Tony Bill directed a film based on a book.
The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936 , involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters ( Paul Newman and Robert Redford ) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw ) . Created by screenwriter David S. Ward , the story was inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and documented by David Maurer in his book The Big Con : The Story of the Confidence Man . Tony Bill . He produced the 1973 movie The Sting , for which he shared the Academy Award for Best Picture with Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips . He made his directorial debut with My Bodyguard ( 1980 ) , and has since directed movies like Six Weeks ( 1982 ) , Five Corners ( 1987 ) , Crazy People ( 1990 ) , and Flyboys ( 2006 ) .