I had the pleasure of attending a seminar of sorts at the Winchester Cultural Center that featured Dennis Griffin. Dennis is an ex-New York cop who moved to Las Vegas to retire. Since retirement here, he has written 6 or 7 books about Las Vegas. His last two books are very much in depth about the "facts" that surround the movie Casino and Tony Spilotro and his Hole In The Wall Gang. He spoke for about an hour, and later I spoke with him, and FBI agent named Dennis Arnoldy that worked against Spilotro, and a guy named Tim that worked on the set on the movie Casino. There was fascinating information flowing rapidly and I did my best to take notes. There are a lot of stories on the real story behind Casino. This info is mainly from law enforcement, so while it can be disputed, it pretty much is what goes down on record as facts. If you liked the movie Casino, you may be interested in some of these fun facts.

In the movie, Sam "Ace" Rothstien was played by Robert DeNiro, and depicted Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. Born in 1929, he grew up around sports betting and became very good at handicapping sports. He moved to Las Vegas in 1966, and bought into the Rose Bowl Sports Book and later ran the Stardust. Betting on sports was more like the movie Sting in those days, and Lefty made them legit.

In the movie, Nicki Santoro was played by Joe Pescci. and depicted Tony "The Ant" Spilotro. Born in 1938, he was 5'6" and had short man syndrome all of his life and was a bully in school with his classmates and teachers. At the age of 18 his toughness caught the eye of "Mad Sam" DeStaffano, who was a mobster that liked to torture his victims. Mad Sam hired Tony as an enforcer and they were a perfect pair. The mob sent Tony to Las Vegas in 1971 to keep an eye on his buddy Frank Rosenthal and the skimming operation.

In the movie, Phillip Green was played by Kevin Pollak and depicted Allan Glick. This guy got into the casino business with a Teamster loan through a Milwaukee crime boss and had a contract that could pretty much buy Allan out at their discretion. Allan's company was Argent, which was an acronym for Allan R. Glick ENTerprises. He was way over his head. They also brought in the Cleveland mob and Kansas City mob, as well as the Chicago mob into the picture and each one of these outfits had their own representatives in town to watch over their "interests".

In the movie, Ginger, was played by Sharon Stone, and depicted Geri McGee. Some say she was much, much prettier than Sharon Stone. She was a topless dancer at the Tropicana, stripper, and generally a gold digger.

In the movie, Frankie Marino, played by Frank Vincent, depicted Frank Cullotta, Frank Cullotta also played himself in some murder scenes and was a technical advisor for the movie. He got the title technical advisor, because he thought Hollywood did a horrible job of showing how murders took place, so he showed them how to do it right. Frank was among a gang of thieves in Tony's Hole In The Wall Gang. He was arrested and got into the witness protection program in 1982 and sang like a bird, solving more crimes than he was supposed to and some crimes the feds didn't even know about.

In the movie, when they used a cattle prod, skill saw, and hammer for casino justice, this was typical. Sometimes it was less violent, sometimes it was much worse, and sometimes it ended up with a hole in the desert.

Spilotro was added to "The Black Book" in 1978 . He still managed to get a jewelry store in the Circus Circus for a short while, by using his wifes maiden name, Stuart. Then he opened The Gold Rush on Sahara, kinda behind the Worlds Largest Gift Shop. He needed a jewelry store to sell off all the jewelry that he and the Hole In The Wall Gang stole. The Gold Rush had about 80% stolen jewelry on the lower level and the upper level was dedicated to electronics, much which was custom built to keep up with and ahead of law enforcement. In the movie, you see Tony and others talking into their hands so the feds couldn't use lip readers to hear what they were saying. In reality, the feds never had the power to use lip readers in a reliable fashion, nor did they have the power to use the info in court.

The movie showed how a wealthy casino guests would be greeted by a valet, front desk, concierge, etc. who would find out how long they would be at the casino. Then the Hole In The Wall gang would take their car out of valet, drive to their house, use the garage door opener or keys, go into the house and clean them out. They would unload at The Gold Rush, and return the car to valet. What the movie did not show was another powerful jewelry tool they used. They were in with the insurance agencies. If you owned big diamonds, lots of gold, Rolex watches, etc., you had to declare them with your insurance company. And you had to have a seperate rider that stated what you had, what it was appraised at, where you kept it, how often you wore it, if you had a safe what kind of security system you had, etc. It was like a blueprint to the goods. The insurance agents got a 10% kick back.

