What The Movie Casino Doesn't Tell You About The True Story

After watching the movie Casino, I had several questions. Was the movie based on a true story? After doing my research, i discovered that the majority of the sequences were accurate, and that characters such as Sam Rothstein, Ginger McKenna, and Nicky Santoro do exist, and even the best scenes from the movie were true. One would have thought that it was a Hollywood exageration, but it was real, like the car scene and many other things that you will see after watching my video.

[@markula_4040]

The most shocking thing about the movie? That Dick Smothers and Don Rickles were cast in normal non-comedic roles and were not only not a distraction but both nailed it. (not that they couldn't but both are so known for their comedy, it was a bold choice to cast them against type in such a serious film)

[@ralphadamo1857]

The credit for coming up with the idea to cast primarily comedic actors in serious roles goes to Oliver Stone. In Stone's JFK (1991) he cast Jack Lemmon, Ed Asner, Walter Matthau, Wayne Knight, John Candy, and John Larroquette in serious roles when each of these performers worked primarily in comedy. Marty Scorsese was inspired to do something similar in Casino (1995), casting a slew of comic actors, including Don Rickles, Alan King, Kevin Pollack, Dick Smothers, and, in bit parts, Steve Allen and Jane Meadows. Interestingly, both Scorsese and Stone went to NYU and Stone was a student of Scorsese's. Both Stone's and Scorsese's go-to Assistant Director was Joe Reidy, who also went to NYU. Although an AD doesn't get nearly the credit he/she should, the ADs are a vital part of how good a movie turns out, as Joe Reidy served as an extension of Stone and Scorsese, which is why he was a favorite of theirs.

[@paulkurilecz4209]

Casting actors against type can sometimes be quite powerful. Look at the scene in "Once Upon a Time in the West" when the character "Frank" played by Henry Fonda is introduced.

[@williamj.dovejr.8613]

Those two men were well acquaintaned with old school Vegas, they gave the film gravitas.

[@AndyJay1985]

Jerry Lewis was great in The King of Comedy.

[@brianew]

@@AndyJay1985 He was amazing in that!!

[@johnshepherd9676]

The characters names were changed because Frank Rosenthal threatened to sue if they used his name in the movie so they ended changing all the names. My mother's youngest brother worked for Rosenthal and when he ended up dead the family thought he was collateral in the feud between Rosenthal and Spilotro. Turned out it was an unrelated domestic incident. He go shot by his girlfriend. And using Rothstein was a reference to another Jewish ganster, Arnold Rothstein. He was the guy that fixed the 1919 World Series and brokered the organization of the five NY families.

[@tomdalton4293]

The movie does not make "historical mistakes" It is fictionalized based on real life events, it is not a documentary

[@MoviesConsigliere]

This is exactly what I said in the video

[@jameshaley8162]

I have to add a 'However' to your comment, sir. People will see a movie like this one, it says 'Based on a True Story'. ..and what ever is in the movie, they believed Really Happened. Some movies will have a Documentary style; Names, dates, places, background information...and they will say 'Base on true facts'...when they're lying out their asses. And so Lies get put Into The History Books of the population. And usually The Lies hurt or paint people into a bad reputation they don't deserve. So when I see a movie 'based on true story/fact/historical facts' I immediately Don't Believe It. Take for instance 'The Perfect Storm' We have No Idea what was going on aboard the Andre Gail... Several movies/historical..do the same thing. No one survived in most cases to tell about what happened. No actual records, no communications...nothing. But...they do it anyway Because..its a much better movie.

[@linklovezelda]

GET REKT

[@oculoscaecos]

It's a Scorsese movie so reality doesn't apply. Overblown characters, plots and actions just like in Goodfellas... If Scorsese directed an alien invasion flick, the aliens would have to check in with "Pauly" first to get permission and give 70% of the loot. In real life, "Pauly" collects welfare and cooks with a microwave...

[@matthewschwartz6607]

Most of it is true, though . Have you read the book?

[@willgrellosbelts8695]

One of the reasons this movie is so accurate is because Tony's right hand man and leader of the Hole in the Wall Gang Frank Cullotta was on the set as a consultant to Scorsese. He posted a few KZbin videos about his involvement before he died a couple of years ago.

[@LesterMoore]

Will, Cullotta said a victim he murdered for Spilotro he threw into the victim's swimming pool after the murder. When Spilotro heard about the pool ending he asked Cullotta, "Wasn't the pool thing a little melodramatic?" Cullotta replied, "I did it to take care of any DNA residue." Spilotro replied, "Oh yeah. Good thinking."

[@DMalltheway]

The murder scene of Tony at the cornfields was inaccurate since it happened in a basement and Frank was already out of the mob.

