Saturday marks 30 years since Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” opened in theaters across the United States. The movie was a critical and box office success, but some dismissed it as a retread of “Goodfellas,” Scorsese’s previous mob epic, released five years earlier.
While both movies have a similar tone and share a rise-and-fall narrative with organized crime as the backdrop, “Casino” would go on to become a classic in its own right, offering a colorful and often violent look at mafia-controlled Las Vegas in the 1970s.
“What I really like about the movie is that sooner or later, it all comes crashing down for the mob. It never turns out well,” according to Zach Jensen, content developer at the Mob Museum. “They came to Nevada, gambled with our laws, and ultimately lost because Nevada is the house and the house always wins.”
“Casino” is based on the book of the same name by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese, embellishing real-life events with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci playing characters inspired respectively by mob figures Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and Tony “The Ant” Spilotro.
“ Robert DeNiro doesn't look like ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal and doesn't sound like him, but he actually spent time with Rosenthal when preparing for the role, so he was able to learn his mannerisms,” Jensen says. “So if you watch videos of Rosenthal and compare them to ‘Casino,’ it's pretty close.”
While the movie plays fast and loose with fictionalizing its source material, it was true to form in depicting how Vegas casinos operated in the mob era while skirting law enforcement. A scene on “skimming” was so accurate, the Mob Museum runs it on a loop as part of an exhibit.
“Skimming is essentially tax fraud,” Jensen points out. “These guys, they're removing money from the casino before it's officially counted, so they don't have to pay tax on it, or share it with shareholders. It was very lucrative, millions and millions of dollars.”
Today, “Casino” holds up incredibly well — perhaps even more so than “Goodfellas” — as an exceptional piece of cinema, worthy of repeat viewings. It’s also a time capsule of Las Vegas, shot on location at casinos like the Landmark and Riviera, which are no longer around.
“It does capture the essence of what Las Vegas was like, although it dials up the glamor,” Jensen says. “There were definitely people who dressed well at the gaming tables, but there were also tourists dressed like tourists.”
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Casino” by watching the movie (for free!) on Tubi and visiting the “Mob in Pop Culture” exhibit at Mob Museum, which is offering two-for-one tickets to those with Nevada ID every Tuesday after 1 p.m.
