Casino (film)

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Casino

Theatrical movie poster
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Produced by Barbara De Fina
Written by Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese
Starring Robert De Niro
Joe Pesci
Sharon Stone
Frank Vincent
Don Rickles
James Woods
Kevin Pollak
Alan King
Cinematography Robert Richardson
Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) November 22, 1995
Running time 178 min.
Country USA USA
Language English
Budget $52,000,000
IMDb profile

Casino is a 1995 movie directed by Martin Scorsese, based on the book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi and Larry Shandling. Robert De Niro stars as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a top gambling handicapper who is called by the Mob to oversee the day-to-day operations at the fictional Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. The story is based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who ran the Stardust, Fremont and the Hacienda casinos in Las Vegas for The Mob from the 1970s until the early 1980s.

Joe Pesci plays Nicky Santoro, based on the real-life Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, an intimidating enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. Santoro is sent to Vegas by the bosses to make sure that money from the Tangiers is skimmed off the top and that the casinos and mobsters in Vegas are kept in line. Sharon Stone plays Rothstein's wife, the self-obsessed, spoiled, devious and sly Ginger, a role that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein.
Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein.

Spanning over a decade in Las Vegas, the film is the adaptation of Casino, the true-crime account of the lives of mob associates Frank Rosenthal (renamed Sam "Ace" Rothstein for the movie), Tony "The Ant" Spilotro (renamed Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro), Joseph Aiuppa (Remo Gaggi) and Frank Culotta (Frank Marino). Rothstein, Santoro and Marino narrate the film.

Ace is entrusted by the leaders of the Chicago Outfit, led by Gaggi from Chicago, Illinois, to manage a Las Vegas casino (the Tangiers) they have financed via the Teamsters' Pension Fund and send them skimmed profits. Ace's friend Nicky shows up later (he was first sent to Vegas by Gaggi to keep an eye on Ace and to, more or less, "protect" him) and starts working for himself. While Ace appears to be a kind-hearted gentleman, Nicky is the polar opposite: an amoral psychopath who will not hesitate to kill anyone he sees as a threat. In one scene, after Nicky is asked by Gaggi to protect Ace, Nicky stabs a man in the neck with a pen multiple times solely for insulting Ace then mocks the man's whimpers. His cruelty also comes to the surface at another point when he takes his anger out on the casino manager, Billy Sherbert (Don Rickles) and hits him in the face with a telephone, calling him a "Jew fuck". Ace's gangster side is also shown in a few scenes, especially in one where he spots two cheaters and has the security guards brutally punish one of them by (Cheaters Justice) breaking his right hand with a hammer.

Sam and Ginger.
Sam and Ginger.

Ace and Nicky's relationship meets its biggest test when a woman named Ginger McKenna (based on Geraldine McGee) comes into Ace's life. After dating for a few months they have a daughter and get married, Ace having insisted on having the child first to ensure Ginger's commitment to him. All seems well until Ace catches Ginger sneaking around with her old pimp boyfriend, Lester Diamond (based on Lenny Marmor). Ginger's relationship with Diamond goes back to when she was age 14. Ace and Nicky have their men beat Diamond, but it doesn't stop him. Ginger and Diamond eventually kidnap the daughter, Amy, and flee for Los Angeles, making plans to escape to Europe. However, Ace tracks them down and convinces Ginger to bring Amy back home.

Though not satisfied, Ace accepts Ginger back inside the house, but that night, he catches Ginger speaking on the phone, asking someone to assassinate her husband. Furious, Ace hangs the phone up and literally throws her out of the house. She returns later on, but Ace has an even harder time accepting her back. His narration states that he allowed her back in the house particularly for being the mother of his daughter, someone whom he needed.

Now wanting to leave Rothstein with her money and Persian jewelry, Ginger seduces the one man who will help her: Nicky. They begin an affair, which could land them all killed by Gaggi (Nicky is a made-man, and sleeping with an associate's wife is against the made-man code). At one point, Gaggi asks Nicky's right-hand man, Frankie Marino, about the rumours of the affair, but Marino deliberately lies to Gaggi to protect Nicky, despite knowing that his discretion could get him killed too.