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@DMalltheway Cullota said this to Scorsese but Scorsese said that him killing Nicky fitted with the whole yourbest friend does it

[@singlefather01]

@@DMalltheway The fact that Tony was killed in a more brutal way intrigues me

[@jamesfeldman4234]

Frank Cullotta was particularly helpful in staging the hits (and even has scenes performing as a hitman). For example, many people complained that when Andy Stone was whacked as he approached his car that there wasn't much blood. Well, that's because .22 firearms at close range were used to deliberately avoid a bloody mess. The hit on Andy wasn't an act of vengeance or retribution and was "strictly business" as they say. Similarly, the hit on Anna Scott was based on Tamara Rand, a real estate investor, who was murdered in the kitchen of her San Diego home in real life because of her lawsuit with Allen Glick (the person that Kevin Pollack's character Philip Green was based on). A .22 firearm was used in that hit too.

[@paulieprinceton4550]

I’m from Chicago. The guy shot by police holding the sandwich was a family friend and last time I talked to his sister years ago she was still upset about it. He was holding a pizza in real life from what I was told.

[@yessicaflores79]

At least he was holding food…

[@chgojack1]

My friend was good friends with the original female investor who was whacked. Scary most people don't give a shit. She was just investing in a hotel.

[@dazerrazer3018]

@@chgojack1 what are you talking about

[@Nonegiven14582]

How many people have shot police. When they were given the chance to?

[@winternow2242]

@@chgojack1 You mean the person who apparently inspired Anna Scott?

[@Wolf-bz6kq]

Frank Rosenthal was also a FBI informant this was disclosed to public after his death that's why he never face prosecution or forced to testify. His wife was also an informant when the FBI found out about the affair with Spilatro hoping to use her to incriminate Spilatro

[@dandavis8300]

And Allen Glick testified to put all the "Outfit" guys in prison. He died last year. His net worth was over half a billion dollars. Seems like the Kosher Nostra has a much better retirement plan than the Italian mob...

[@starwarsroo2448]

And also involved in plenty of the murders, I’m slightly sceptical about him being fbi, did the feds just say that after he died to cause more fragmentation and mistrusts within the mob

[@_moviespot_]

Are you Sure about this ?

[@chgojack1]

Totally. I remember the first time I watched it & I was like, how come DeNiro wasn't arrested!!

[@herfmonny]

It actually kind of alluded to in the movie i thought the guys that tipped if off to where is wife and kid after she ran off with Lester diamond were FBI agents

[@narta11]

The murder scene of John Nance in Costa Rica actually occurred in Mexico in 1976 and was based on real life Joh Vandermark. Scorcese was known to hire ex-mafia for technical advisors, some of which had come out of the witness protection program. The filmed hit scene was actually based on another murder committed by one of Scorecese’s technical advisors/ex-mafioso from 1979 in which the body falls into the swimming pool. Scorcese used the technical advisor in the filming since he knew all the details. So, in the movie you are actually watching a hit man reenact his kill.

[@IloveOtherPplsMsry]

Yeah, that was Frank Cullotta. He's got a couple videos on it.

[@robertbishop5357]

I'm surprised that the technical advisor didn't get arrested for the murder by the fbi.

[@winternow2242]

@@robertbishop5357He'd already served time for his crimes, and received immunity for others.

[@antoinesilva1527]

@@robertbishop5357 He became a government witness.

[@hekterr6677]

‘’ In the end,We get it all” I recite that every time I cross into Nevada!

[@brucegold5046]

And they definitely do----in the long run.

[@silvervalleystudios2486]

@@brucegold5046 Even if you're a card counter or shuffle tracker.

[@johndebruin5747]

For a good movie marathon, first watch Hoffa (1992, Nicholson/DeVito) then Casino, which together chronologically portrays the rise of organized labor with the Teamsters, the corruption that brought it down but also funded the building of Las Vegas, and the organized crime associated with those two.

[@SirenScorpio]

And then Goodfellas 😉

[@chocolateface4885]

Hoffa is one of the greatest films ever made ,that ending came outta nowhere.when I saw that devito directed It i was fucking blown away

[@benjaminwilliams1292]

I haven't seen Hoffa. Would you say that it's better, not to mention shorter, than The Irishman? 🤔

[@davemustaki134]

@@benjaminwilliams1292 Hoffa is way better than the Irishman movie I really did not enjoy that movie nothing to do with the length of the feature it just didn't grab me like other gangster flicks

[@benjaminwilliams1292]

​@davemustaki134 While I liked The Irishman except for Al Pacino the CGI used to make the actors look younger looks shockingly bad upon watching it for the second time. I'll look for a copy of Hoffa or see if I can watch it online. On a side note I saw Killers Of The Flower Moon a fortnight ago. It was also 3 and a half hours long and I thought it was boring. I actually nodded off a few times towards the end

[@starwarsroo2448]

James Woods vanished in the middle of the narrative because he went off to battle aliens, on a faraway planet…which incidentally sounded like a good movie

[@bewmdogg]

A movie....yes

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@bewmdogg one of the funniest things in all Simpsons

[@forgettablelisa]

@@starwarsroo2448I’m me?

[@k_e3735]

Did he work at the Quik E Mart on the faraway planet too?

