Brings back memories

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2005)

Casino is an excellent and very accurate portrayal of events that shape a part of the recent history of Las Vegas. For those of us who have been in Las Vegas for the last 30 years or more, we well remember Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal (portrayed in the film as Sam "Ace" Rothstein), the diminutive but brutally violent Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro (Nicky Santoro), casino front man Alan Glick (Philip Green), and the early days of the Stardust Hotel (The Tangiers). We also recall Spilotro's crew, "The Hole in the Wall Gang" who, as depicted in the film, were notorious for jewelry store heists wherein their method of entry was, yes, drilling holes in the walls. Rosenthal ran more than one casino at the height of his authority, including the Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina Hotels.
Of course, the time lines in the film have been doctored a bit for the sake of story-telling. For instance, the man (named Bill McCarthy) who's head Spilotro (Santoro) put in a vise and tightened to the point of popping an eye out of it's socket actually occurred back in Chicago, prior to Spilotro being sent to Vegas to protect Rosenthal and the Stardust's skim. Incidentally, Spilotro was first sent to Miami to function in the same capacity of protecting Rosenthal. In the film, Santoro's reputation was primarily built through the torture and murder of the fella in the vise. In reality, Spilotro's reputation was well in place, at least among the wise guys, by the time he arrived in Las Vegas. As for Rosenthal, we remember his awful television show after his first tangle with the GCB although, to this day, Lefty emphatically denies ever juggling on the show as Deniro did in the movie! Though, another truth in the film, once the increasingly power-hungry and reckless Spilotro became involved with Rosenthal's wife, Geri (Ginger in the movie), things were already going downhill. In 1986, the bodies of Anthony and Michael Spilotro were found buried in an Indiana cornfield. They had been bludgeoned to near-death prior to being buried. The amount of dirt in their lungs indicated they had been buried alive. Geri Rosenthal was, indeed, found dead in a California motel from a "hot load", a drug overdose. Alan Glick still resides in California (if memory serves) in a well fortified residence, likely still wary of retribution for his role, ignorance aside, in the downfall of the enterprise.
Nicholas Pileggi got a lot of it right, as did Martin Scorsese. Casino is a great film. It was an extremely interesting time in Las Vegas in the 70's and 80's, one that I am not likely to ever forget. If you're interested in any more, you can check out www.frank777.com.