While Tony was a loving father and loving husband, his job on the streets was tough. In the movie, you see a murder in a bar where guys burst in with guns a blazin' and shoot up the joint. This scene is inaccurate and depicts the murder of the Scalvo brothers on May 15, 1962. In reality, the victims were gunned down in the streets of Chicago, not far from the mob owned bar that they ran. The thugs that did the killing were in deep trouble as it was a mob bar, the Scalvos were in good with the mob, it was a mob neighborhood, the killing was not authroized, and the waitress that was killed was strongly frowned upon. Mad Sam selected Tony to solve this murder scene to make his bones and be elevated in the mob. Tony quickly picked up Billy McCarthy, but he needed the second man and Billy didn't want to rat out his friend. So in the movie, you see Tony take a man who was beat up severely and put his head in a vise. This was a depiction of Billy who was actually placed face down. Billy finally gave up the name of Jimmy Miraglia, and this became known as the M&M murders when their bodies were found in the trunk of a car. There are terribly gruesome details of this mob justice. The movie is not accurate but it points in the right direction.

In the movie, a lady is causing trouble with mob in court and Tony kills her at her kitchen table. In real life, this was Tamara Rand who was a friend of Alan Glick, and thought her investment would buy her a certain percentage of Alan's casinos. The mob did not see it that way. She stirred up a hornets nest all the way up the mob chain, and that's not good if you want to breathe air. In the movie, her name was Anna Scott and was played by Ffolliott Le Cogue. The murder actually took place in San Diego. Tony was suspected but never charged due to lack of evidence.

In the movie, there was a Kansas City underboss who was in the family grocery store complaining about the skim in Las Vegas. The FBI happened to be bugging the place for an unrelated crime and heard all of the key words like Tangiers, skim, Vegas, suitcase, etc. The guys mother is shown counting money and trying to get him to watch his language. This is a true scene depicting mobster Carl "Tuffy" DeLuna. The lady playing his mother is acutally the mother of Martin Scorsese, Catherine. She also appears in the movie GoodFellas, playing Tommy's (Joe Pescci) mother. Also the movie shows Carl having a heart attack during an FBI raid and died on the spot. In reality, he did not have a heart attack and went on to stand trial and serve time.

In the movie, where mob boss Remo asks if the little guy is sleeping with the jew's wife, Frank Cullotta says this scene is very accurate. He was in a bind. If he told the truth, his boss Tony would kill him. If he got caught in a lie, the mob would have him killed. When he went back to Tony in Las Vegas, he told Tony about the meeting. Tony asked, "What did you tell him?" Frank said, "I told him the truth, that you were sleeping with Geri." Just before Tony pulled out a gun and whacked him, Frank said, "Just kidding Tony, I told him everything was fine. But if they ever find, there will be two holes in the desert. One for you and one for me." Remo Gaggi in the movie, played by Pasquale Cajano, depicted Joe Ferriola. Joe Ferriola, became the Godfather when Joey Iupa was arrested. Ferriola was in charge when Spilotro and his brother were killed.

In the whole movie there is no scene more controversial than the one where the police shoot a guy getting out of a car with a sandwich in his hand. The family has one story, the police have another, and those who get involved in the story tend to have strong feelings one way or the other. The dead guy was Frank Bliuestien, aka Frankie Blue. He was a maitre 'd at the Hacienda. His father was a culinary union big wig that was under investigation. Factually, Frankie got off work, stopped at the Upper Crust Pizza joint, got a pizza, went to the new development where his girlfriend was and was shot by police as he got out of his car. The Upper Crust and the adjoining My Place Lounge were owned by Frank Cullotta. The cops were watching Tony and Frank sitting out on the patio. They saw a car with Illinois plates pull up. They saw a man go inside, then come out and sit and talk to Tony and Frank. The car was a Caddy or Lincoln or something nice. The cops put together, a nice car, Illinois plates, and talking to mobsters as a noteworthy and decided to follow the car. Frank Cullotta's story was that Frankie told Frank that he was nervous because he thought someone was following him. He told Frank that he had a gun too. Frank told Frankie that he better go straight home ditch the gun, and get rid of those Illinois plates. When Frankies pizza, not sandwich, was ready, he took it and left to go home. Cops say he was driving 80 mph and very erratic. They claim they identified themselves, and Frankie ignored them, and pulled a gun and pointed it at an officer. Anyone that knew Frankie knew he would not behave in that manner. The officers had excellent track records also. It's a tough case, but the cops eventually won in court, so that goes on record as the truth.