[@ixirlead]

Look…don’t jerk me around…ok??

[@kaljic1]

Richard Bryan, the Gaming Commissioner in the movie, was none other than Harry Reid, who went on to become a long-standing Senator from Nevada, and was the actual COmmissioner who ruled on the Rothstein case. The car bombing? Yes, it really did happen. I remember reading about it in the newspapers (when they HAD newspapers).

[@killgoretrout9000]

That's odd because Richard Bryan was a former governor of and US senator from NV, he served as a State senator and NV AG also but never gaming commissioner unlike Reid. I get changing Reid's name much like they did with the main characters it's just odd that the name they chose was that of another longtime NV politician who was a contemporary of Reid's.

[@sprthrwwychnnl73]

I always thought the sleazy state senator character in the film was based on Reid, the one who Sam comped the room and chips to but didn’t give him a fair chance at his hearing to get his gaming license

[@robertbishop5357]

Harry Reid another politician who hurt this country.

[@frankdenardo8684]

​@@sprthrwwychnnl73 Sam Rothstein aka Frank Rosenthal could not get a gaming license do to his arrests for bookmaking, taking the 5th during government hearings, and his association with organized crime aka the Chicago Outfit. You have to be "clean" to get a gaming license.

[@brandonkellner4053]

Harry Reid is definitely not "now the Senate Majority Leader", as he died in 2021.

[@uup116]

as a criminal.

[@yessicaflores79]

…and the airport was named after him… 😒

[@visaman]

But, they did rename the airport after him.

[@renee4053]

I grew up in Chicago. My dad knew some of the other mobsters. I ended up working at the Stardust and would see Lefty there, sitting, watching everyone. He seemed pretty intimidating. But most of them were really nice guys.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

The sad aftermath was Hospitality in Vegas dropped like a stone.😣

[@gmamagillmore4812]

Blame the corporations,

[@user-xb7fr3vc1p]

Yeah a Sharon stone 😅

[@logicalchaos9008]

Former Biilly Batts uses a baseball bat to kill Nicky (formerly Tommy). I think it's kind of a joke.

[@pab1381]

It is but Frank did tell Scorsese that it’s usually your best friend that kills you.

[@Josh-vb1lt]

Also Joe Pescis character beats Frank Vincent's character in Raging Bull. In real life they are Close friends who had a lounge act together before they became famous actors

[@Luton-Mick]

Parallel universe stuff 😆

[@ensabahnur8968]

They beat them to death with punches and kicks..Not bats..

[@logicalchaos9008]

@@ensabahnur8968 You're mad. They used bats. All of them.

[@robertprosper8506]

Nearly a decade before "Casino" many of these same events were depicted in a television series - Michael Mann's "Crime Story", in which a maniacal Chicago hoodlum named Ray Luca (loosely based on Anthony Spilotro) betrays his best friend and casino operator Max Goldman (Frank Rosenthal) by having an affair with his show-girl wife and then tries to murder him with a car bomb - just as in real life. They even had "Max Goldman" have his own Vegas-themed TV show. Clearly, the writers of Crime Story must have been familiar with the Rosenthal/Spilotro story. There was a lot more to this series than that story however, and as an ex-Chicagoan who grew up in a certain period, I had great fun trying to relate the various stories and characters depicted in the series to real life people and events. If you can find it, check out season 1 of Crime Story - it was brilliant. Among the best shows on television, ever. But season 2 was pretty much a wasted opportunity, and not worth botherin with except out of curiosity.

[@timdowney6721]

Still two more critical questions left unanswered: Did Lefty really wear a pink robe? Did he use a cigarette holder? 😉

[@BMe-ck6fd]

Scorsese says he wore more colorful clothes then even the movie shows and having lived in reno for 9 months in 2008 I saw that cloth stores around casino towns leaned towards a flashy direction

[@upreydeen]

The "pen" scene is kinda shocking, because a lot of things are going on in there, all of the sudden Nicki takes the pen and start stabbing a man and nobody would stop him

[@gyllessmyth4759]

Since Frank Rosenthal didn't pass away until 2008 (heart attack, age 79), he was very familiar with both the film as well as the book that provided the source material ("Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas" by Nicholas Pileggi) and suggested they were 70% to 80% accurate; fundamentally correct, but with some artistic license taken.

[@jukebox1138]

Thanks for letting me know that not all things in movies are real , I had no idea.

[@116cowboy]

You'd be surprised how many people think everything in a movie is real

[@116cowboy]

You'd be surprised how many people think everything in a movie is real

[@adrianchannelle8651]

When it is a movie based on actual events, people like to see the true history that inspired the story.

[@DMalltheway]

@@116cowboyLike watching Oliver Stone movies, most of it takes liberties, yes there’s some accuracy but a story has to be sold to a paid audience.

