Casino Movie Based On True Story

1. Sep 25, 2003 The real person, on which the character of Dan Mahowny is based, is now a consultant for a company that investigates fraud.
2. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators.

The movie shows the characters talking on cell phones and playing blackjack at the Red Rock and Planet Hollywood casinos, which didn't open until 2006 and 2007, respectively. The 21 true story reveals that the real MIT Blackjack Team, on which the movie was based, played in the early 1990s. The MIT Blackjack Team first came into existence in 1980.

Casino (1995) is based on the true story of two mobster best friends and a trophy wife who create their own gambling empire. It’s jam-packed full of violence, money, power and greed – and it is no surprise it now viewed as one of the world’s finest gangster films. Here are 10 Casino movie facts you must read.

1. The Real Mobsters

Remember the scene where Nicky (Pesci) visits Ace (De Niro) at his house to talk to Richard Rheil, the banker? Look at the photograph on the counter – as it is a picture of Lefty Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro, who are the real guys De Niro and Pesci are playing.

2. Continuity

As Robert De Niro’s character was a chain smoker, he always held his cigarettes the same distance from the lit end so the lengths never appeared to change on film.

3. Juggling

Frank ‘Lefty’ Rosenthal hated the scene where Sam juggles on his TV show, The Frank Rosenthal Show, maintaining that he never juggled and that De Niro’s scene made him look foolish.

4. The Jewellery Store

The Jewellery store owner who is robbed by Nicky’s boys was a real-life Las Vegas jeweller, and his line “I just got a shipment of diamonds from Israel” was not in the script.

5. James Woods

James Wood’s limes were mostly improvised. He was not supposed to speak at Ginger’s wedding scene, but came up with an idea that it would suit Lester’s character to be with a prostitute whilst doing cocaine when talking to Ginger on the phone.

6. Criminal Consultants

Martin Scorsese hired a number of real-life parolees from the same era as consultants. He also worked with F.B.I agents who had busted the same parolees.

7. Three-Hour Movie

Cinemas aren’t overkeen on lengthy movies, as it means less screenings and therefore less money. He was aware that the producers wanted it to be a three hour movie, but he ignored them anyway, saying it is a “fast three hour movie”.

8. Broken Rib

Pesci suffered a broken rib when De Niro threw his character through a glass door in Raging Bull. The injury led to Pesci breaking the same rib once again when filming the Casino scene where he is bundled into the cornfield hole with his dead brother.

9. The Costume Budget

The costume budget for Casino was a whopping $1 million, as Robert De Niro wore 70 different costumes, while Sharon Stone wore 30 vintage and bespoke outfits. The actors were also allowed to keep their costumes afterwards.

10. 7,000 Extras

7,000 extras featured in the Casino movie, from bellboys to strippers – and 120 of them had speaking parts.

Love gangster movies? Check out 10 Goodfellas Facts You Should be Reading.

The List Love

Latest posts by The List Love (see all)

• 5 Hottest Celebrity Endorsements of All Time - July 1, 2019
• Take a Peek Inside Drake’s Mansion in Toronto: 3 Interesting Things - July 1, 2019
• Dishing It Up: The Top 5 Benefits of Dish TV - July 1, 2019

The movie Casino remains one of the most successful films in American history. It’s based on Nicholas Pileggi’s book ‘Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas’ and follows the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), an American Jewish gangster who is sent to Las Vegas to oversee the Tangiers Casino and increase its profits. The plot was inspired by the real-life events of Frank Rosenthal who managed three casinos in Las Vegas for the Chicago mob in the 1970s and 1980s.

Casino was directed by none other than Martin Scorsese, the mastermind behind plenty of other mafia-related movie productions, and stars actors such as Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, and James Woods. Casino achieved a box office earnings of $116 million, which was already double of the relatively low production budget of $50 million.

Since the movie mixes real-life events with fiction, you might find yourself asking which bits of Casino are true. With the help of Sister Sites, a comparison site for Internet casinos, we present you the scenes that remained unaltered by the screenplay writers.

Rosenthal did not hold a gambling license

In the movie, De Niro’s character Ace Rothstein does not possess a gambling license although he’s overseeing the entire casino operations. This fact is true! Frank Rosenthal never owned a gambling permit since it was too dangerous for him to apply. Instead, he was officially employed in a non-managerial position, which didn’t require such a license.

Movies Based On True Events 2019

The Tangiers Casino is an actual resort in Las Vegas

This is true! Scorsese did not want to waste money on building a set when there was an actual casino that could be used for shooting the scenes. While there is no ‘Tangiers’ casino in Las Vegas, the film crew used the Riviera casino in Downtown Las Vegas.

Rosenthal survived an attempted murder

Correct! In Casino, Rothstein (De Niro) survives a car bombing, and this scene remains unaltered. In 1982, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal was injured when a bomb situated below his car exploded. Although it was a huge explosion, Rosenthal walked away with minor burns to his legs, left arm, and left side of his face. According to one special agent, the reason Rosenthal survived the attempted murder was since the bomb exploded in the wrong direction.

The Chicago mob killed one of the Casino’s accountants in Costa Rica

In the movie, the mob hunts down an accountant and former executive of the Tangiers Casino and ultimately kills him in Costa Rica. This murder is based on real-life events. John Nance was a low-level accountant who also served as the mafia’s bagman, collecting money from several Las Vegas casinos and handing them to mafia bosses such as Joey Aiuppa in Kansas.

When his son got arrested for drug possession, the mafia feared that Nance would turn into a state witness against the mob in return for a better deal for his son’s drug charges. He fled to Central America, but was hunted down and eventually killed.

Geri McGee died of a drug overdose

Casino Based On True Story

Casino shows Rothstein’s wife, Ginger McKenna, die of a drug overdose in a motel. Not only was Geri McGee’s involvement in criminal activity accurately portrayed in the movie but also her death. McKenna died in 1982 at the age of 46 at the Beverly Sunset Hotel. Although her sister believed McGee had been murdered by the mob because “she knew too much”, the coroner ruled it an accidental overdose. A postmortem examination showed a lethal mix of cocaine, Valium and alcohol in her system.