The Casino is one of the greatest movies about Las Vegas directed by Martin Scorsese. This iconic movie, released in 1995, tells the story of two mobsters who are the best friends and who try to create their own casino empire. The most exciting thing is that the plot is based on a true story ofFrank “Lefty” Rosenthal (played by Robert De Niro) and his real-life gangster friend Tony Spilotro (played by Joe Pesci). But there isn’t the only interesting fact about the movie Casino. Here are 10 little-known and peculiar facts about the Casino.

Before filming the Casino, Robert De Niro met the man on whom his character – Sam Rothstein – is based. He met with Frank Rosenthal in person.

Apr 3, 2013 - Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal and his wife Geri. The Real 'ACE' and 'Ginger' from the film Casino. Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro), left, and casino manager Billy Sherbert (Don Rickles) talk on the casino floor of the Tangiers (the Riviera) in “Casino.” (Universal Pictures) Las Vegas casino. Set in 70s-era Las Vegas, Casino tells the tale of sports handicapper Sam “Ace” Rothstein (De Niro), who is given the Tangiers Casino to run by the midwest mafia. Don Rickles (Billy Sherbert, Tangiers Casino Manager and right-hand to Sam 'Ace' Rothstein) also appeared on the real-life The Frank Rosenthal Show (1977) opposite Frank Sinatra during his time as a Las Vegas performer. The show was depicted in the film as 'Aces High'. Rosenthal: Well, the number one industry, obviously, in the state of Nevada is casino gambling, hotels. Their influence is so great. Without the hotels there would be no Nevada other than cactus.

Not many people know that the Tangiers casino didn’t really exist. Unlike such real casinos as the Venetian Macao in China, Yebo Casino for South Africa or Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, the Tangiers casino was just a fiction. But the film was shot in a real, operating casino called the Riviera.

Frank Rosenthal ran the Stardust and was a former executive at that casino. This fact was well documented in Vegas history books. So, Martin Scorsese decided to highlight this fact via the soundtrack. The track “Stardust” is heard three times throughout the film.

Due to the fact that Robert De Niro’s character was a chain smoker, he constantly had to hold the cigarettes the same distance from the lit end in order to avoid the continuity issues. So, Sam Rothstein’s cigarettes lengths never appear to change throughout the movie.

According to Frank Rosenthal, the worst scene of the Casino was when Sam was juggling. He really hated it because he claimed that on the Frank Rosenthal TV Show he never juggled and thought this scene made him look foolish.

The actress Claudia Haro, who played Trudy, the co-host/bandleader “Ace’s High”, was Joe Pesci’s wife in real life.

The most eye-catching gold and white beaded gown in which Sharon Stone appears during the casino scene weighted 45 pounds.

There were 7,000 extras in the Casino movie. 120 of these extras had speaking parts.

Sam Rothstein’s attorney, Oscar Goodman, is a lawyer in real life and he actually defended several mobsters from Las Vegas. Besides, in 1999, he became Mayor of Las Vegas.

The costume budget of the Casino was about $1 million. Robert De Niro changed 70 various costumes throughout the film, Sharon Stone changed 40 outfits. After the shoot, they both were allowed to keep their costumes.

5 Casino Fun Facts

Most dialogues between Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were absolutely improvised. The director just told them where to start and where to end.

Joe Pesci re-broke the same rib during the filming of the Casino that had been broken 15 years earlier during the filming of the Raging Bull.

James Woods so wanted to be in the movie directed by Martin Scorsese, so when he heard that the famous director was interested in working with him, he called the Scorsese’s office immediately and said that he was ready to start “any time, any place, any part, any fee”.

Sharon Stone could meet Martin Scorsese only on the third occasion. Her first two auditions were canceled by the director for different mundane reasons. She decided not to try a third time and go out with her friend instead. But the director of the Casino found Sheron at the restaurant where she was dining with her friend and made her a personal appeal.

According to the producers of the Casino, the most difficult thing about filming this masterpiece was finding those people who could tell them how to cheat in the casino.

3 Interesting Facts about Casino Movies

The Casino certainly is the most memorable casino-themed movie, but not the only one. For the fans of themovies about gambling and casinos, here are the top 3 casino films in addition to the Casino and most interesting facts about them.

The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas directed by Terry William has become a cult classic movie. Despite the fact that this movie describes the casino life of Las Vegas, very little of the movie was really shot in Las Vegas.

Being one of the most popular casino films ever made, the Ocean’s Eleven was produced on a budget of $80 million and was the fifth highest grossing film the year of its release, raked in $450.7 million in the box office.

Sam Rosenthal Artist

The Casino Royale (2006) is an updated casino movie which describes some new ways of gambling with the help of Mobile Casinos. Amazingly, but it took almost six weeks to film the Parkour chase at the beginning of the movie and Daniel Craig lost two of his front teeth when filming a fight scene in Prague.

Born	Geraldine McGee May 16, 1936
Died	November 9, 1982 (aged 46) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Accidental drug overdose
Resting place	Mount Sinai Memorial Park
Education	Van Nuys High School
Spouse(s)	(m. 1969; div. 1981)
Children	3

Geraldine 'Geri' McGee (May 16, 1936 – November 9, 1982) was an American model and Las Vegas showgirl. Her involvement with criminal activity in Las Vegas, along with that of her husband Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, was chronicled in Martin Scorsese's film Casino (1995). The screenplay for Casino was written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, based on Pileggi's biography about McGee and Rosenthal titled Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Sharon Stone portrayed McGee in the film, with the character's name changed to 'Ginger McKenna', and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.^[1]

Personal life and career[edit]

Geraldine McGee was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Leona 'Alice' (née Pollock)^[2] and Roy McGee. Her parents married in 1931 and later divorced.^[3] She had a sister, Barbara.

McGee grew up near Sherman Oaks, California, and graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1954. Her aunt Naomi Ingram inherited a large amount of money upon the death of her husband O.W. Ingram, whose family owned land in Georgia. Ingram offered to send McGee to Woodbury Business School, where she h

Sam Rosenthal Casino