[@yesthisisvic]

Believe it or not, Goodfellas is accurate almost to a documentary standard. The only thing about the movie was that it cut down on the number of characters necessary to reproduce a completely accurate on-screen portrayal of the real-life events by creating "composite" characters who portrayed multiple real life people in the film. For example, "Frankie Carbone" in the movie was a composite character created from multiple real life crew members and associates, most notably Angelo Sepe and Richard Eaton. Even Pesci's Tommy DeSimone was a composite of the real-life Tommy DeVito and Lenny Vario, Paulie's son, who was not only completely omitted from the movie, but was young Henry's best friend and partner-in crime.

[@winternow2242]

Disappointed that Artie Piscano's inspiration didn't have a heart attack when they found hsi books. That's got to be 1 of the high points of the movie. I can imagine how the audience must have reacted when he tried to convince those feds that those were his mother's books.

[@benjaminwilliams1292]

As Bon Jovi sang, "Its all the same. Only the names have changed". Casino is quite accurate but the names have been changed, and it was simplified so that De Niro ran one Casino, and Chicago is referred to as "Back home". Due to a number of legal issues the film is "Adapted from a true story". Great film though 👍 😀

[@anthonyscarpa6107]

And then Ginger happened lol

[@AK-74K]

It's way closer to the truth than most Based on a True Story films

[@anthonyscarpa6107]

@@AK-74K You can call it Carma based on the fact that the mob was robbing the casino... Ace did not have a license to run the Casino. And Nicky tried to take over everything and Ginger.. The only ones who walked away was Frankie and Ace out of the whole thing

[@silvervalleystudios2486]

There were other significant differences and omissions. Frank Rosenthal actually ran four Casinos for the Outfit, not just one. Geri Mcgee had a kid from a previous relationship and actually had two children with Rosenthal.

[@benjaminwilliams1292]

@I'm On Your Roof I hear that song at Karaoke all the time. I've sung it myself. For me that song will always be immortalised for its use at the beginning of Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man 😀

[@zanethomas6865]

The eye-popping scene was filmed so extreme because Marty Scorsese knew the MPAA would freak out and demand it cut. But he was wanting to keep in other things so he made some deaths so elaborate he knew they'd be cut to get an R rating.

[@tommyhemlock7915]

My absolute favourite scene is the meeting in the desert. The most puzzling thing is the meaning of the yes/NO sign in Sam’s office, and why no is in much bigger lettering than yes. Don’t know why but I always wonder that whenever I watch the movie.

[@fenian123]

It means that whenever a person ask for something, the most likely answer will be NO

[@sashachitownvillegas6850]

@@fenian123 right that's obvious to most ppl 😂& a cool sign!

[@barnabuskorrum4004]

Casino is such a good movie. When Robert transforms from Robert to a Character makes it always re-watchable. You never know what makes a movie good till those elements are not there.

[@gonzar09]

Not gonna lie, but the blueberry thing was probably the one question I really wanted to be true and am thankful for it being so. As a consumer, if I'm paying for blueberries in my muffin, they better be there

[@markcooper5595]

I want equal quantities of blueberries in all the muffins from now on ….de Niro at his very best😂

[@claudiacervantes5379]

Ex mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman played himself in the movie casino as the mobs attorney. Before becoming mayor he an attorney and he was in fact the mobs attorney in Vegas. I found this cameo by him rather interesting. That man knows more secrets than anyone could imagine. He was also a popular mayor in Vegas when he was the mayor. Before liberal Californians moved to Vegas and turned Clark County into a mini California. After his term as mayor, his wife became mayor and she is still our mayor today.

[@stanwashighski3553]

Had a buddy that ended up in a cornfield after a botch run where 20 kilos was lost. He was buried alive after being shot in the stomach. Morale of the story, don't go into cornfields.

[@amosfamous7327]

Don't botch a 20 kilo drug run is the real morale of the story. What a terrible way to go

[@JayBigDadyCy]

Isn't the moral of the story "don't lose 20 kilos?" 🤣🤣🤣

[@PittsburghSonido]

More importantly why do you know a drug runner lol

[@dongately2817]

@@PittsburghSonido better than knowing a drug walker

[@starwarsroo2448]

They weren’t mistakes, many things had to be changed simply as some of the characters that were murdered were literally slain just a few a years earlier

[@kevindouglas5333]

Yea they were mistakes...Hollywood gets lots of stuff wrong in these things

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@kevindouglas5333 they weren't mistakes, they purposefully changed a hell of a lot of details

[@lynnmitzy1643]

The eye popping out scene was filmed face up, but it actually happened face down.

[@bluesky6985]

They can't tell you everything without a 10 hour movie 🎦

[@josephcullotta5866]

That’s why we’re doing an episodic story about my brother who was Tony’s right hand man in Vegas it’s going to be Pre Casino it’s an outstanding story

[@khoffday3054]

Everyone brings up the spilotros being murdered in a cellar and not a cornfield but never that this wasn’t discovered until the 2000s, years after Casino came out and they just used the information given to them

[@richardanzlovar5372]

This is one of my favorite and best movies of all time. An incredible rewatching super experience Best, best Martin Scorsese film ever done.

