A young, but talented con man named Johnny Hooker(Robert Redford) inadvertently crosses big-time mobster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) with one of his grifts. Now, with his partner murdered and the heat on him from both the cops and the crooks, Johnny turns to the legendary master of the "Big Con" Gondorff (Paul Newman) to get some payback on Lonnegan, and just maybe save his own skin...