The Sting (1973)

Harold Gould: Kid Twist

Photos 

Quotes 

• Kid Twist : Now how do you want to work this? Flat rate or percentage?

  Benny Garfield : Who's the mark?

  Kid Twist : Doyle Lonnegan.

  Benny Garfield : Flat rate.

• Doyle Lonnegan : I put it all on Lucky Dan; half a million dollars to win.

  Kid Twist : To win? I said *place*! "Place it on Lucky D-" That horse is gonna run second!

  Doyle Lonnegan : [There is a pause, and Lonnegan runs horrified to the betting booth]  There's been a mistake! Gimme my money back!

• Kid Twist : Dukey, if this thing blows up, the Feds will be the least of our problems.

• 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.

• Benny Garfield : Been a while since I stocked the wire store. Not many mobs playing that anymore.

  Eddie Niles : All we'll need is the bookie setup for now.

  Benny Garfield : All right. I'll rent you everything I've got in the warehouse for two grand. That'll give you phones, cages, blackboards, and ticker gear. If you want a counter and bar, that's another grand.

  Kid Twist : That's pretty steep, Benny.

  Benny Garfield : Gondorff's still a hot item. Where would I be if he gets hit?

  Kid Twist : Benny, you just give us what you can. We'll send a truck down.

• Johnny Hooker : Twist, I told him the tale, but he didn't go for it. He wants to see my partner tomorrow at 3:00.

  Kid Twist : 3:00?

  Johnny Hooker : Yeah.

  Kid Twist : No, we'll never get a telegraph store set up by then. Any chance of talking him out of it?

  Johnny Hooker : None. I would have stalled him, but I didn't have many friends in the room.

  Kid Twist : Yeah, all right, we'll have to play him on the fly. I'll get Eddie looking for a place.

  Johnny Hooker : Let me know when you got something.

  Kid Twist : Sure thing, tootsie.

• Kid Twist : [pretending to be painters in order to access a Western Union office]  We'll hurry so we don't keep you out of your office for too long.

  Western Union Executive : Well, why can't I work with you in here?

  J.J. Singleton : Look, pal, we got to cover the floor, the furniture, everything, so we don't spill on nothin'. Now, if you want to sit in here with a tarp over your head, you're welcome to it.

• Doyle Lonnegan : I want to see it one more time.

  Kid Twist : I can't do it. We got telegraph inspectors all over the place.

  Johnny Hooker : One more time isn't gonna make that much difference.

  Kid Twist : We've got 400 grand coming in from the coast next week. You wanna risk that on a lousy 15 G's?

  Doyle Lonnegan : If it works again tomorrow, I'll finance the whole thing. Half a million dollars. 60/40, we split.

  Kid Twist : What are you talk... I told you, we already got a guy. He's gonna give us half. What am I supposed to say to him?

  Doyle Lonnegan : You'll say to him what you want. What I know about your operation, if I were you, I'd be worried about making me happy.

  Johnny Hooker : He's right, Les. Your guy says a week. How do we know it won't be a month? Lonnegan here's a banker. Now, he can get the money without any questions asked.

  Kid Twist : But we can't keep going into Shaw's place and cleaning up on long shots. He's bound to get wise.