[@davidponseigo8811]

My great uncle was Black Hand from Sicily and moved from New Orleans to Chicago where my grandfather and grandmother already lived. My uncle was friendly with Rosenthal. My grandmother was a cousin of Vito Genovese.

[@greggae2735]

God damn right, a roughly equal amount of blueberries in each muffin. Why is this so hard?

[@Rjensen2]

That's not what Ace said in the movie. And you don't have a clue about food preparation if you think that.

[@63mckenzie]

I love the story of a Hollywood producer asked which bio movie was the closest to reality, replied, 'King Kong'.

[@michaelbyrne8238]

There are interviews where Frank tells the entire story. He wasn't sent out there to run the casino. He started in smaller positions but rose up through the ranks fast.

[@salinagrrrl69]

The actual Kansas City deli bugged in the movie is now a Somali coffee house along Indepedence Avenue NEKC-Mo.

[@richdouglas2311]

It's too easy to criticize historical dramas for inaccuracies. You have to dig deeper. Ask, does what is being depicted generally give the viewer what happened? Imagined dialogue, compression of characters, changing timelines, these are all necessary to tell a story. But does that story essentially ring true? Does the made-up dialogue, for example, communicate what happened? If The Crown shows you a made-up conversation between Thatcher and the Queen, does it communicate their relationship? (Because you can't know what exactly was said.) Yes, it does. But what if they showed the two of them getting into a catfight over Prince Philip? No. Not only did that not likely happen, it mis-portrays the nature of their relationship. Same with Casino. Having one kid depicted instead of two simplifies the story-telling without introducing a material difference. That's why movies like Casino and Goodfellas hold up; they're essentially--if not perfectly--accurate.

[@rogerwatkins8557]

one of my most watched movies, i'm up to ten and some scenes here and there, then road house , outlaw Josey wales and of course the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns

[@michaelclark8831]

You may have already covered this but, the short lived series, Magic City reminded me of Casino. Jeffery Dean Morgan's character, Ike Evans was ungrateful from the very first episode. DeNiro's character, Sam didn't appreciate Nicky protection. I understand that their situation wasn't that simple.

[@DamitFeelsGoodtobeaRaider]

(jst my 2 cents) haven't seen magic city; but sam (rosenthal) was skeptical of nicky's (spilatro) protection due to his inability to keep a low profile. this is covered not only in the movie, but also a book called enforcer (about spilatro) in other words, rosenthal (sam) was right about spilotro (nicky) all along; despite them being long time friends. edit: the name salad might be confusing but sam rothstein was based on frank rosenthal and nicky santoro was based on tony spilatro; or maybe you already knew that. the vid didn't make that very clear.

[@nolagospeltracts8264]

I wonder if the blueberry incident really happened.

[@nolagospeltracts8264]

Just answered my question.

[@logicalchaos9008]

Yes, it happened.

[@herbert9241]

Completely and utterly fabricated for dramatic effect. They were in fact blackcurrants.

[@cocksure8430]

I wonder if you, like many other comments made, even bothered watching the vid before posting. Nope, you posted while it played in the background. Its getting a bit ridiculous now. Watch the vid, see if any interesting facts jump out at you....🤡

[@nolagospeltracts8264]

@@cocksure8430 So what? I still ended up watching the whole video. I'll comment whenever I damn please!

[@anthonyscarpa6107]

Ginger and Nicky ruined everything.. Well at least Ginger was honest with Ace she told him I don't love you like that but she saw the material and money she was in with Ace .. Kinda Ace's fault ! Took the chance and got burnt

[@uup116]

Hypergamy is real.

[@jaycareaga9929]

Ginger or Geri which was her real name didn’t ruin it. It was Tony’s crew doing the robberies and Frank having that tv show.

[@Rjensen2]

Ace didn't love her like that either. The real story is well known... this is a fictional movie.

[@1wwtom]

Lefty still ran a sports betting website from his home in Miami bsck in the 2000's till his passing in 2008. I visited it many times back in the W98 days and on till he passed away.

[@northernking2604]

Fun fact: lefty rosenthal was revealed to be a high level FBI informant

[@thehonestrealtor9070]

The Spilotro's murder wasn't accurate because it wasn't known until 15 years later.

[@ddcs0s]

No his body wasn't found until 15 years later that doesn't mean nobody knew what happened to him the lead character also became a FBI informant and one of the consultants for the movie was involved in the Hole in the wall gang so even if it wasn't legally documented people involved with the movie definitely knew what happened to him I'd even guess the movie is how the government found out

[@jaycareaga9929]

The bodies were found a week after they were buried. I remember seeing it on the Las Vegas local news.

[@Rjensen2]

​@@ddcs0s The lead character wouldn't have known how they were killed unless he was there.

[@ddcs0s]

@@Rjensen2 What the lead character does and doesn't know at the time is irrelevant when additional information provides needed context ... The lead characters in most films based on true events don't know certain things until after the fact but they add those details so the audience isn't left in the dark

[@herbert9241]

Some of the details weren't intentionally misrepresented but certain events were still guarded secrets at time of shooting (filming), capisce?

