GEORGE ROY HILL
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB.5.
USA, 1973. Zanuck/Brown Productions, Universal Pictures. Screenplay by David S. Ward. Cinematography by Robert Surtees. Produced by Tony Bill, Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips. Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Production Design by Henry Bumstead. Costume Design by Edith Head. Film Editing by William Reynolds. Academy Awards 1973. Golden Globe Awards 1973.
Robert Redford plays a con man who seeks revenge after his partner is killed by a crime boss. He teams up with older, wiser scam genius Paul Newman and the two of them set out to take the bad guy for all he’s worth. Despite there having been a million imitations of this film since it was first made, this George Royal Hill gem set in the 1930s still manages to be jam-packed full of treats for all audience members, and the surprises are still fresh. Redford and Newman continue the terrific chemistry they had in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (also directed by Hill), and the costumes by Edith Head are beautifully colourful. Marvin Hamlisch contributes a marvelous, Joplin-inspired ragtime score.