In the movie, there is a scene where the wife comes home early one morning after being out all night. In reality, Frank heard the commotion outside, and called Tony Spilotro's wife Nancy to see if she could come over and calm down Geri. By the time Frank got outside, Geri was screaming, two cops couldn't calm her down, the neighbors were all out on lawn chairs watching the action, and Nancy pulled up and got out. Nancy had just gotten up that morning and was just wearing PJs and a robe. Suddenly, Geri pulled a .22 pistol from her waistband and pointed it at Frank. The cops took cover behind their car doors, the neighbors ducked for cover, and it was just Geri, Frank, and Nancy standing there. Nancy was almost 5 foot tall and very small, but she took a running leap at Geri, got her to the ground and got the gun from her. Then the cops came out of hiding, the neighbors came back out, and more cops started to show up. When Nancy was asked why she didn't allow that scene in the movie, she said, "They never asked me anything." Nancy and her son were somewhat upset that they were never consulted. Of course, they were still grieving, and her son had mixed emotions on getting even with the people that killed his father. He had built up a huge arsenal of weapons and was heavy into drugs and booze. He as given up getting even with the mob, but has serious lingering health problems.

Sherwin Jerry Lisner was a wannabe that was to stand trial against Tony Spilortro so Frank Cullotta killed him. The scene in the movie is titled Costa Rica and is where a man is chased through the house being shot several times and comes out by the pool with several holes in his chest. The trigger man on film is actually Frank Cullotta. There is also a scene about that part of the movie of a guy that walked out of a court room and towards his car when a guy comes up from behind him and shoots him in the head with a gun with a silencer. Again, on film, Cullotta is the trigger man. Cullotta tells the story of how he went to Lisners house with a .22 filled with 5 half loads. They often only used half the gunpowder since it was for a point blank shot in the head and they wanted to save the face of the victim for open casket funerals. Lisner was really big guy and when Frank fired two round into Jerry's head, Jerry turned around and asked Frank what he was doing. Frank fired 3 more shots into his head, and Jerry started to run away. They ran through the house and into the garage where Frank tackled Jerry. Frank looked for a weapon, saw a knife, but couldn't reach it, so he grabbed an electrical cord from a water cooler and put it around Jerrys neck and pulled. The cord broke and Jerry was still alive and kicking. So the ran around some more and Franks back up in the car got nervous and went inside to see what was going on. He finally finished off Jerry and they threw him into the pool. The real event did not take place in Costa Rica. It happened in Las Vegas on Rawhide street, right next to the airport.

Frank's car bombing that sent him a message to leave Las Vegas was filmed at Main Street Station, but actually happened at a Tony Romas on Sahara near the strip. Those that knew Frank knew that Lefty never sat in his car and turned the key. He ALWAYS stood outside to turn the key.

Geri died of an overdose in a seedy California motel a month after Frank left Vegas. Her money and jewelry were no where to be found. It is suspected that it was spent on drugs, stolen, or both.

Tony's death was believed to be accurate at the time of filming. The scene was actually filmed on Jackie Gaughan's old farm off of Ann Road in Las Vegas. In reality, there were the Family Secrets trials in Chicago this past summer that told how Tony and his brother Michael were actually beaten in a home and taken out to the corn field. Tony had 4 brothers, and Michael was not the one that was with him in Las Vegas. Tony went to Chicago against his better judgement because he was told that Michael was about to become a made man. That is an honor in the mob world and Tony was a family guy and wanted to see his brother decorated in mob fame. They were led downstairs in a Chicago house where several goons were waiting for them. He knew the gig was up. They took out Michael first, and when they started on Tony, he begged for a moment to say a prayer. In the movie, Frank was at the cornfield to kill Tony. In reality Cullotta was in the FBI witness protection program two years earlier.

There was a bomb found behind the Upper Crust many years after the mob was gone. Details are not clear and nobody is taking responsibility. This was a big Navy bomb with the spikes on it used to blow up ships. Some say it was a tool for the Hole In The Wall Gang. Some say the police planted it to use against Tony many years ago.

I had a lot of fun talking with the people who did tons of research and had first hand knowledge and first hand sources. Much of this is covered in the Vegas Mob Tour. Most of this and much more is available in Dennis Griffins books, The Battle For Las Vegas and Cullotta.

Joe - Wow! What a GREAT history lesson - I found this fascinating. I'm a huge movie fan and CASINO is one of my favorites of all time. I loved reading this background information - thanks for sharing!

Doesn't Grifin also work with casinos now identifying blacklisted players?

Mike, you probably got some good stuff on the local news on the recent family secrets trials in Chicago. I kinda know of all the players. I still get confused on who was in the New York or Chicago or Kansas City or Cleveland outfits. If you haven't read The Battle For Las Vegas, I suggest it. I normally don't read books, but this is an easy and fascinating read. Some of the notes I took were when Dennis was reading from that book. That book was also the basis for the Vegas Mob Tour, and from there, the tour was refined by others including ex-FBI agent Dennis Arnoldy.

If you really like the history of those days, Dennis started to do an internet radio podcast type show about a month ago. He does mob shows and interviews people who worked with Lefty, people who worked in the shows, and authors of books. People can call in and speak to Dennis or his guests. I only listened to part of a couple of shows and WOW. Dennis Griffin has a dot com web site and links to the blogspot site where his show comes from.