[@drewhunkins7192]

It omitted Frank Balistrieri's role and the Milwaukee family.

[@brucetucker4847]

Either this video is much older than its posting date, or the presenter is unaware that Harry Reid retired in 2017 and passed away in December 2021.

[@benfranklin1770]

Awesome movie. One of my favorite of all time. Must have been it at least 5 times..

[@princesmith8008]

There is a scene in this movie where Robert De Niro says that Joe Pesci *'collects when he wins'* but *'tells the bookies to f-k off'* when he loses. Could you please explain me that one?? A few seconds later in that same scene Pesci gets angry at a bookie when the guy tells him that he thought he was *'laying it'* What does that term actually mean and how come that guy owed money to Pesci?? Sorry in advance for the silly questions, my English isn't that good.

[@jedthezed3599]

On Spliotros death... You're not correct. Their bodies were found on the side of a corn field. The farmer was puzzled to why nothing was growing there...

[@Rjensen2]

Lol.... you are 100% lying.

[@xBlurple]

My grandpa was a fantastic billards player and use to go to bars and pool halls all in Chicago and around suburbs. He use to see the Spilotro twins at a bar in Lyons. He said there some of the craziest people he’s ever met

[@AB-xh4vr]

What was the name of the bar

[@vortega472]

The most shocking - the blueberries, definitely the part about the blueberries.

[@Clay3613]

Back when the IMDB messages boards were up, local Las Vegas residents would share stories of their run ins with the people depicted in the movie. Spilotoro would break the hands of a few big name gamblers who owed debts to the casinos despite being in good standing.

[@ronintje7647]

I liked the Billy Batts reference in the killing of Nicky Santoro. It was inaccurate, but i liked it. The real Spilotro story probably wouldn't have made such a nice scene with them being killed elsewhere and being burried much deeper, even when that also was a gruesome death ofcourse.

[@mikepowell7938]

Lol 🤣

[@joemcconnell2674]

I got to admit the beating with baseball bats scene at the end of the movie. Definitely was the most violent and grusome scenes in movie history.

[@genesbeans]

One of the great movies.

[@zanethomas6865]

Claudia Haro, who plays Trudy with the Sam Rothstein show was married to Joe Pesci prior to filming. She would later be charged and convicted of attempted murder in connection with a shooting of her 2nd husband. She spent many years in prison but was released in 2019.

[@zanethomas6865]

A lot of the names had to be changed and characters condensed because of legal reasons. Some of the cases were still pending in the mid 1990s so they couldn't even name what outfit they were with just calling it "Back Home." Yet the book had a lot there in black and white for anyone to read. The Alan King character, Andy Stone, is based on the real-life Allen Dorfman played by Jake Hoffman in The Irishman.

[@sashachitownvillegas6850]

back home= Chicago 🥰

[@nolagospeltracts8264]

"and the Sam Rothstein dancers"

[@jmdi2703]

Casino is best mafia film ever. Very underrated.

[@13elad49]

I was living in San Diego when Ms Rand was murdered and the connection with Glick was uncovered, and the mob connection was apparent. I lived only about four blocks from Ms Rand.

[@BaronSaturday66]

Don't blame yourself...

[@princessmarlena1359]

Wow!

[@joshhoodrat451]

Rosenthal retired and passed away in La Jolla ?

[@13elad49]

@@joshhoodrat451 according to the movie. I think he passed away in Florida somewhere.

[@13elad49]

@@princessmarlena1359 and paper in San Diego were wondering how Glick, a real-estate salesman became the head of a huge casino in Las Vegas.

[@matthewschwartz6607]

Do you have any pictures of Lenny Mamor (The James Woods character.)? I can’t find any ANYWHERE!

[@bigdaddy496]

From what I was told, the senator from Las Vegas that was denying the gambling license was Harry Reid.

[@jaycareaga9929]

Yes Harry was Chair of the Nevada Gaming Commission March 27, 1977 - January 5, 1981

[@kelton497]

Wats the song in the background it’s very relaxing

[@singlefather01]

I am shocked this much was even true.

[@jameshaley8162]

Seems like Joe was playing the same part in both Good Fellows and Casino. Both had a good thing going but...He/They took it too far and the only thing I'm surprised about...in Casino..is that he wasn't whacked Sooner. It was kind of sad, Frank was trying to have a normal life..as normal as he could make it..but..it seems that he picked the wrong woman to marry and was honestly surprised by being betrayed by Dickie Smothers' character. Seems like someone would have 'Set Him Straight', you know?

[@kas10163y]

I never trusted Dickie Smothers...yeah he seemed as the straight man, but always conniving behind Tommy's back...and that Tommy, what a mixed up kid that was! (sarc)

[@coreyhall1150]

Well problem was was they was way out in Nevada and the ppl they answered to was in New York. "Noone can see that far" spilotro took advantage of that and screwed EVERYTHING up. They was living the American dream. And screwed it up with stupidity.

