For this story, we turned to Denny Griffin, author of Policing Las Vegas, The Battle for Las Vegas, and our hot new release, Cullotta, all of which pertain to the era you refer to.
In fact, the Nat Geo program "Vegas Mafia" is based on The Battle for Las Vegas. The production company contacted Denny a year ago after one of the principals read Battle and asked for his assistance in putting the program together. He arranged for them to interview ex-FBI agents Dennis Arnoldy and Lynn Ferrin, ex-Las Vegas Metro detective Kent Clifford, and mobster Frank Cullotta. Many of the incidents depicted in the film are right out of the book. Denny's name appears (for a little more than a second) in the special acknowledgments at the end of the program.
So here it is, straight from the author's mouth (or keyboard, as the case may be).
You're correct: The man in the National Geographic documentary is, in fact, Harry Reid. The year was 1978 and the future United States Senator was serving as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. It was in that capacity that he locked horns with Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, reputedly the Chicago Outfit's inside man at the Stardust Hotel & Casino. The oddsmaker was engaged in a bitter fight with gaming officials over his eligibility to obtain a gaming license to work at the Stardust.
The trouble began for Rosenthal in 1974 when he applied for a gaming work card. Unfortunately for him, applicants deemed to be key employees of a casino were subjected to rigorous background investigations, with their friends and associates receiving special scrutiny. Lefty's relationships with Tony Spilotro and the Chicago Outfit sealed his fate. His application was initially denied. An appeal of the decision went in Lefty's favor. Then the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that the denial of Rosenthal's application had been hasty and that he'd been deprived of his ability to hold a key casino position without prior notice or the opportunity to be heard.
The reprieve was only temporary.
The Nevada Legislature quickly passed legislation mandating that anyone found to be unqualified for a gaming license couldn't be employed by, or have any contact with, a casino licensee except as an entertainer. In an attempt to sidestep the whole licensing issue, Lefty gave himself the non-gaming title of Food & Beverage Director. When that description didn't fly, he became Entertainment Director.
To partially justify the latter title, Lefty taped a weekly variety show at the Stardust that was broadcast by a local TV station on Saturday evenings. "The Frank Rosenthal Show" was described by some as surreal and by others as horrible, but it drew an audience. Guests included such celebrities of the day as Frank Sinatra, O.J. Simpson, and Frankie Valli, along with a bookmaker or two. Lefty offered comments about his ongoing fight with and his less-than-flattering opinion of the Gaming Control Board.
Gaming regulators and law enforcement didn't believe for a minute that Rosenthal's activities at the Stardust were confined to the entertainment department. They were sure he was the Outfit's man. The legal and public relations clashes between the two sides continued. In June 1978, Gaming Control again warned Lefty that his duties required him to hold a gaming license. The hearings over Lefty's status and eligibility to be licensed turned increasingly heated as Rosenthal, in frequent outbursts, attacked the Gaming Commission and Chairman Reid in the most colorful terms. Lefty was not only again denied a license, but his name was placed in Nevada's infamous Black Book.
He was out of the casino business and, thanks to being "booked," couldn't even set foot inside a gaming establishment.