No relation, Jeff. But I know what you are talking about. That's actually a woman, Brenda or Beverly or something like that. On some TV documentaries on Vegas, they talk about the computer system to identify black listed players. It's called Griffin Technologies or Griffin Investigations. The logo on their computer screen shows a griffin.

Maybe you Vegas enthusiasts already know it. In the movie, the Tangiers depicted The Stardust. Some of the exterior shots were the Flamingo and most of the interior shots were inside the Riviera. The door to the skim room in the movie was a door in the Riviera that led to a janitors closet.

I am amazed at the detail you remembered, JMT. Were you taking notes?

It was really fascinating!

I, too, love movies, but I have never seen Casino. I keep putting it off.

The phrase "cattle prod, skil saw and hammer" may have alot to do with why I have not seen the movie,

(Not to mention vise grip - boys and their toys!)

Believe it or not, I knew most of it from the book, from my studies, and from the mob tour. I have lots of stuff on my mob tour that neither of the two Dennis guys has in their investigations.

Kes, you really need to bump Casino up a few spots on your to do list. It is a long movie and an intense movie. I think you would get something out of it other than boys and their toys. If nothing else, it is a good history lesson and has a lot of Vegas stuff in it.

Kes, I forgot to mention that I ordered an audio recorder to carry around. It is made to use to record live music sessions. I hope it is small enough to carry around to lectures, tours, etc. It should arrive in the next few daze.

JMT, how would you (or any others who've seen the movie) rate the violence content? I don't mind a movie with some violence, but its when a movie seems to dwell on the violent scenes lovingly...

This is all bringing to mind the announcement about the plans for a mob museum.

Hey! That can be my next museum career move!

I would say the violence is very intense, it is graphic, and comes around on a regular basis. It's almost never random violence. It's generally a part of the story line and the scene kinda builds up it. And you are gonna have to know the movie well if you get involved with the museum.

Kes - the movie was directed by Martin Scorsese. He's probably my favorite director. Yes, there are some violent scenes but I wouldn't say they're gratuitous. It's a high-quality film and features excellent performances by Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. I found it fascinating. And with the background info JMT provided, that will make it all the more interesting. I hope you enjoy it.

Mike gave me a big head, so I had to re-read my info. I forgot to tell about Tim. He was an electrician on the set for the movie. He told us about how and where some of the scenes were filmed.

I guess my favorite story was when they filmed the part of throwing Tony into the shallow grave. They did not use Joe. They had a stunt double. This stunt double was kinda new and skinny and tried to throw in drama. And if you've seen the movie, that part requires almost no movement or drama at all. This Tim guy is a short and stout guy. After two days of filming the skinny guy, Tim volunteered to play the scene, and played it well.

Tim was not part of the actors union so he is not listed in the credits. He joined the crew one day after the show started filming. The movie company had crew jackets made for everyone on the filming crew, and since Tim didn't start with the crew, he was not eligible for a jacket. So for compensation of being a stunt double for Joe, he did not credit or money and they gave him 2 crew jackets.

It was not a glamorous part to play but he can honestly say that he had a key role (roll) in the movie.

Joe,
First I'd like to say thanks for all the great info and extra stuff, in this thread! It's not that I haven't read everything here, or didn't truely enjoy all this great inside story stuff. I just didn't feel I had anything to add....

Now I do....
Kes, I'll be honest with you, There where times, watching this movie I felt very uncomfortable. I really can't come up with any other reason except it was on a subject matter that I truely have an intrest in, and it was a wonderfully shot and directed film. So much so, that this is one of the very rare movies that the violence just seemed so real.

One last thing that seemed to have been missed...
The sound track is a pretty good collection of that era music. Again, I don't normally buy sound tracks to movies, but again the this movie is an exception. Not because you couldn't get this music somewhere else, but it melded with the movie so well, and as you listen, peices of the movie are remembered.

I stayed in the Stardust a good number of times back in the 60's when LV was a completely different operation.

One scene in the movie was taken at a well known bar on the east side of the Strip ....

Can you name it?

i love this stuff!!

I know, I know, I know. I'll hold off and let other's take a stab at it.

Go try the prime rib at Primarily Prime while we wait.

A few scenes were shot at Piero's which was Villa d'Este at the time. That's not the one will is thinking of. It's not Batista's or Bootlegger either.

Great point about the music, Lee.

will mentioned that one scene in the movie was taken at a well known bar on the east side of the Strip.

I think the answer is the Fireside Lounge inside the Peppermill.

In real life, a lot of bar action happened at the Jubilation lounge on Harmon as well as the Villa de Este.

Correct, JMT

Kes: If you watch the movie, be prepared for "language bombardment", nothing is left to the imagination.