[@coreyhall1150]

@@kas10163y Tommy Desimone the real guy was so violent and so crazy they had to TONE HIM DOWN for the movie because Scorsese said "People would never believe someone was THAT EVIL" the things the guy did was over the top even for mobsters.

[@jameshaley8162]

@@kas10163y 😄 Well said, Keith.

[@visaman]

@@kas10163y His son is a porno actor.

[@sobreaver]

I never was a fan of mobs movies and such but I must definitely admit that those were the best time for mafia movies, although there have been other good ones, those are classics !

[@vinzclortho7766]

It wasn't the grocery store that had an old wiretap in it. It was a payphone at a hotel that one of the mobsters used frequently that had an old tap that they still used. That building is gone now.

[@Rjensen2]

That's not true at all.

[@raymonddipasquale5297]

I met Mr. Rosenthal as he used to own a bar/ restaurant in Boca Raton. You could find him sitting in the corner of the restaurant observing.

[@joegrahe3958]

He had one also in Jupiter near where I live.

[@dmoon7348]

Good Video. Thanks 👍

[@marywray6046]

Why isn't Hoodlum on this list, its a great movie with a real talent, it should be recognized the same as the Italian mafia movies.

[@Cr4zyRusty]

Love that movie with Tim Roth

[@Jatycre]

If you notice, during the scenes where they focus on slot machines, they long gray box covers over where the buttons should be. This was done because it’s actually illegal to film or photograph the bet amounts or payoff amount tables from any slot machine.

[@lrrich8023]

Could be wrong but I heard instead of the vice scene in real life they lit "Tony Dog's" on fire.

[@readthebookk]

I LOVED how Sharon Stone had different finger nails in every scene.

[@donmaher6992]

I was a kid in Vegas when all this was going on and my best friend at the time with LT little Tony I have met Tony's palatro several times when I was a kid and all I can say yes granted I found out when I was older all the stuff he was doing but when I was a kid hanging out with LT big Tony was one of the nicest guys in my life I've ever met I have fond memories of him of course when all of the stuff in Vegas fell apart for the mob lt's mom took him somewhere and I've never seen him again I do hope that him and his mom are okay

[@donmaher6992]

Trying to edit because it put Tony's palatro LOL when it was Big Tony Spilotro but for some damn reason it will not let me edit

[@elliotspencer5300]

How come u never knew his real name, then?

[@josephcullotta5866]

His son’s name was Vincent and he passed away

[@GBTwelveSixteen]

Well, the movie does say "Based on true events" as opposed to "Based On A True Story". The difference is "based on true events", the events happened but things were changed in order to make the movie different while "Based on a true story" means they're telling the story as it happened and maybe missing a few details but telling the story that had happened.

[@honorladone8682]

He was very busy for sure.

[@MrJaccTrippa]

Used to be so hard to find a picture of Ace's wife back in the day or any info

[@chuckcookus]

Casino incorrectly depicts Tony and his brother killed in the cornfield where their bodies were found, but then again Casino was filmed in the 90s and the testimony revealing the basement location didn't come out until the 2000s.

[@dangl650]

The most shocking was that Gerri found Tony Spilotro attractive

[@arturoalmazan5262]

it was so greatly written and it really; stayed true to the ; real life; events. On the Casino 4k ; the special features they showed a documentary on rothstein ; ginger and of course Nicky Santoro the real people.

[@gregorylunsford3991]

When I watched the Movie( 2006) at the theater I knew Lefty somehow but could not put my finger on. First in the beginning when the caddy blew( I knew that but how did I know that) 2nd in the Movie he had 1 child but I knew He had 2 children - How ?? Then at the end it shows him going to San Diego - that's where I live !!! Now I am out of my mind trying to figure out know all this !! I went to Barnes & Noble Book Store where the book was still selling and sure enough He had 2 kids but I cannot remember How ?? 2 days later I'm driving down the street and a "Big Flash of Memory" comes back and I start laughing & Laughing. I remembered one Saturday night out on Coronado Island next to the Hotel Del Coronado My Girlfriend and I drinking Wine and talking........ She was going through her background check for the Chula Vista Police Dept. She was worried about having Baby Sit 2 kids staying at the Hotel Del Coronado the summer. Lefty wanted her to drive his children around to swimming lessons etc in his Caddy. She said "No Way" that they tried to blow him up a year previous driving a identical Caddy. I said that should not affect your background check but she was still worried. That was in 1984. It took me 2 days to remember a minor conversation from 12 years previous ....... Wow !

[@joegrahe3958]

The one part that does crack me up is when Pesci and DeNiro are in the car driving the strip and the inaccuracies of the hotel signs that they pass. The order is way off.

[@johnstevens9673]

Ive already knew all of this info. It has been very well covered over the past 22 years since the movie came out.

