Casino 1995 Opening

Posted : admin On 3/28/2022

Directed by Martin Scorsese. With Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods. A tale of greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two best friends: a mafia enforcer and a casino executive compete against each other over a gambling empire, and over a fast-living and fast-loving socialite. Casino subtitles. No one stays at the top forever. Master director Martin Scorsese depicts the sloping depth of a casino mafia boss’ fall. Filmed in a semi-documentary fashion; about the life of the gambling paradise Las Vegas and its dark mafia underbelly. On November 21, 1995 (one day before Thanksgiving holidays) Harrah's closed the 'temporary' casino at the Municipal Auditorium, and halted all construction of the permament casino at the Rivergate site; 3,000 jobs lost; Harrah's filed for bankruptcy. “Casino”, a 1995 film by Martin Scorsese about the rise and fall of the mafia’s stranglehold on Las Vegas starring Robert DeNiro and Sharon Stone, recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its release in November of 1995.

Casino 1995 Opening Scene
Casino 1995 Opening Game

For the more spiritually aware among you, today is Maundy Thursday, four days before we get chocolate eggs, the day the Queen gives out money, and the day on which Christians celebrate the Last Supper. But we’re film fans here, so how best to combine the two? Why, by choosing a piece of music from one of Scorsese’s most foul-mouthed, violent pictures of course!

Casino (1995) is often unfairly called “the poor-man’s Goodfellas (1990)”. There is much to recommend it and, despite the same pair of lead actors, director and writer as Goodfellas, Casino is very much its own beast. Martin Scorsese, like Quentin Tarantino, has always had a way with musical choices. Scorsese, unlike Tarantino, chooses pieces of music from a wider base. At one point Scorsese nearly joined the Catholic priesthood, and the choice to use the closing movement of JS Bach’s phenomenal work, the St Matthew Passion is perhaps more logical in light of this knowledge.

“Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder” is the final movement of the Passion – the work which tells the story of Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion – and is full of severity, longing, and tragedy. The piece’s defining sound is that long unresolved end-of-phrase chord: the sound grates against one’s ear until finally, wonderfully, it resolves into a proper tonic chord. Listen out for it at the very end, but also at key points during the movement too.

Casino 1995 Opening Scene

Over Saul Bass’ title sequence, the Bach creates a depth of tone to the story, turning it from historical curiosity to the stuff of legend. As with Scorsese’s masterpiece Raging Bull (1980), where his use of the “Intermezzo” from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana created the heartache over the opening credits, here again Scorsese’s musical choice sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Here, then, is the full finale from JS Bach’s St Matthew Passion, as heard over the opening credits of Martin Scorsese’s Casino.

Last updated: May 16, 2011

This is a map of existing, former, and future casino sites on the Las Vegas Strip. This map is partially, but not exactly, to scale.

Key:

Black text labels streets.
Green text labels currently operating casinos.
Red text labels casinos no longer open for business.
Blue text labels casinos not yet open for business.

List of Las Vegas Strip Casinos, including years of operation:

20th Century, 1977--1978
Aladdin, 1966--1997, 2000--2007
Bally's, 1986--
Barbary Coast, 1978--2007
Boardwalk, 1977?--2006
Bonanza, 1967--1973
Bourbon Street, 1985--1996,1998--2005
Caesars Palace, 1966--
Casino Royale, 1992--
Castaways, 1963--1987
Circus Circus, 1968--
Continental, 1981--1997
Debbie Reynolds, 1993--1996
Desert Inn, 1950--2000
Dunes, 1955-1993
El Rancho, 1982--1992
El Rancho Vegas, 1941--1960
Ellis Island, 1988--
Excalibur, 1990--
Flamingo, 1946--
Flamingo Capri, 1958--1978
Fontainebleu, 2009?--
Frontier, 1967--1998
Gold Coast, 1986--
Greek Isles, 1996--
Hacienda, 1956--1996
Hard Rock, 1995--
Harrah's, 1992--
Holiday, 1973--1992
Hooters, 2006--
Imperial Palace, 1980--
International, 1969--1971
Key Largo, 1997--2005
King 8, 1974--1998
Klondike, 1982--1983,1996--2006
La Mirage, 1986--1989
Landmark, 1967--1990
Las Vegas Hilton, 1971--
Last Frontier, 1951--1956
Little Caesar's, 1970--1994
Luxor, 1993--
Marina, 1975--1990
Maxim, 1977--2001
MGM Grand, 1973--1986
MGM Grand, 1993--
Mirage, 1989--
Monte Carlo, 1996--
New Frontier, 1955--1967,1998--
New York--New York, 1997--
Nob Hill, 1979-1990
Orleans, 1996--
O'Shea's, 1989--
Paddlewheel, 1983--1991
Planet Hollywood, 2007--
Rio, 1989--
Riviera, 1955--
Royal, 1971--1988,1990-1997
Royal Inn, 1970--1979
Sahara, 1952--
San Remo, 1989--2006
Sands, 1952--1996
Sans Souci, 1955--1962
Silver Bird, 1976--1982
Silver City, 1975--1997or1999?
Silver Slipper, 1950-1988
Slots-A-Fun, 1973--
Sports World, 1997--
Stardust, 1958--2006
Stratosphere, 1996--
Tally-Ho, ?-1966
Thunderbird, 1948--1976
Town Hall, 1985--
Treasure Island, 1993--
Treasury, 1979--1982
Tropicana, 1957--
Vacation Village, 1990--2002
Vegas World, 1979--1995
Westin Casuarina, 2003--
Westward Ho, 1971--
Wynn Las Vegas, 2005--

Recent updates:

May 12, 2007: I'm looking for information on the Royal Nevada. I know it existeddirectly south of the Stardust during the 50s. One source puts its addressas 3100 Las Vegas Blvd. S. and being open from 1955 to 1959. The problemis that another source has the Silver Slipper (also known to be locatedjust south of the Stardust) at 3100 Las Vegas Blvd. S. and being open from 1950 to 1988. I'm trying to reconcile this. Was the Silver Slippersouth of the Royal Nevada? Were these two places ever actually open atthe same time? I'm especially interested if anyone can cite a sourceor photograph that answers this question conclusively.
April 19, 2007: Looks like the Maxim project won't happen as the site was sold to MGM Mirage.
April 15, 2007: The Aladdin officially changes its name to Planet Hollywood. The grandreopening party will occur in late September, though.

Other related casino sites:

Notes:

In the mid-90s, a person known to the 'Net only as 'Scruffy' had a wonderful historical map of the Las Vegas Strip that was one of the best Las Vegas resources in the early days of the Internet. Unfortunately,Scruffy's map has been offline for several years. Even though it wascreated from scratch, this map is very much inspired by his efforts, and he deserves much of the credit for this.

Some smaller casinos that do or used to exist have been intentionallyomitted. Basically, if the casino didn't either have its own hotelrooms or table games, it's too small to receive notice here.

There are other casinos that probably deserve to be mentioned. Anysuggestions for these casinos and their locations can besent to npc@jetcafe.org.

Casino 1995 Opening Scene

Casino 1995 Opening Game