Nicky and Ginger have their argument.
Nicky and Ginger have their argument.

The breaking point occurs when Ace and Nicky have a falling out over Nicky's reckless criminal activities and the unwanted attention they receive from the police. Worried for his friend, Ace tries to convince Nicky to keep a lower profile, but he will not listen. It is only after Nicky threatens a stock market manager that Ace realizes Nicky's true goal: to take over the casino empire by overthrowing Remo Gaggi.

Ace returns home one night to find his daughter Amy tied to the bedposts - by Ginger. Ace then receives a call from Nicky, who claims that Ginger is at his restaurant with him. Furious upon realizing this, Ace rushes to the restaurant and confronts Ginger, warning her that should she ever abuse their daughter again, he will murder her. Ace forces her out, but she angrily goes back to the restaurant after they get home.

Ginger blames Nicky for the mess, while Nicky tells her it is she who is at fault. Ginger begs Nicky to kill Ace, but Nicky angrily refuses, having been Ace's best friend for 35 years. When Nicky tells Ginger that he won't be able to get her money now, Ginger attacks Nicky. Nicky then shows his brutal nature and mercilessly throws her out of the restaurant with help from Marino.

The next day, Ginger goes to Ace's home and demands that he give her the share of the money and her jewlery. When she arrives, she repeatedly smashes her car into Ace's car several times, prompting nearby neighbors to call the police. Ginger causes a scene in front of Ace's house and when the police arrive, she demands that they help her enter the house. Ace says he will permit her inside for a few moments to gather some clothes. Ginger sneaks into Ace's office and breaks into his desk, stealing the key to the safe deposit box where most of their cash is stored. At the bank, Ginger collects a large amount of cash from the box and drives off, where federal agents then follow and pull her over and she is arrested on charges of aiding and abetting.

Nicky in his final moments, betrayed by his own crew.
Nicky in his final moments, betrayed by his own crew.

Ginger's arrest begins the crumbling of the casino empire. The big bosses (Gaggi, Forlano, Capelli and Borelli) decide to murder anybody who could incriminate them. They kill an associate, Andy Stone (head of the Central States Teamsters Union Pension Fund), three casino executives, and the money courier John Nance who was hiding out in Costa Rica. (Nance's son was already in trouble with the FBI on drug charges; the bosses decided to execute Nance to prevent his potentially testifying in court to protect his son.) Returning to the opening scene of the film, Ace himself is nearly killed by a car bomb, but he suspects the attempt on his life was not ordered by the bosses.

Ultimately Nicky and his brother Dominick are severely beaten with bats and buried alive in a cornfield in Indiana. By this time the bosses have had enough of Nicky, so states Ace while narrating, as both are buried while they are still breathing. Marino participates in the beating of the Santoro brothers, claiming that he has had enough of their dirty work, though he still feels a little bad while watching the Santoros' burial. This is the scene in which Nicky's narration ceases for good, as Nicky is hit in the back by Marino. Ginger sinks deeper into drug addiction and eventually dies from a drug overdose, alone and destitute. In his narration, Ace states that the pimps, lowlifes, junkies, and bikers with whom Ginger had fallen in had shot her up with a "hot dose" of drugs in order to kill her. In the end, all that remained of Ginger's money was "$3,600 in mint condition coins."

The film finishes with a voiceover by Ace explaining that the Tangiers is levelled, along with all the older, classic casinos and are replaced with bigger, modern, junk bond-funded, corporate-run affairs. Ace also explains that the quaint, friendly feeling of Las Vegas has been replaced by a greedier, more apathetic one. Ace returns to his work as a sports handicapper for the mob, as he can still pick winners.

