Casino

Remember the scene where Nicky Santoro murdered the woman inside her home when she was sitting at her kitchen table? That situation really did take place in real life. Santoro was really about Chicago soldier Anthony Spilotro. He was sent down to Las Vegas after Marshall Caifano either died or retired. Tamara Rand was the name of the lady who was killed by Spilotro. Teamster Union Leader Allen Dorfman was being sued by Rand. So, the Chicago Outfit made Spilotro take care of her. I'm not really sure why she was suing Dorfman. But it was a strange situation during some really strange times.

The guy Dominick Santoro in Casino was actually about Michael Spilotro who was the brother of Anthony, and a Chicago soldier as well. He was the guy who spit in the cops food and said "I Hope You Choke On The Motherfucker" after giving the police officer his food.

I remember that scene.

A few minor quibbles though..

It was actually Allen Glick who was being sued by Rand, not Dorfman. Supposedly Glick owed Rand $2 million.

Also Caifano was removed from his position in Vegas before he died, having fallen out of favor with Accardo. Caifano died in 2003.

I read in a book that it was actually Dorfman who was being sued and that Glick was involved in the case.

You're right about Caifano. I always thought Spilotro took over after Caifano died. But he was just replaced by Spilotro and moved back to Chicago.

What's with the photo of TP?????

Tupac?? Just a pic I like.

Glick was the front for the Outfit and Midwest Families casino ownership. Dorfman was the Teamsters finance connection for the same group. I don't know if Rand had any knowledge of or dealings with Dorfman but she definitely had a business relationship with Glick.

Tamara_Rand_Info

Thanks for the info..

Do you know if Remo Gaggi in the film was based on Chicago boss Joey Aiuppa? Because he was actually running the Chicago Outfit during the time all this stuff was taking place. It could be Tony Accardo.

Yes, Gaggi is based on Joey (Doves) Aiuppa. "Artie Piscano" was loosely based on Carl (Toughy) DeLuna, a KC mobster. "Vincent Borelli" in the film was loosely based on Nick Civella of KC.

Sounds great..

Then Dorfman was the Teamster head that was murdered as he was getting into his car at the end of the movie. In that scene Joe Pecsi said "they killed him 'cause he wasn't one of us, he wasn't Italian."

Yes. Check this link:

http://americanfraud.com/alandorfman.aspx

Great stuff on Dorfman..

who was Frank Marino in the movie?

I find this movie even better than Goodfellas. It's one of the most beautiful 'cinematographic' movies I've seen and it has some of the best acting. The fights between DeNiro and Stone are very genuine and Joe Pesci makes his best performance, and looks a lot like his real life counterpart Anthony Spilotro. Both Ragging Bull and this one are my favorites from Scorcese.

The only problem is that the movie is a little bit too 'fast' and therefore difficult to follow.

Btw, the Frank Marino character was based on Spilotro's friend and right-hand man Frank Cullotta.

Stone was incredible. The way she transformed herself from beauty queen to psycho was really brilliant--and scary.

BTW: Frank Vincent played Frank Marino.

I agree, Stone should've won the oscar that year ... but alas, awards are usually fugazy anyway.

I also agree that Casino was at least as good, if not better, than Goodfellas ... but the two are GREAT anyway.

Casino lacked the slam-bang action that Scorsese got by using many short scenes in Goodfellas. Instead, we he gave us a long, richly detailed look at Vegas, the Mob, and a dramatic story of friendship and marriage gone bad under pressure. DeNiro's best performance in years. And Stone's masterpiece. Plus the usual brilliant casting (Tommy Smothers, LQ Jones, Don Rickles). Great film!

Casino was great but it's only problem was that Goodfellas stole much of it's thunder, having come out 5 years before. In a lot of ways Casino is a carbon copy of Goodfellas. And I don't mean that's a bad thing. The formula works for both movies.

- Both based on books by Nicholas Pileggi
- Both directed by Martin Scorsese
- Both star Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci
- Both use voice over throughout the film
- Both have a massive soundtrack
- Both center around the rise and fall of the main character

It made for many invidious comparisons with "Gooodfellas"--a consequence of those similarities you described, plus the nearly 3-hour length.

Recently saw this (again) on cable. I noticed towards the end of the movie, real life Chicago Outfit mobster turned informant, Frankie Cullota, is playing "himself" as a hitman. He was part of Tony Spilotro's "Hole in the Wall Gang" in Vegas and flipped for the Feds when they were all caught breaking into a big jewelry store on the 4th of July. This was shortly before the whole thing came crumbling down. In the movie, he is the guy who whacks the "suit case guy" who fled Vegas and was hiding out in a tropical resort. Before Frank blows the guys head off he has a great line spoken in the best "Chicagoese" while his victim is trying to run away...he says; "Where da you dink you're going, jag off!" BLAM! BLAM! I think Cullotta acted as an unofficial advisor for "Casino"...after all - he was actually involved. He said the real Tony Spilotro scared the hell out of him. BTW - it is believed that actor Frank Vincent portrayed Cullotta in Casino...with a different name, of course - I think it was Frank Marino?

You're right. He did act as an advisor and played a cameo role.

He first kills the Union guy with a silencer at a parking lot, then the suitcase guy in South America.

I think you also see him in the beginning of the film, standing next to a car in front of a hotel as a guard.

Frank Marino was indeed loosely based on him, if I remember correctly.

Despite Gaggi being based on Aiuppa, didn't he resemble Accardo a lot, too? Especially the way he wanted to keep Vegas low key? Was Aiuppa as adamant about things being low key? Gaggi seems helpless when it comes to Nicky Santoro. He knows Vegas is turning into a disaster and that it's mostly because of Nicky starting operations that he was never supposed to start in the first place, but there's just a shoulder shrug response to it, until he kills him, of course, but by then it's far too late. That helplessness seems to reflect Accardo's adviser status during this era as much as anything, imo.

Frank Cullota, former soldier in Tony The Ant's crew turned informant who gave Pileggi and Scorsese this story.

Anybody remember David Spade doing "The Hollywood Minute" on SNL?

In his sarcastic tone he said, "Casino...Ca-seen it...but I liked it better the first time I saw it...when it was called Goodfellas."

Might as well put this here: I was watching Scorsese and De Niro roasting Rickles, and wondered where Pesci was. Then it occurred to me that Pesci and Rickles might not have seen a lot of each other during production - Billy Sherbet is hardly seen outside of the Casino, and Nicky's barred from it fairly early. So anyone who knows about the production, did they just shoot all the casino interior scenes in a row, so that Rickles was in and out quickly?

billy sherbert gets beat up bt pesci's character nick santoro.

like pesci says in the narration the piscano character could fuck up a cup of coffee. piscano talked so much he gave the whole thing up to the feds who were listening. later he dropped dead of a heart attack while being arrested if that is true or not.

believe it or not there is another take on the story. remember the series crime story. ray luca was supposed to be tony the ant. andrew dice clay's character max was the de niro character in casino. ray even cheats with max's wife similar to when nicky and ginger are going at it.

Poor Rickles had to play the Casino version of the waiter getting the table thrown at him.