A:
Finding accurate information about Las Vegas movie locations has proved notoriously difficult in the past. While the Nevada Film Office is helpful, they had less information than we did when we posed your question to them.
However, we're fortunate, in that a former employee of the NFO contacted us several years ago in our publishing capacity about a book she was writing on this very subject, and we somehow managed to excavate some preliminary notes that she'd sent us, which proved most helpful with filling in some gaps in this answer.
We confess that it's been awhile since we watched the movie, so if we've missed any locations that you've spotted, let us know and we'll add them as "updates" to this answer; in the meantime, here's what we've come up with, gleaned from various sources and the farther recesses of our memory:
- Atomic Liquor: Las Vegas' oldest bar, located downtown on E. Fremont Street, was used for some of the bar scenes.
- The Peppermill Lounge: Robert De Niro apparently became so enamored of this classic slice of "old-Vegas" kitsch while filming there that he became a regular while he was in town.
- Ruth's Chris Steakhouse: It's the Paradise Road venue, not the former location on W. Flamingo, that was featured.
- La Concha: The architecturally famous motel (see QoD 10/22/2009) formerly located by the Riviera was a featured location. It's since been dismantled and transported downtown, where it will house the visitor center for the Neon Museum.
- Riviera Hotel & Casino: The Riv was the real-life casino used to double for the fictional Tangiers in the movie, which actually represented the Stardust, property of Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, the character based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, played by De Niro (are you still following?).
- Landmark: Scenes were filmed in the parking lot of this off-Strip property, which was imploded later the same year the movie came out to make room for, ironically enough, the Convention Center parking lot.
- Plaza: As you mention that we referenced in a recent QoD (4/25/2010), downtown's Plaza was used for the scene where Sharon Stone and Robert De Niro argue over missing money in what was then the Center Stage restaurant, now home to Firefly.
- Other scenes: Local filming also took place on the Strip and in Valley of Fire State Park (Route 169, Overton). Other location shoots took place in Baker, Fresno, and Hanford, California.
If you're interested in the movie Casino and Las Vegas' mob history, you might like to check out our limited-edition one-of-kind posters, filmed behind the scenes on location with stars Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci and mobster/consultant Frank Cullotta, who's autographed them all.
De Niro & Pesci
De Niro & Stone
Cullotta poster
Update 13 May 2010
More feedback:
"We were staying at the Riv. when they were filming there and still remember the huge black tarps they put at the entrance to simulate night. The best, however was when we were heading out to the street and walked right by Sharon Stone and I think it was Danny Devito (he wasn't in the movie) who were sitting on a stool talking. My big thrill was that I almost bumped into her on the stool. Nice looker." -- Brian Wilson (member)
Many thanks to the reader who wrote in with this link to a great feature in the
Las Vegas Weekly, in which location scout Maggie Mancuso reveals many of the
other locations around town that were used for scenes in the movie and includes a printable pdf map. The same reader also pointed us to an article in the
Las Vegas Business Press, which reveals that Leroy's Horse and Sports Place, a former downtown institution, since demolished, that sat on land now occupied by the Golden Nugget expansion, was also used for some scenes in the movie. He also provided an interesting link to the
Casino pages at
filmscouts.com, which is worth checking out.
It keeps coming! Here's more:
"I think the most interesting hotel used (that you didn't mention) was the hallway scene at the end where Sharon Stone overdoses is the Ogden House. This is what I have heard where that scene was shot." [Ed: Can anyone out there verify this? Ogden House is now the El Cortez' Cabana Suites.]
Some reader feedback:
"One addition to your 5/13/10 QOD answer re: the scenes from the movie
Casino - the Riviera was also used for Sam Rothstein's 'house.' When Nick and his wife move to Las Vegas and first meet Ginger. Sam's 'house' is actually the penthouse suite at the Riv. I stayed in that room for three nights several years ago when the Riv was overbooked - the best room I have ever stayed in."
No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