[edit] Differences between fact and fiction

  • The character of Frank Marino (played by Frank Vincent and based on Frank Culotta) participates in the killing of the Santoro brothers. In reality, Frank Cullotta was not present and played no part in the beating of the Spilotro brothers (on whom the Santoro brothers were based), and only betrayed them by testifying against them about the M & M murders when Anthony Spilotro ordered him killed over the phone.
  • The character of John Nance (based on George Vandermark) is murdered in the film with two gunshots to the stomach and one directly into the brain. In reality, George Vandermark was murdered along with his drug addict son, Jeffrey. His body was never found, unlike in the movie where Nance's corpse is left in full open view.
  • In the film, Artie Piscano (based on Carl Deluna) dies of a heart attack during an FBI raid on his home. In reality, Deluna was arrested and tried, and is still living to this day (2007).
  • The Tangiers Casino, based on the Stardust Resort & Casino, is shown to be leveled at the end of the movie, whereas in real life, the Stardust Casino was not leveled until March 2007.


[edit] Cast

Actor Role Based on
Robert De Niro Sam "Ace" Rothstein Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal
Joe Pesci Nicky Santoro Tony "The Ant" Spilotro
Sharon Stone Ginger McKenna Rothstein Geraldine McGee Rosenthal
Frank Vincent Frankie Marino Frank Cullotta
Pasquale Cajano Remo Gaggi Joseph Aiuppa
Alan King Andy Stone Allen Dorfman
Bill Allison John Nance George Vandermark
Don Rickles Billy Sherbert Robert Stella Senior
Philip Suriano Dominick Santoro Michael Spilotro
Carl Ciarfalio Tony Dogs Charles "Charlie M" McCarthy
Vinny Vella Artie Piscano Nick Civella
Kevin Pollak Philip Green Allen Glick
James Woods Lester Diamond Leonard Marmor-McGee
Nobu Matsuhisa K. K. Ichikawa Wan "Broken Tooth" Kuok-koi
Ffiolliott Le Coque Anna Scott Tamara Rand
Bret McCormick Bernie Blue Frankie "Blue" Bluestein
Dick Smothers Nevada State Senator Harrison Roberts US Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
Oscar Goodman Himself Himself

[edit] Trivia

  • Tony and Michael Spilotro were re-named Nicky Santoro and Dominick Santoro, respectively. This is an obvious reference to two gangsters indicted for the Spilotros' murder, namely Nicky Guzzino and Dominick Palermo.
  • The movie is notable for the "revenge" Frank Vincent gets on Joe Pesci. In Goodfellas, Pesci's character, Tommy DeVito, kills Vincent's character, Billy Batts. As well as in Raging Bull, where Joey Lamotta, played by Pesci, gives a severe beating to the Vincent character, Salvy Batts. However, the fortune is reversed in Casino as Vincent's character, Frank Marino helps kill Pesci's character Nicky Santoro; ironically, by beating him with a bat.
  • The real Frank Cullotta, who plays the character of Curly, appears in the scene where John Nance, the money courier, is murdered in Costa Rica. Frank Cullotta apparently asks Nance "Where're you going, Jag-Off?" before shooting him in the head. Frank Cullotta and Bill Allison (who played Nance) both served as technical advisors for the movie as well as making cameo appearances.
  • The film holds the third highest total of most uses of the word "fuck" (398) in a feature length film, but had the highest in history upon its release.
  • Madonna was strongly considered for the female lead in the film and took the producers to dinner at a well-known "mafia hangout" to help her secure the part. She was passed over for the role in favor of Sharon Stone.
  • In the scene with Nicky Santoro (Pesci) drunkenly playing blackjack, he says to Billy Sherbert (Don Rickles) "What are you staring at, you bald-headed Jew Prick?" This is one of Don Rickles' trademark insults, although Joe Pesci is the one who says it in the film.
  • Sam Rothstein's lawyer in the film is played by Oscar Goodman, Lefty's real lawyer and mayor of Las Vegas.
  • The home used to portray Frank Rosenthal's Las Vegas Country Club home was filmed in the Paradise Palms neighborhood of Las Vegas.
  • Ray Liotta was considered for the roles of both Phillp Green and Lester Diamond


Films directed by Martin Scorsese
What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed • Shine a Light

[edit] External links

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