : Hell, kid, they don't do that, you know you're not getting to 'em.

• Henry Gondorff : Tough luck, Lonnehan. But that's what you get for playing with your head up your ass!

• Doyle Lonnegan : Four nines.

  Henry Gondorff : Four jacks.

• Henry Gondorff : I'd think you'd get tired of losing, Harrigan.

  Doyle Lonnegan : [going to the betting window]  Blue Note, $2,000 to win, fourth race, Narragansett.

  Henry Gondorff : Make sure you see the cash, Eddie. He's got a name for betting money he doesn't have.

• Henry Gondorff : You have to keep this con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him.

• Henry Gondorff : Always drink gin with a mark, kid. He can't tell if you cut it.

• Henry Gondorff : Sorry about Luther. He was the best street worker I ever saw.

  Johnny Hooker : He had you down as a big-timer. What happened?

  Henry Gondorff : I conned a senator from Florida on a stock deal. A real lop-ear. Thought he was gonna take over General Electric. Some chanteuse woke him, though, and he put the feds on me.

  Johnny Hooker : You mean you blew it.

  Henry Gondorff : Luther didn't tell me you had a big mouth.

  Johnny Hooker : He didn't tell me you was a screw-up, either. You played any big cons since then?

  Henry Gondorff : Oh, I lammed around a bunch of bohunk towns, one kick ahead of the G-men. Would be still if Billie hadn't set me up here. Don't kid yourself, friend. I still know how.

• Eddie Niles : Lonnegan gets most of his income from the numbers, even though he's been putting more and more money into his savings-and-loan business.

  Henry Gondorff : You think he's moving out of the racket?

  Eddie Niles : No, he owns most of the stock that's traded. But my guess is he's just trying to build himself a respectable image. He came out of Five Points, but he's been telling everybody he was born in Forest Hills. He knows the market, though. I don't think we can take him on a stocks deal.

  Henry Gondorff : Twist, what about the numbers?

  Kid Twist : Tipsters say it's run out of a packinghouse on 14th by a guy named Combs. Lonnegan comes out every three weeks or so to check on it, but he stays away from the day-to-day stuff in case it's raided. These are two of Combs' favorite torpedoes, Riley and Cole. You ever seen 'em?

  Johnny Hooker : [taking a pair of photographs]  No.

  Kid Twist : They're the ones who hit Luther. They also got the numbers runner you conned, a guy named Mottola. Found him in a quarry with a knife in his eye. Lonnegan's had seven or eight people rubbed on his way up. His pattern has been to get close to a racket boss, learn the operation, then move in on it. He's done it to Gorman, O'Donnell, Buchalman, took the numbers from Sharkey. All four of these guys are dead. He's vindictive as hell, Henry. Kills for pride. Doesn't add up he'd let Hooker get away from him.

  Henry Gondorff : You see anything, kid, you let us know. If they put you on the spot, we got to fold the con. You got that?

  Johnny Hooker : [still looking at the pictures of Lonnegan's hitters]  Yeah. You sure it's gotta be one of these two guys?

  Kid Twist : No. They're just the only ones we know of.

• Eddie Niles : With no fix, we're gonna need a con with a sure-fire blow-off.

  J.J. Singleton : I think we ought to play this guy on the payoff. It's the tightest game we've got and it's not all over the papers yet.

  Kid Twist : Lonnegan is a fast egg, J.J. He's not going to sit still for a standard play.

  Eddie Niles : So what does that leave us? We can't con the payoff to a banker.

  Henry Gondorff : We'll use the wire. Haven't known a poker player yet who didn't wanna bet the ponies.

  Eddie Niles : The wire's been out of date for ten years.

  Henry Gondorff : That's why he won't know it.

  J.J. Singleton : I'm not sure I know it.

  Henry Gondorff : It'll take two of us working the inside. Any objections to Hooker as second man?

  [getting no objections] 

  Henry Gondorff : All right, we'll give Lonnegan the hook on the train and play him here. J.J., you think I can get in that poker game?

  J.J. Singleton : All you gotta do is show up with a lot of money and look like a sucker.

  Henry Gondorff : I also gotta win.

  [having been told Snyder was snooping around] 

  Henry Gondorff : Oh, by the way, any of you guys been passing bad money lately?

  [to Billie] 

  Henry Gondorff : If he comes in again, stall him so I can get a look at him.

• Henry Gondorff : Why didn't you tell me about Snyder before?

