Movie fans got a firsthand look into how the mob-controlled Las Vegas from 1960s through the ’80s with the release of Martin Scorsese’s film Casino. Scorsese released the film on this date 30 years ago with a fictional story inspired by real Sin City events.
The film premiered in New York on Nov. 14, 1995, and went into wider release on Nov. 22. It featured a star-studded cast including Joe Pesci, Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone, and Don Rickles. Regular poker players and actors James Woods and Kevin Pollak had supporting roles in the film.
The film is based on the book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi. It detailed the events surrounding Lefty Rosenthal and mob enforcer Tony “The Ant” Spilotro while running Mafia-controlled casinos in 1970s Las Vegas.
Rosenthal ran the Stardust while Spilotro served as an enforcer. Spilotro later became involved in numerous burglaries and the FBI alleged he was responsible for more than 20 murders.
Scorsese adapted the book along with Pileggi for the screenplay. The film substituted fictional characters for Rosenthal and Spilotro – Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Pesci), and most of their conversations were improvised on set.
Gambling & Gangsters
At the time, Las Vegas was one of just a handful of jurisdictions with legalized casino gambling. Hence its ties to organized crime. Since then, the landscape has changed drastically, with casinos in most states and even online casinos in seven states.
The screenplay for the film was co-written by Pileggi and Scorsese. The real-life Riviera in Las Vegas was used to film the casino scenes and the Landmark Hotel served as the entrance of the Tangiers.
Pileggi, who also penned the book Wiseguy that inspired the Scorsese film Goodfellas, said shooting at a working casino made a major impact on the production.
“The quality you get out of shooting at a real casino is so much better than the feel you get out of the best soundstage,” he told PBS’s Charlie Rose before the movie was released in 1995. “There’s a quality in the paint and the rugs are worn out in the right way.
Beyond the ins and outs of the mob-run casino business that includes run-ins with the feds, the film also focuses on the turbulent relationship between Rothstein and his wife Ginger (Stone). The showgirl and former prostitute shares a daughter with Rothstein while also dealing with a growing drug problem.
Becoming A Classic
Scorsese famously said that Casino has “no plot but a lot of action, a lot of story,” explaining that the film’s enduring appeal comes from its characters, mood, and “poetic cinema” rather than a traditional narrative.
While Scorsese earned a nomination for best director at the Golden Globes, Stone’s performance was especially singled out, winning her best actress, as well as an Oscar nomination. The film scored a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, but sports a 93% with viewers.
“Martin Scorsese’s fascinating new film Casino knows a lot about the Mafia’s relationship with Las Vegas,” critic Roger Ebert noted. “Like The Godfather, it makes us feel like eavesdroppers in a secret place. Unlike his other Mafia movies (Mean Streets and Goodfellas), Scorsese’s Casino is as concerned with history as with plot and character.”
In other gambling-related movie news, screenwriter Josh Wilcox spoke with Card Player in 2024 about the poker film Dead Money featuring actor Emile Hirsch. Four-time World Poker Tour champion Darren Elias also recently took a look at Hollywood’s treatment of the game.