[@visaman]

Or, if you read the books about Las Vegas and the Mob. A good one is The Last Mafiaoso, by Ovid Desmarais.

[@cocksure8430]

Well, woop-de-doo Basil....

[@DotBone89]

Pretty sure the casinos mentioned were in Las Vegas, not Chicago!

[@crashburn3292]

That's not what he said.

[@ertznay3142]

@@crashburn3292 1:18 That's exactly what he said.

[@Mst-bh9ti]

That's not what they said. Organized crime located in Chicago exerted a lot of control vis-a-vis mob activities in Vegas. Go back and listen to it again.

[@MichaelFG]

I would always get the TIMELIFE magazines on mobsters and gangs...I learned a lot about these outlaws who and what they can and can't control

[@ray.shoesmith]

01:14 The Stardust, Freemont and Hacienda casinos were in Chicago irl??

[@beatleicious]

The entire film was filmed in my neighbourhood. The house is right up the street from me. I watched it being filmed

[@seanobrien2306]

Hi, Interestingly..., the Attorney for Nicky Santoro would become the Mayor of Las Vegas for many years and then his wife became Mayor of Las Vagas and did a terrible job. The Attorney for Nicky Santoro ( Oscar B. Goodman ) became Mayor of Las Vegas and now has an expensive steak restaurant in the Downtown Las Vegas Hotel & Casino ( The Plaza Hotel & Casino ) at the end of the "Fremont Street Experience"... * Talk about an interesting life... Sometimes..., ask yourself..., "Why did Nicky Santoro and the Mob pick Oscar B. Goodman as their defense attorney ?" Another interesting question or questions... * Excellent video and very informative and "Thank you" for sharing the video... "Semper Fi" Mike in Montana :)

[@101southsideboy]

you forgot to mention one thing that was interesting about the Frank Rosenthal show Don Rickels who played BIlly Sherbert in the movie was a guess on the show

[@EmperorNerox]

Ginger didn't die overdose after a " fight with Sam". What fkng movie did you watch? Oh yea " the casino " In the real movie called CASINO, ginger overdoses a year or so after she left sam

[@pixelpatter01]

The real reason Rosenthal didn't get blown up wasn't a 'metal plate' it was because he started the car by reaching through the driver's side window and starting it while he was outside the car.

[@kenyattaclay7666]

That’s not true at all. It was because of the metal plate. He was in the car when it blew up. Also, you have to step on the break to start the car. It’s a safety measure that’s been in automatic cars forever.

[@robgronotte1]

I know nothing about this incident, but I've been driving for 35 years and have never driven a car like that, or even heard it was a thing.

[@jsivco3sivco785]

@@kenyattaclay7666 -- Um... no. I NEVER step on the brake to start any car! For cars made in the last 30 years, the brake pedal is used to SHIFT out of "Park."

[@chouseification]

@@kenyattaclay7666 no it has NOT... that's a feature of modern push button igntions, and you have quite clearly demonstrated lying to us (really badly), as having to press down on the brake to start a car was NEVER a feature in any normal automatic vehicle. The car Frank was driving came with two keys - a square one and a round one; just like all GMs did for decades. Round for the door, square for the ignition... and no requirement to step on pedal to start it.

[@pixelpatter01]

@@kenyattaclay7666 I talked to a guy who was there.

[@jameshaley8162]

Spilotro in the movie was...almost literally 'A loose canon'. If you stole or hustled him and he caught on..he'd kill you, where as Rosenthal caught a guy..several guys cheating at his casino..he might have maimed them for life ( yuk! ) ...but he never murdered any one (...that we know of..) And that's good in the fact that the guy with the busted up hand lives and tells the story, so he serves as a warning to other hustlers and wanna-be hustlers....THAT is how you do it. You leave a survivor..one left to Tell The Tale...and that guy can't prove anything. Spilotro's character was digging holes constantly it seems.

[@billy6464]

man, pretty freaking close! My favorite movie of all time.

[@mr.cookie7308]

Can you believe there was a mobster names of all people DAN MARINO. I forgot which crew/family he belonged to. I wonder what nickname he had....???

[@theportugueselegend]

Dan Marino is a Gambino guy

[@kas10163y]

@@theportugueselegend Shhhhhhh

[@daveverplank]

Gambino Family Capo. I'm not sure if he's alive anymore.

[@alanhorowitz3796]

People unfamiliar with the restaurant and hospitality industry would laugh at the blueberry count but this is standard practice for many reasons; chief among them is for accounting and budgeting purposes. Knowing exactly how many units of each item is sold over a certain period and exactly the amounts of ingredients gives restaurants perspective on how much material is needed for the next fiscal period. It is also essential to recording profit and loss.

[@Rascool69]

I always believed the blueberry muffins thing just becuz it made perfect sense to me. If you're running a place, u want NO complaints from the customers. You want to keep drawing business & something as minute as a muffin missing blueberries would be a reason someone might not eat at your establishment again.

[@wordman3624]

Will you ever cover The Jaws?