10 Essential Robert Redford Performances You Need to See
Robert Redford in ‘The Old Man & the Gun’. Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Robert Redford is the type of actor you don’t find too often in Hollywood these days. Ruggedly handsome and confidently self-assured, there’s never a movie that isn’t improved by his presence.
Sadly, Redford passed away today. His last starring role was in director David Lowery’ ‘The Old Man & The Gun’, but his final on screen appearance was as Alexander Pierce in ‘Avengers: Endgame’.
Release Date: Apr 26, 2019
Run Time: 3 hr 1 min
Budget: $356,000,000
In tribute to a long, successful career, here are the ten Robert Redford performances everyone needs to see.
10. Johnny Hooker in ‘The Sting’ (1973)
(L to R) Robert Redford and Paul Newman in ‘The Sting’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
A novice con man (Redford) teams up with an acknowledged master (Paul Newman) to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.
“…all it takes is a little confidence.”
Release Date: Dec 25, 1973
Run Time: 2 hr 9 min
Budget: $5,500,000
Robert Redford in ‘Jeremiah Johnson’. Photo: Warner Bros.
A mountain man (Redford) who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on the early frontier.
“Some say he’s dead…some say he never will be.”
Release Date: Dec 21, 1972
Run Time: 1 hr 48 min
Budget: $3,100,000
8. Hubbell Gardiner in ‘The Way We Were’ (1973)
(L to R) Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand in ‘The Way We Were’. Photo: Columbia Pictures.
Opposites attract when, during their college days, Katie Morosky (Barbra Streisand), a politically active Jew, meets Hubbell Gardiner (Redford), a feckless WASP. Years later, in the wake of World War II, they meet once again and, despite their obvious differences, attempt to make their love for each other work.
“Everything seemed so important then… even love!”
Release Date: Oct 17, 1973
Run Time: 1 hr 58 min
Budget: $5,000,000
7. Roy Hobbs in ‘The Natural ‘(1984)
Robert Redford in ‘The Natural’. Photo: Tri-Star Pictures.
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs (Redford) with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league.
“He lived for a dream that wouldn’t die.”
Release Date: May 11, 1984
Run Time: 2 hr 17 min
Budget: $28,000,000
Robert Redford in ‘The Candidate’. Photo: Warner Bros.
Bill McKay (Redford) is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.
“Bill McKay has a lot going for him…but nothing compared to what’s coming.”
Release Date: Jun 29, 1972
Run Time: 1 hr 50 min
Budget: $1,600,000
(L to R) River Phoenix, David Strathairn, Dan Aykroyd and Robert Redford in ‘Sneakers’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
When shadowy U.S. intelligence agents blackmail a reformed computer hacker (Redford) and his eccentric team of security experts into stealing a code-breaking ‘black box’ from a Soviet-funded genius, they uncover a bigger conspiracy. Now, he and his ‘sneakers’ must save themselves and the world economy by retrieving the box from their blackmailers.
“We could tell you what it’s about. But then, of course, we’d have to kill you.”
Release Date: Sep 9, 1992
Run Time: 2 hr 6 min
Budget: $23,000,000
4. The Man in ‘All Is Lost’ (2013)
Robert Redford in ‘All Is Lost’. Photo: Lionsgate.
During a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, a veteran mariner (Redford) awakes to find his vessel taking on water after a collision with a stray shipping container. With his radio and navigation equipment disabled, he sails unknowingly into a violent storm and barely escapes with his life. With any luck, the ocean currents may carry him into a shipping lane — but, with supplies dwindling and the sharks circling, the sailor is forced to face his own mortality.
Release Date: Oct 18, 2013
Run Time: 1 hr 46 min
Budget: $9,000,000
Robert Redford in ‘Three Days of the Condor’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner (Redford) finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman (Faye Dunaway) he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.
“His CIA code name is Condor. In the next seventy-two hours almost everyone he trusts will try to kill him.”
Release Date: Sep 24, 1975
Run Time: 1 hr 57 min
Budget: $7,800,000
Robert Redford in ‘All the President’s Men’. Photo: Warner Bros.
During the 1972 elections, two reporters’ (Redford and Dustin Hoffman) investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.
“The most devastating detective story of this century.”
Release Date: Apr 9, 1976
Run Time: 2 hr 18 min
Budget: $8,500,000
Robert Redford in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’. Photo: 20th Century-Fox.
As the west rapidly becomes civilized, a pair of outlaws (Paul Newman and Redford) in 1890s Wyoming find themselves pursued by a posse and decide to flee to South America in hopes of evading the law.
“Not that it matters, but most of it is true.”
Release Date: Sep 24, 1969
Run Time: 1 hr 51 min
Budget: $6,000,000