  Johnny Hooker : I thought I'd lost him.

  Henry Gondorff : Well, you found him again, and we're gonna have to do something about it. What else haven't you been telling me?

  Johnny Hooker : Nothing. That's all there is.

  Billie : [tending to his wound]  Hold still.

  Henry Gondorff : Why'd you move out of your room?

  Johnny Hooker : [having been shot at by Lonnegan's hitters]  It was too noisy.

  Henry Gondorff : You can't play your friends like marks, Hooker. You know how easy it would be for one of Lonnegan's guys to get you?

  Johnny Hooker : Henry, all we need is a couple of days and we can get the son of a bitch and nail him.

  Henry Gondorff : You just won't learn, will you? Christ, you come in here, I teach you stuff that maybe five guys in the whole world know. Stuff that most grifters couldn't do even if they knew it, and all you want to do is run down a bullet.

  Johnny Hooker : I'm asking for a couple of days, that's all. I can stay clear that long!

  Henry Gondorff : Christ, they'll probably miss you and hit me.

• Henry Gondorff : You're on, kid. But I can tell you, it's a hard act to follow.

  Johnny Hooker : How'd it go?

  Henry Gondorff : We got working money. Hey?

  Johnny Hooker : Yeah?

  Henry Gondorff : He's steamin'.

  Johnny Hooker : Yeah.

  Henry Gondorff : Watch yourself.

• Mr. Jameson from Chicago : [losing a hand of poker]  Well, that finishes me.

  Henry Gondorff : Don't worry about it, pal. They wouldn't have let you in here if you weren't a chump! Lombard will be joining you in a couple of minutes.

  Mr. Jameson from Chicago : Now, look here, Shaw...

  Mr. Lombard : I've had quite enough of this game and quite enough of this company. Check me out, Clemens.

  Henry Gondorff : I guess that just leaves the three of us.

  Doyle Lonnegan : Yes, Mr. Shaw. Just leaves us three. Mr. Clayton, I think we should take a break for five minutes. Tempers seem to be running a little high.

  Henry Gondorff : Oh, come on, Linneman, I was just starting to do good.

• Henry Gondorff : [beating Lonnegan in poker]  You owe me 15 grand, pal.

  Doyle Lonnegan : [reaching into his coat, he realizes he doesn't have his wallet]  Must've left my wallet in my room.

  Henry Gondorff : Don't hand me any of that crap! When you come to a game like this, you bring your money! How do I know you won't take a powder?

  Mr. Lombard : [restraining Doyle before he can do anything]  No, no, no.

  Henry Gondorff : All right, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll send a boy around to your room in five minutes. You better have the money or it's gonna be all around Chicago that you welched. You won't be able to get a game of jacks!

• Henry Gondorff : I hear there's a friendly poker game on this train. You know anything about it?

  Train Conductor : Oh, a little.

  Henry Gondorff : Can you get me in that game?

  Train Conductor : Oh, I don't know. There's usually a waiting list.

  [Gondorff gives him a couple of hundred-dollar bills] 

  Train Conductor : That'll get you first alternate, sir.

  [Gondorff gives him another] 

  Train Conductor : I'll see what I can do.

• FBI Agent Polk : Okay, Henry, all clear.

  Henry Gondorff : It's a nice con, Hickey. I thought you were the feds myself when you came in.

  FBI Agent Polk : No trouble, Henry. Snyder went for it all the way. You should have seen the rag he lit under Lonnegan!

• Henry Gondorff : [Lonnegan wants another demonstration of "Shaw's" system]  You can forget the boodle, Eddie. He could hit us for 15 grand at 4-1. We can't handle that. We'll give him the shut-out.

• Johnny Hooker : How many guys you conned in your life, Henry?

  Henry Gondorff : I don't know. Two, three hundred. Sometimes we played two a day when I was with O'Shea's mob. Of course, Chicago was a rigged town. The fix was in. The dicks took their end without a beef. We had it down to a business. And it really stunk, kid. No sense in being a grifter if it's the same as being a citizen.

• Johnny Hooker : Hey, I wouldn't ask you to do this, you know, if it weren't for Luther.

  Henry Gondorff : Nothing's gonna make up for Luther. Revenge is for suckers. I've been grifting 30 years. I never got any.

  Johnny Hooker : Then why are you doing it?

  Henry Gondorff : It seems worthwhile, doesn't it?