Robert Redford

Robert Redford has had a very diverse film career. Redford has been in over thirty films, and of those thirty films, his most famous are: Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, The Sting, All the Presidents Men, The Natural, Out of Africa, and etc...

The two films I will be talking about today are The Way We Were and The Sting, both of which were released in 1973.

Redford is by far one of the most handsomest men to ever grace the screen. In face, Redford has mentioned several times in interviews how much he hates that his looks can pigeon hold him into a certain category, like roles such as the leading man in a romantic film.

In a lot of Redford's films he plays characters that are incredible gorgeous, but moody. It seems he always has an attitude problem or some kind. In films I've seen such as Inside Daisy Clover and The Way We Were he talks about the expectations that society has of him. And usually this reflects back on his own belief that he's chosen for films solely on his looks. I say why not, If you have what Redford has show it off.

The first movie of Redford's I'd like to talk about is The Sting. The Sting is the second film in which Paul Newman and Robert Redford star. The first one was the hit film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Redford plays Johnny Hooker and Newman plays, Henry Gondorff. This film is called the sting for a very good reason. A group of con men work together and swindle a rich man responsible for killing one of their own.

I love this movie for so many reasons. The first of which is that it pairs two geniuses together again. Second, the touching  the side of the nose with the index finger that all the men do in the movie. That gesture signifies the sharing of a secret. Who came up with that, it's awesome. And lastly, the theme song called The Entertainer.

First impressions aren't always the best, Hooker finds Gondorff pasted out and snoring. To wake him up, Hooker puts Gondorff in the tub. "Glad to meet ya kid, your a real horses ass," and a friendship is made.


Together Gondorff and Hooker gather a group of men who can be trusted to pull a con on a big man named, Doyle Lonnegan. Easily enough, everyone stops what they're doing to help get revenge for Luther's death. Aboard a train, Gondorff and Hooker pull a small con on Lonnegan involving poker. To get ready for the game, Gondorff shows off his skill to Hooker. Gondorff plays it so well, until...

 

 

 

The next scene we see Hooker in action:

 

 

After easing Lonnegan into the wire game, and after meeting Hooker's Western Union man, everything is finally in place for the big con against Lonnegan. Snyder, a cop whose been after Hooker, finally gets his hands on him for that counterfeit money. Snyder takes him to the local feds who wants Hooker's help to get Gondorff. What's a guy to do?

 

 

I'll never tell. You'll have to watch the movie for yourself.

The last film I'd like to talk about that I previously mentioned in an earlier post is The Way We Were. This has to be one of the saddest love stories ever made. This classic film stars, Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford. The running theme of this movie is the love story between Redford and Streisand and how difficult life can be. It is so ironic though that Redford's character Hubbell Gardner writes a short story called "The All-American Smile," and how "It had always been to easy." This movie proves otherwise.

Redford plays Hubbell a college football; an all American type, who hates the image he has. Streisand plays KKKatie(you'll get it if you watch it) Katie is a young liberal woman who speaks out about injustices all over campus. Her fellow students make fun of her. The story is about these two different people coming together years later and falling in love.

The movie starts off, with Katie producing a radio show. Her bosses date canceled so he asks Katie to join him at a club. While she's there, she sees Hubbell asleep at the bar. We are then taken back to her days at college.

Back in real time, and after dating for awhile, Hubbell brings Katie to some of his friends parties. Katie calls them out on their stupid jokes about the death of President Delano Roosevelt. The next day, Hubbell shows up at the radio station and tells Katie it's over.

Break up scene: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/263781/Way-We-Were-The-Movie-Clip-It-s-Always-Bad-News.html

That night, Katie calls Hubbell and asks him to come over to talk. So they talk about how Katie is to serious. And Hubbell has a fantastic line, "Katie, you expect so much" and Katie responds, "Oh, but look what I got." The two end up getting married and moving to California.

During the same time Hubbell and Katie move,  the HUAC trials are going on. HUAC is the House Un-American Activities Committee. The HUAC is an investigative committee who hold sessions about people HUAC suspect to be members of the communist party. Katie immediately jumps on this and starts fighting against. Katie wants to challenge the government on the basis of the first amendment. Katie and any others are fighting for the Release of the famous Hollywood Ten. 

When Katie returns from Washington, trouble ensues: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/263773/Way-We-Were-The-Movie-Clip-Tell-Off-The-World-.html

I will not give the entire movie away, but please see it. You won't be sorry: