When you love someone, you've gotta trust them.
There's no other way.
You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours.
Otherwise, what's the point?
And, for a while, I believed that's the kind of love I had.
Before I ever ran a casino, or got myself blown up,
Ace Rothstein was a hell of a handicapper, I can tell you that.
I was so good that whenever I bet,
I could change the odds for every bookmaker in the country.
I had it down so cold that I was given paradise on Earth.
I was given one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas to run,
the Tangiers,
by the only kind of guys that can actually get you that kind of money,
$62,700,000.
I don't know all the details.
Nobody knew all the details, but it should have been perfect.
I mean, he had me, Nicky Santoro,
his best friend, watching his ass
and he had, Ginger, the woman he loved, on his arm.
But in the end, we fucked it all up.
It should've been so sweet, too.
But it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us
were ever given anything that fucking valuable again.
At that time, Vegas was a place where millions of suckers
flew in every year on their own nickel
and left behind about a billion dollars.
But at night, you couldn't see the desert that surrounds Las Vegas.
But it's in the desert
where lots of the town's problems are solved.
Got a lot of holes in the desert
and a lot of problems are buried in those holes.
Except you gotta do it right.
You gotta have the hole already dug
before you show up with a package.
Otherwise, you're talking about
a half hour or 45 minutes of digging.
And who knows who's gonna be coming along?
Before you know it, you gotta dig a few more holes.
You could be there all fucking night.
Who could resist?
Anywhere else in the country I was a bookie, a gambler,
always looking over my shoulder,
hassled by cops, day and night.
But here, I'm Mr. Rothstein.
I'm not only legitimate but running a casino
and that's like selling people dreams for cash.
I hired an old casino pal, Billy Sherbert,
as my manager and I went to work.
...and this is Ronnie who takes care of the card room.
For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins.
It's like a morality car wash.
It does for us what Lourdes does for humpbacks and cripples.
And along with making us legit
comes cash, tons of it.
What do you think we're doing in the middle of the desert?
It's all this money.
This is the end result of all the bright lights and the comp trips,
of all the champagne and free hotel suites
and all the broads and all the booze.
It's all been arranged just for us to get your money.
That's the truth about Las Vegas.
We're the only winners.
The players don't stand a chance.
And their cash flows from the tables
to our boxes, through the cage
and into the most sacred room in the casino.
The place where they add up all the money,
the holy of holies, the count room.
Now, this place was off-limits,
even I couldn't get inside, but it was my job
to keep it filled with cash, that's for sure.
They had so much fucking money in there
you could build a house out of $100 bills.
And the best part was that the Board of Directors
didn't know what was going on.
I mean, to them everything looked on the up-and-up.
Right? Wrong.
Verify $5,000.
The guys inside the counting room
were all slipped in there to skim the joint dry.
They'd do short counts, they'd lose fill slips.
They'd even take cash right out of the drop boxes.
And it was up to this guy here,
standing in front of about $2 million,
to skim the cash off the top without anybody getting wise,
the IRS or anybody.
Notice how in the count room nobody ever seems to see anything.
Somebody's always looking the other way.
Look at these guys. They look busy, right?
They're counting money.
Who wants to bother them?
God forbid, they should make a mistake and forget to steal.
Meanwhile, you're in and you're out.
Past the jag-off guard who gets an extra C-note a week
just to watch the door.
I mean, it's routine, business as usual.
In, out, hello, goodbye.
That's all there is to it.
Just another fat fuck walking out of the casino with a suitcase.
That suitcase was going straight to one place,
right to Kansas City,
which was as close to Las Vegas
as the Midwest bosses could go
without getting arrested.
That suitcase was all the bosses ever wanted
and they wanted it every month.
Now, this old Mormon fuck here,
he had to fly in with suitcases once a month, nice and easy.
Something smells good.
They made us something to eat.
The bosses came from all over the place,
Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee,
all over the Midwest.
And they would meet in this produce market in Kansas City.
I mean, nobody even knew it.
One of the guys made his mother do all the cooking.
You ever see that Jerry Steriano?
Now, these old greaseballs might not look it, but believe me,
these are the guys who secretly control Las Vegas.
Mama, that man's here again.
Because they control the Teamsters Union
and that's where you had to go
if you wanted to borrow money to buy a casino.
Nobody got a Teamsters' loan unless the guys in this room
knew they were gonna get their little suitcases.
Guys like this antique over here, out of Detroit.
Or especially guys like Remo Gaggi, the outfit's top boss.
You got a round figure on it?
The most important guy in this room.
- About 20 pounds. - So?
That's around $700,000.
Uh-huh. Good.
I know it's a little early for Las Vegas,
but I want to welcome the ladies
and gentlemen of the gaming industry...
As far as the world was concerned,
Andy Stone, the head of the Teamsters' pension fund,
was a legitimate guy.
A powerful man.
He even played golf with the President.
On behalf of the Teamsters' pension fund, it's my pleasure...
But Andy also took orders.
And when he was told to give a loan to Philip Green...
...for $62,700,000 for the new Tangiers.
...he did what he was told.
Here was the perfect front man.
What else could he be?
He didn't want to know too much,
especially that the bosses made the Teamsters lend him the money.
He believed the Teamsters gave him
that money 'cause he was smart.
I know full well how much competition we have in this great city.
And where they got Green from?
Who the fuck knows?
All I know is that Green was a real estate hustler,
who barely had enough gas money
to pick up his own fucking check.
And it was the bosses' man, Andy Stone, who gave all the orders,
not the chairman of the board Philip Green.
I understand. I understand.
Now they needed somebody they could trust to run the casino.
And who better than Ace?
He was already in Vegas a couple years
and he had the fucking place clocked.
But typical Ace, give him a shot at running a casino
and he tries to talk you out of it.
I don't know if I could do this.
The Gaming Commission would never give me a license.
I have two dozen gambling and bookmaking pinches on me.
You don't have to have a license to work in a casino.
All you gotta do is apply for one.
State law says you can work in a casino
while they're processing your application.
They got a 10-year backlog.
And when they do find out?
Why would they want to find out?
We're putting $100 million into this desert.
Why lock us out?
Besides, they'll never find out.
Just keep changing your job title.
Like, from Casino Executive to Food and Beverage Chairman.
They take your application, they put it at the bottom of the pile.
I know guys been working there for 30 years don't have a license.
It's a tough proposition, Andy.
If I did it, I'd have to run it my way.
You got it.
I'm serious, no interference.
Nobody's gonna interfere with you running the casino.
I guarantee it.
Everybody start to sing La-di-da
And that's how they got Ace to take over.
They wanted him because Ace ate, slept and breathed gambling.
They worked out a real cute job title, too,
Tangiers Public Relations Director.
But the only thing he ever directed was the casino.
He made his first bet when he was 15 and he always made money.
But he didn't bet like you or me,
having some fun with it, shit like that.
Where the hell did you learn how to deal?
He bet like a fucking brain surgeon.
Place the checks properly.
That's the way you do it.
He had to know everything.
He'd find out the inside stuff nobody else knew
and that's what he'd put his money on.
Even back home, years ago, when we were first hanging out together,
he'd know if the quarterback was on coke...
I'll take Columbia for 20.
...if his girlfriend was knocked up.
He'd get the wind velocity, so he could judge the field goals.
He even figured out the different bounce you got
off different kinds of wood they used on college basketball courts.
He'd work on this shit day and night.
There was nothing about a game he didn't know.
Ace got down at six. Get me down at six.
Season after season, the prick was the only winner I ever knew,
but he was so serious about it all,
I don't think he ever enjoyed himself.
But that's just the way he was.
But back then, the bosses didn't give a fuck
about if he enjoyed himself or not.
To them, he was a cash register.
All they had to do was ring the bell and take money.
Especially Remo, who was a fucking degenerate gambler
who always lost.
All those fucking sweeps.
I mean, unless Ace made his bets.
Enough now!
Ace made more money for them on a weekend
than I could do heisting joints for a month.
Whatever Ace picked up on the street, he told Remo.
I mean, fixed fights, doped horses,
crooked fucking zebras, locked-in point spreads.
He told fucking Remo everything.
And to tell you the truth, I don't blame him.
Keeping Remo happy with money
was the greatest insurance policy in the world.
Son of a bitch!
How the hell did you get Oklahoma-Michigan?
Nobody ever had that.
How the hell did you do it?
That's why they paid so well.
You see? He never tells me nothing.
Ace, what do we got on for next week?
Well, it's a little too early. I'd say Thursday would be good.
Is that all right?
- Okay. You come by the house? - I'll come by.
- At 7:00. - 7:00.
Good job, my boy. Keep it up, okay, Ace?
Hey, Nicky.
I'll be right out.
Nicky, see that guy?
Keep a good eye on him.
He's making a lot of money for us
and he's gonna continue making a lot of money for us,
so keep a good eye on him.
Not like the fucking Feds out there, without brains.
- Okay? - All right.
Want me to take this?
Now, on top of everything else,
I gotta make sure nobody fucks with the Golden Jew.
Chase, couple of shooters for the ladies.
Yeah, we made a great pair.
I made book and Nicky made sure we always collected.
The old men loved us, and why not?
They all made money with us.
How did Nicky collect? Don't ask.
Where the fuck is the money?
- Hi, Melissa, Heidi. - Hi, Sam.
Who's this guy?
It was nine. I laid nine.
It was eight.
Ace, tell him the line on the Bear game.
Eight.
If he don't know, nobody knows.
Told you it was eight.
How come I laid nine?
'Cause you're a jag-off.
Excuse me.
- What? - Is this yours?
Yeah, that's my pen. Why?
It's a nice pen. I didn't know whose it was.
I didn't want it to get lost.
Well, thank you. Why don't you take that pen
and shove it up your ass, fucking jag-off?
- I was just... - Fucking asshole.
Look out, Joe.
What's that? You hear a little girl, Frankie?
Hear a little girl, Ace? Is that a little girl?
What happened to the fucking tough guy
told my friend to stick it up his fucking ass?
Nicky, take it easy. Nicky.
While I was trying to figure out why the guy was saying this,
Nicky just hit him.
No matter how big a guy was, Nicky would take him on.
You beat Nicky with fists, he comes back with a bat.
You beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun.
And if you beat him with a gun, you better kill him,
because he'll keep coming back and back until one of you is dead.
Listen, with me protecting Ace,
he made a fortune for the bosses.
I mean, that's what got him to Vegas.
He was a money machine.
A tremendous earner for these guys.
As soon as he took over, he doubled the fucking drop.
With Ace, the casino never saw so much money.
And the bosses, they couldn't be happier.
I got seven hundred dollars
And don't you mess with me
But you know I'm here
Everybody knows I'm here
In Vegas, I had to keep a few juiced-in local cowboys working.
They were close to the, you know, good old boys.
Without us, these guys, they'd still be shoveling mule shit.
You gotta keep a cleaner station.
If you need Mr. Clean, page him, all right?
Won't happen again, Sam.
Mr. Rothstein.
Won't happen again, Mr. Rothstein.
Is this guy just a dumb fucking white man?
What's the story?
You need him.
I can't get rid of him?
He's the County Commissioner's cousin.
I wouldn't give the bum a mop job.
I had no choice, I had to take care of them.
These yokels ran the state.
They passed the laws, they owned the courts.
- Hey, I need a room. - Good to see you.
I had dozens of politicians and officials in that place every week.
Get the Senator whatever he wants.
Why not make them happy?
...the Presidential suite.
For politicians like our state senator up there,
everything was on the house.
These guys won their comp life when they got elected,
so why not take advantage of it?
Still, the politicians came cheap, we could handle them.
It's a whale like K.K. Ichikawa
who plays $30,000 a hand in baccarat,
that's the one you gotta watch.
He plays fast and big, and he has the cash
and the credit to turn out your lights.
A year ago, he cleaned out a couple of casinos in the Cayman Islands.
Downstairs he takes us for $2 million
and upstairs he takes free soap, shampoo and towels.
A billionaire cheapskate who loved his free rooms,
free private jets and $2 million of our money.
But we got him back.
I had our pilot tell him the plane was on the fritz.
I don't know what went wrong.
I'm awfully sorry. I can't understand it.
These mechanical things happen.
Hey, but better here than up there.
He missed the commercial flights to Japan.
I can't believe it...
What can I do?
We got him back with a whole floor of rooms to himself.
I am sorry.
Maybe, you get my money back.
No, no gambling.
And once he was back, he played small.
He bet $1,000 a hand instead of his usual $30,000 a hand.
...to the bank with a natural eight over a five.
But I knew the trick with whales like Ichikawa
was that they can't bet small for long.
He didn't think of it as winning $10,000,
he thought of it as losing $90,000.
So he upped his bets.
Until he dropped his winnings back
and gave up $1 million of his own cash.
In a casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them
playing and keep them coming back.
The longer they play, the more they lose.
In the end, we get it all.
God damn it
Trying to make it real compared to what?
Sock it to me
In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else.
Six. Who's gonna give me that?
Since the players are looking to beat the casino,
the dealers are watching the players.
Six!
Make the six.
The boxmen are watching the dealers.
The floormen are watching the boxmen.
The pit bosses are watching the floormen.
The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses.
The casino manager is watching the shift bosses.
I'm watching the casino manager.
And the eye in the sky is watching us all.
Plus, we had a dozen guys up there, most of them ex-cheats,
who knew every trick in the house.
Trying to make it real compared to what?
- Yes! - Thank you. Very nice.
I told you I was hot tonight.
Looking good.
Let's go, this is for Ginger.
Let me have $100 on the hard 10.
Thank you.
Hard 10.
Here we go now.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Sorry, the dice.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, sir.
You were great.
Take care, Steve. Take chances, drive fast.
Thank you very much.
Ginger, honey, this is for you, love.
Thanks for your time.
Come on.
What's the matter?
I made a lot of money for you, I want my cut.
I've seen you stealing from me.
Look at the stack of chips.
I want my half.
I was watching you all night.
I want my money.
Your bag is full of chips.
I didn't steal anything from you.
Get lost, Ginger. Get lost!
- Get lost? - Yes.
Well, how about that?
Come on!
Slippin' and a slidin', peepin' and a hidin'
Been told a long time ago
I've been told baby you've been bold
I won't be no fool no more
Baby
Oh, baby
My sweet baby
You're the one
What a move. I fell in love right there.
But in Vegas, for a girl like Ginger, love costs money.
What's different about her
I don't really know
I'm gonna go powder my nose.
No matter how I try
I just can't make her cry
Ginger's mission in life was money.
I'll be right back.
Okay, thanks for asking.
She was a queen around the casino.
She brought in high rollers and helped them spend a lot of money.
Hello.
Hey, Ginger, how you doing?
Great. I have something for you.
You got me covered?
And you do. Thank you very much.
Take care.
I got some lucky pills for you.
Yeah.
Who didn't want Ginger? She was one of the best known,
best liked and most respected hustlers in town.
She could keep a guy awake for two or three days
before sending him home broke
to the little woman and his bank examiners.
Any change?
Oh, I hit a few games on the way back.
That was all bullshit, she just pocketed the cash.
- How you doing tonight? - Good.
- How are you? - Beat.
Ginger had the hustlers' code.
Take one for you.
Thank you.
She knew how to take care of people
and that's what Vegas is all about.
$6,800.
Thanks.
It's kickback city.
- Have a good night. - Thank you. You, too.
She took care of the dealers, pit bosses...
Hey, Mitch.
...floor managers, but mostly,
she took care of the valet parkers.
The guys who could get you anything and take care of anything.
Ginger took care of the parkers
because they took care of the security guards,
who took care of the cops, who let her operate.
I need that stuff tonight.
No problem.
You are a doll.
The valet parking job was such a money-maker,
they had to pay off the hotel manager just to get the concession.
But one thing I could never understand
was that she could have everything under control
except for her old pimp boyfriend, Lester Diamond.
Gin, you know I got other people in this, I got partners.
I want you to understand
that I am looking out for you in this thing. Okay?
You're gonna get yours back and you're gonna get back first. Okay?
All right, yeah.
Where you going?
Where are you? You're in that place.
- I'm here. - No, you're not.
Where are you? Where are you?
I'm always here for you.
- You're my woman. - I know.
The Ginger I knew wouldn't even look at this creep.
- Good luck. - Yeah.
He was a moocher, a card cheat,
a country club golf hustler, a scumbag,
chasing dentists for a few bucks.
Careful.
The guy was always broke, he always had a story,
and she could never turn him down.
The way Ginger saw it was that Lester was just an unlucky guy.
Somebody had to take care of him.
But nobody had to take care of Nicky.
If you find any cash, we'll whack it up with you.
He took care of himself only too well.
That's why every badge back home wanted to nail him.
I folded these things beautifully
and I would appreciate a little respect.
- Jesus Christ. - Don't look at me, pal, I gotta live with her.
Even after a vacation, they hassled him at the airport.
Frank Marino was there to meet him but so were the cops.
This time they wanted him for some diamond burglary in Antwerp.
They were ready to blame him for anything.
Put your things away.
They were usually right.
Hold it.
Nicky enjoyed being a gangster
and he didn't give a damn who knew it.
Come on. There we go. Look. Beautiful!
That's what worried me 'cause it turns out
Nicky was about to be sent to Vegas.
- Right, we're clear. - There's more.
- I think that's it. - There's more.
There's a couple stuck in there.
- I'm telling you, they're out! - Come on.
Don't get so defensive, it could be stuck in your hair.
Oh, there aren't?
What's that, huh? What's that?
There's no more. Thanks, hon.
I couldn't wait to get my hands on Vegas.
But the bosses didn't send me there to have a good time.
They sent me to make sure that nobody fucked with Ace
and nobody interfered with the fucking skim.
Hey.
How you doing?
Hey, Sammy.
- Boy, look at this place, huh? All right. - Incredible.
- Welcome to Vegas. Something, huh? - Okay, Sammy. Yeah.
Ginger.
Holy shit. What you been doing out here?
Honey, come here.
This is Jennifer and Nick, dear friends of mine.
- Hi, Jennifer. - A pleasure.
Pleased to meet you.
Okay, Sammy.
After we ate, we left Jennifer and Ginger alone
and we took a ride to talk.
And then he hit me with it.
What do you think about me moving out here?
You got a problem with that?
Of course not.
You mean, I have your permission?
Sure, you have my permission but I gotta tell you, it's no joke out here.
You gotta keep a low profile.
It's not like back home.
They don't like guys like us.
And this sheriff's a real cowboy.
Even the coppers bury people out in the desert.
I don't care.
I wanna get away from back home.
I'm tired of that shit back there.
Look at this place, it's made of money.
You know the best part?
Nobody's gonna know what we're doing.
There's nobody here to see us.
Nick, I got pinched twice for no reason.
You really gotta be careful.
I'm running a licensed place, everything's legit.
Don't worry about it.
I'm not gonna do anything.
I'm especially not gonna involve you in anything.
Ace saw Vegas one way.
You tell this guy I'm coming?
Course.
But I saw it another. I saw it as untouched.
They had bookies, pimps, and drug dealers I could shake down.
Who the fuck were they gonna run to?
So I started getting everybody in line.
Best of all, for the first time in my life,
I figured out a way not to lose.
Yeah, he had a foolproof scheme.
It wasn't very scientific but it worked.
When he won, he collected, when he lost,
he told the bookies to fuck themselves.
What were they gonna do, muscle Nicky?
Nicky was the muscle.
Tony. How you doing?
Hey. How you doing?
Good. You got that thing for me?
What thing?
Oh, Nicky, I thought you was laying.
I was laying? No, no, I'm taking.
I was taking.
- You sure? - I'm positive.
I'm a little confused.
You're a little confused?
Maybe if I stick your fucking face
through this window, you'll get unconfused.
Give me the money.
Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it.
Yeah. That's why you had it ready.
My fucking head.
- Fucking head, huh? - Smarten up.
Don't fuck around, Tony.
Now Nicholas Santoro will tell us about our first President.
George Washington was born...
But still, it was nice and quiet for a while.
Ginger and I presented Nicky and Jennifer
all over town like regular Ozzie and Harriets.
Beautiful swing.
Ace got my son, little Nicky, involved in Little League.
Turned out one of the other coaches
was a fucking Metro Intelligence cop.
But it didn't matter, it was all about the kids.
He's gotta realize everything can't be a home run.
That's exactly what I tell him.
But that's the kind of kid he is.
And Nicky, being Nicky, he made his presence known.
Especially at the casino, where he definitely did not work,
people got the message.
That's why the bosses sent me out here.
They wanted me to make sure nobody robbed the joint.
Like these two fucking balloon heads.
They were gonna try to bang us out of 200 fucking grand.
Yeah, right, I'm sure.
How are you? What are you doing here?
I'm over here now.
Over here?
Yeah, with them.
We're waiting on Carmine.
Yeah, we're looking for Carmine.
He was here before.
He had a suitcase and then he left.
Carmine left?
He's gone?
He's not here?
Carmine's out?
I think maybe he went across the street or somewhere.
Well, listen, good luck with the joint.
Thanks, Eddy.
Yeah. Lots of luck.
Good luck to you, too.
They forgot to sign their papers.
Yeah, they don't need those anymore.
Out of respect, guys from other crews got a warning.
Everybody else, watch out.
Like these yokels here, who never heard of Nicky or the bosses,
'cause they're the morons who give you the most trouble.
Even after we catch them,
they try sneaking back with beards and wigs and fake noses.
You can spot these assholes by watching the way they bet.
Like this guy, he's betting lavender chips
at $500 each with only one little problem,
he's always guessed right.
If he wasn't so fucking greedy,
he'd have been tougher to spot.
But in the end, they're all greedy.
I got a feeling about the future
And it ain't too good, I know that
I saw that the dealer was weak but he wasn't in on it.
He just wasn't protecting his hand.
He was lifting his hole card way too high.
Here's this guy reading the dealer's hole card
and signaling his buddy at this table.
That's just what these hustlers look for.
They cruise the casinos looking for weak dealers
the way lions look for weak antelope.
Operator, this is Mr. R.
Get me Armstrong and Friday at Pit 2 right away.
BJ 19, second base, the beard.
Operator, I need Mr. Happy. Loud.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Jack
Happy birthday to you
Man down!
Go get medical.
We got a cardiac arrest here.
He's fine, folks.
Just give us some room, please.
Watch yourselves.
They never know what hit them and if and when they do find out
that they got zapped by a cattle prod,
they wish they really did have a heart attack.
Turns out this guy and his pals
were knocking this place dead for years.
- He's got a wire. - What are you doing?
- There it is. - That's it.
- Cheater's justice. - Oh, God!
Please, no, no. No!
I wanted everybody to know that things were changed around here.
We had to make an example of these pricks that the party was over.
I'm curious. I saw you shuffling your checks with your right hand.
Can you do that with both hands?
No.
- You can't? - No, sir.
Can you do it with your left hand?
I never tried.
So, you're a righty?
Yeah.
God!
Now, you're gonna have to learn with your left hand.
It's $100,000, $110,000, I think.
Yes, it is. Yes.
Okay.
Hiya. That's a lot of money to be counting out in public.
Yeah.
Why don't I take him to the office and verify it?
A little privacy.
And by the way, send over a nice bottle of champagne.
- Sure will. - Real special.
I'm Billy Sherbert, casino manager.
Hi.
- Having a good time? - Yes.
You'll want to count the money in privacy...
I have a plane to catch to Cleveland.
Can I get my winnings?
Look what they did to my hand, man.
I'm gonna give you a choice.
You can have the money and the hammer, or you can walk out of here.
You can't have both.
- What do you want? - I want out of here.
And tell your friends what happens if they fuck around here.
I'm sorry, I made a bad mistake.
Fucking right, you did.
If we catch either one of you again,
we'll break your heads and you won't walk out of here.
You don't fuck around in this place, you got it?
Get out of here.
Thank you.
Throw him in the alley and tell the cops he got hit by a car.
In no time, everything was set in place.
We got rid of the freelance scamsters, the pro was way up,
the gods were happy, as happy as they can ever be,
and I decided to complicate my life.
For a guy who likes sure things,
I was about to bet the rest of my life on a long shot.
We're not getting any younger.
Don't you think it's time?
Aren't you getting tired of all this shit?
Hustling around?
Are you trying to handicap me?
I'm gonna do you one better.
I'm trying to marry you.
You wanna marry me?
I'm serious.
I wanna settle down, I want a family.
You got the wrong girl, Sam.
I'd be a good father, you'd be a good mother.
You don't know me. You've known me two, three months.
What do you know?
I'm 43 years old. I don't want to wait.
I know you well enough to know
that I really love you very much.
And I can't think of anybody better to be with
and I don't feel like waiting anymore.
You know a lot of happily married people, Sam? 'Cause, I don't.
Yeah, I know all that.
I care about you,
but I just don't have those kind of feelings for you.
I'm sorry. I'm not in love with you.
Understand?
I'm sorry.
No, I...
I mean, that can grow,
as long as there's a mutual respect, that kind of thing can grow.
I'm realistic. I can accept that.
What is love anyway?
It's a mutual respect, it's a devotion,
it's a caring from one person to another.
And if we could set up some kind of foundation
based on that mutual respect,
I feel eventually you would care enough about me
that I could live with that.
If it doesn't work out, doesn't play out, then what happens to me?
You know, I'm doing well now, and I'm gonna do even better,
so whatever happens,
if it doesn't work out between us,
I'll make sure you're okay for the rest of your life.
And if there are kids, especially,
I'll take care of you better than...
What are you pitching me?
Just what I said.
You'll be set up for the rest of your life, that I can promise you.
Wanna take a chance?
When I married Ginger, I knew all the stories.
But I didn't give a fuck. "I'm Sam Rothstein," I said, "I can change her."
It was typical Ace.
He invited the biggest people in town and he knew they'd show
'cause they all wanted something from him.
With Ace, nobody ever got a free ride, even Ginger.
With her, he still covered his bets.
They had to have the baby before they could get married.
He even made Jenny and me watch Amy for a few days
when they went on their honeymoon,
but I didn't mind, we loved the kid.
Can you feel my eyes on you?
Can you feel me look into your heart?
Can you feel me in the pit of your stomach?
Can you feel me in you?
In your heart?
Don't make me come there.
Answer me.
I love you.
But, baby, do you know that I love you, too?
I know, Lester.
- Do you know that? - Yeah.
This is the best thing I can do for my life right now.
That's right. So it's going to be okay.
Promise?
God. I wish you all the luck in the world.
You do?
Yeah, I do.
It's the best thing you can do right now.
I mean this. You'll have real security.
Sweetheart, you're gonna be situated just right in Vegas.
Come on, this is great for us.
I'm always gonna be here for you.
I ain't going no place.
I'm looking at you right now.
I'm seeing you for the very first time, right this minute.
I'm seeing you. I can feel my heart click.
I see you 14 years old, I see you the first second I ever saw you.
I see you long-legged little colt, stupid braces on your teeth.
Okay, then.
Every time I see you, that's what I see.
Talk to you later.
Bye.
You all right?
Yeah.
Why are you crying?
I'm not crying.
Maybe you shouldn't drink so much.
I'm okay, I just...
You just have to understand.
I've been with Lester since I was a kid.
I just wanted to say goodbye.
I just... I don't...
I think I have a right to do that.
Okay?
It's all right.
But that part of your life is over with.
- Right? - Yeah.
You're with me now.
- Yeah. - Right?
Uh-huh.
You're sure?
Yeah.
You wanna go? Let's go back in.
Okay.
What a difference a day made
It's great.
Twenty-four little hours
It's great.
It's all my stuff. Oh, my God.
You brought all my stuff!
I can't...
Try it on, it's yours.
You're kidding.
Oh, my God.
What is it?
It's chinchilla.
Oh, it's so soft.
It's nice, isn't it?
Oh.
No one's ever been so nice to me.
Oh, my God!
Do you think it's too much if I wear these all on the same day?
You do whatever you want.
Do I keep my promises or do I keep my promises?
It's so wonderful.
The jewelry's not so bad either.
The only thing is,
we shouldn't keep this in the house, we gotta put it in the bank.
Come on, can I keep this one in the house?
Pay attention to me.
What I'm gonna tell you is very important.
Okay.
All this stuff doesn't mean anything.
Money, this, doesn't mean anything without trust.
I have to be able to trust you with my life.
It's heaven when you
Find romance on your menu
With over $1 million in cash and jewels
tucked in a bank in Vegas, only for Ginger,
she was secure and happy, she loved that shit.
But a guy in my line of work has to have a lot of payoff cash around.
Crooked cops and kidnappers don't take checks.
Need a little help with that, Mr. Collins?
So I put $2 million in cash in a Los Angeles bank
under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Collins.
This was strictly my shakedown and kidnapping money.
And since I'd either be in jail or locked in a closet
when I needed the money the most,
I gave Ginger the only key to the cash that could get me back alive.
I'll take you there
I'm callin', callin'
Callin' for mercy
I'll take you there
Mercy, mercy
I'll take you there
This is a signature card.
Once she signs those papers,
she'll be the only person with access to the box,
no one else, including myself?
That's right, that's the way you wanted it.
Sam, let me ask you a question.
You must really trust your wife.
Yeah, sure I do. Why?
No, it's good. It's just unusual.
To tell you the truth, so many of my clients don't.
Okay.
Never will I know happiness
With Ginger and the money in place, I felt covered.
And to play it safe, I switched job titles again
and made myself Food and Beverage Director.
This way, nobody would bother me about a license.
I mean, Vegas was like a dream for me.
Trouble was, Nicky was dreaming his own kind of Vegas.
I put money out on the street,
charging three points a week, juice to the dealers.
Don't make us come looking for you.
You won't have to. Thanks, Nicky.
They were degenerate gamblers, coke freaks.
In no time, I had half the dealers in the Tangiers in my pocket.
The next thing I did, I started busting out high-stakes poker players.
It was so obvious. All of Nicky's half-assed mechanics were signal-happy.
I'm gonna open for $500.
Signaling back and forth.
Why you crying with two loaves of bread under your arm?
Nicky thought nobody was watching him.
He was wrong.
And I didn't want any of those agents near my place.
Four aces.
I can't believe this.
If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck.
I wished Nicky and his crew would just get lost.
What am I gonna do?
Go back home and start a war?
Nicky's a made guy and I'm not.
I can't do that.
Careful. Gaming agents are all over the place.
So I'm not allowed to get lucky in this place?
You've been lucky all week.
They're looking to nail you.
Ace was so fucking worried about his casino,
he forgot what we were doing here.
A million times I wanted to yell
in his fucking ear, "This is Las Vegas.
"We're supposed to be out here robbing, you dumb fucking hebe."
I don't give a shit who he's connected to,
tell him to take his feet off the table.
What does he think this is, a goddamn sawdust joint?
Sir, would you mind taking your feet off the table?
Yeah, I would mind. I'm having a bad night.
Fucking asshole won't budge.
Call security.
How are you?
Good. How are you?
Wanna do me a favor?
Take your feet off the table and put your shoes on.
Fuck you.
I want you to exit this guy off the premises
and use his head to open the fucking door.
Sir, you're gonna have to leave.
You mind accompanying us outside?
Bullshit. I ain't going anywhere with you.
Bullshit, you're out of here.
Fuck you!
You know who you're fucking with, huh?
Do you?
You fucking faggot.
Do you know who you're fucking with?
Leave me alone!
Here we go.
You gotta be kidding me!
And an hour later, I get the call.
Ace, what happened?
Did you know that guy was with me?
No, I didn't. But you know what he did?
I walked over to him politely and he tells me to go fuck myself.
Then he called me a faggot.
What?
I threw the cocksucker out.
Come here.
You called my friend a faggot?
You tell him to fuck himself? Is that what you did?
You fucking hick. You fucking hick, you.
Come here.
You go over there and you apologize.
You better hope he lets you back in.
If you get out of line again, I'll smash your head so hard
you won't be able to get that cowboy hat on,
you hear me? You fucking hick.
Sammy, listen, this guy obviously doesn't know who he was talking to.
He doesn't know that we're dear friends.
I mean, he's already very sorry.
But if you could do me a favor and let him back in,
I swear he'll never get out of line again.
If he does it again, he's out for good.
I'll never let him in the place again.
I'm sorry about this, really.
All right, Ace?
Thanks, pal.
You took your boots off?
You put your feet on the table?
You shit-kicking, stinky, horse-manure-smelling motherfucker, you!
You fuck me up over there, I'll stick you in the desert. Go apologize.
- Get the fuck... - I'm sorry.
You know, Ace could be a very touchy guy.
Especially when he got bigger in town.
Like when he hired that Jonathan and David away from the Palace
by building them a new stage and giving them a silver Rolls-Royce.
But he knew how to bring in the crowds.
Knew all the fucking angles.
He brought over the whole Femme Fatale show from Paris.
But he forgot how lazy them European broads can get.
He weighed them once a week
to make sure they didn't blow up like balloons.
You're eight pounds over.
What's the reason for this?
Mr. Rothstein, sir...
Never mind the "sir."
Why is she eight pounds over?
I'm trying to offer you the respect...
Mr. Rothstein is good enough for you.
Sometimes when you put that pressure point on them...
All you do is give me answers.
Just give me the right answer.
I guess she's frightened if she doesn't lose weight, she may get fired.
That's right, she will get fired.
Send her back to Paris.
Just stop everything.
This woman's an institution...
She's lazy.
I gotta give the guy credit.
I mean, he does the most obvious thing.
This is the only town in the country
where a bookie joint is legit.
So why not take advantage, right?
So he took bookie joints off the street
and opened them up inside the casino.
Within a few years, he had every casino
on The Strip trying to copy off of him.
Between my innovations
and Nicky's dedication to his job,
I soon had the best operation on The Strip.
Be careful, there's a lot of heat on you already.
Why? Somebody's complaining?
I'm hearing things from security.
The sheriff's looking to put you in the Black Book.
That Black Book is a bunch of bullshit.
They got two names for the whole country
and one of them is still AI Capone.
If they put you in that book, you're gonna be in trouble.
You will not be able to walk into a casino.
I'm trying to make a living, that's all.
I'm just telling you, don't say I didn't warn you.
All right.
Mrs. Rothstein, straight ahead.
Very nice. Thank you.
Smile...
Just look...
For his hard work and dedication
and the new life-blood he has instilled in Las Vegas,
Sam has established himself
as an indispensable member of the gaming community.
As the head of the Tangiers Gaming Corporation,
it's my pleasure to welcome Sam Rothstein
to the Vegas Valley Country Club.
Back home, they'd have put me in jail for what I'm doing
but out here, they're giving me awards.
It is with great pleasure that I accept this certificate of appreciation
from the Charitable Foundations of Greater Las Vegas.
Congratulations, sweetheart.
Sam raised more than we've ever raised before.
But my greatest pleasure was watching
my wife, Ginger, work the room.
They all loved her.
How could you not love her?
She could be the most charming woman you ever saw.
People loved to be around her.
You've got to bring Amy to Sasha's birthday party.
See you 3:00, Saturday.
Yes, all right.
She made everybody feel good.
Congratulations, Sam.
Thanks.
Hello, Mrs. Rothstein. How are you?
Hi. Oh.
You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen.
You're a lucky man, Mr. Rothstein.
Thank you. Thanks for that compliment.
He was a young kid from the casino.
Nice kid. Bright boy.
What balls on this fucking kid.
The next day I fired him.
Ginger had that effect on people.
I think she even encouraged them.
Do you wanna see this one?
Daddy gave me all this jewelry because he loves me so much.
But as much as they loved her...
Fabulous!
...they didn't know what really moved her.
Look at this. Daddy gave me this...
And with Ginger happy, I was able
to concentrate on what I knew best.
Loose machines are right back over there.
What are they doing back there?
- You can't even see them there. - Okay.
What about the progressives with the high jackpots?
Where are they? These machines are hidden.
These are our best machines.
They bring all the action.
No wonder the drop is off.
The action is in the front, not the back.
- Bring them up front. - All right, I will.
Listen carefully, there are three ways of doing things here,
the right way, the wrong way and the way that I do it.
You understand?
I do, I'll get right on it.
And thank you.
Don't thank me, just do it.
You're the slots manager. I shouldn't have to tell you this.
Dang, you are right, Mr. Rothstein.
I am so sorry.
So I ended up working, what, 18-hour days.
Ginger was the one who wound up enjoying the best of Vegas.
Come with me, please. I have a better table for you. Sorry.
What did you say to that fucking jerk?
I told him I was Mrs. Sam Rothstein.
Well, you might as well get something out of it.
Well, it wasn't long before what I was afraid was gonna happen, happened.
Nicky managed to get himself banned
from every casino in Las Vegas.
From then on, I couldn't be seen talking
to him anywhere in or near Vegas.
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
"...detrimental to gaming and he will be ejected from any casino in Las Vegas.
"And the casinos can be fined as much as $100,000
"every time he shows up."
You believe this shit?
Yeah, I believe it. You got banned.
"Because of notorious and unsavory reputation."
Motherfucker!
Is there any way around this?
No, there's no way.
Let's say, for instance,
I wanna go in a restaurant, which happens to be in a casino,
to get one of those sandwiches I like?
Forget it. You can't even set foot in the parking lot.
That's how serious it is.
In other words, I'm fucked?
In so many words, yes.
It just didn't sink into his head
about the Black Book and what it meant.
Not being able to go into a casino is one thing,
but being in this book etched your name
into the brains of every cop and FBI agent.
You're listed in there with Al Capone.
But Nicky didn't care.
I gotta do something. I gotta do something.
They ain't getting rid of me.
They're not getting rid of me.
I'm staying here.
Fuck them. Fuck them.
So, once they pulled that shit,
I started doing my own things nobody ever thought of doing.
To keep an eye on things, I brought in my brother, Dominick,
and some desperados
and started knocking over high-rollers, casino bosses, bookmakers.
Anybody right here in town.
I had a good fucking crew going for me.
I had Sal Fusco, a great second-story guy.
Jack Hardy. He worked for a safe company before he did a six-year bit.
And then there was Bernie Blue.
This guy could bypass any alarm for me.
It was like old times.
And I opened up my own jewelry store too, The Gold Rush.
Sometimes I used to go along on a heist, just for the fun of it
but I didn't like the people I was ripping off looking at me
so I used to turn their fucking pictures around.
What's taking so long?
This is a motherfucker.
Learn how to open the things so you don't have to take them.
Some of these stones got a lot of niggers in them.
Tell Pepe if he's switching stones on us
he better take a camel back to Nigeria.
Yeah?
- They're in Penthouse K. - Checked in alone?
- Yes. - Are they out now?
Yes. Don't worry.
Thanks.
He had tipsters all over town. Bellmen.
This looks good but you got to hurry.
Yeah, okay.
Valet parkers.
They're checking in.
- Okay, I'll tell him. - Pit bosses.
Room 1230 at The Sirocco.
1230.
Secretaries.
Mint condition coins.
Mint condition.
They all got a piece of the score.
Car's coming.
They were very careful.
They always bypassed the alarms, or else,
if not, they'd drill enough holes
to knock through the walls with a sledgehammer.
Nicky was grabbing everything he could.
Nobody out there was expecting a guy like him.
To Nicky, Las Vegas was the fucking Wild West.
I just got a shipment of diamonds from Israel.
What the fuck they expect from me?
I had to earn, didn't I?
You know, this diamond has flaws in it.
There's no flaws.
I'm doing this for 25 years.
You better clean your loupe because there's no flaws.
Whenever we got local merch,
we'd usually send it to Palm Springs or Arizona, L.A.
I had some sand niggers out there.
You know, Arabs.
Are you gonna have a fucking meeting here?
I know his language.
$40,000. The whole package.
$20,000. That's my final offer.
He suddenly talks English.
Let's talk turkey here. $25,000.
I actually turned my bedroom
into a bank vault where I kept the choice stuff.
I couldn't leave it at The Gold Rush
in case we got raided by the cops
or if my crew got cute.
I had the only key.
Jennifer didn't give a fuck.
She used to fall asleep on the couch watching TV every night.
This stuff was all mine.
I didn't send any of this back home.
I couldn't because I wasn't even supposed to be doing it.
The bosses were making so much money with the casinos
that they didn't want anybody making any waves for them.
You gave all the guys a piece of that?
I took care of everyone.
Yeah?
That's why there was no organized street stuff
in Vegas before I came here.
But how much cash could I bury in my closet?
...understand, and I'm sure you do,
in a venture of this kind
you have to be prepared to take some kind of loss.
I put some of the money into legitimate deals
with Charlie Clark, Ace's banker.
- You will try to push it through, Mr. Clark? - Yes.
I'm giving you $50,000 cash.
Then I put some more money into legitimate places, like my restaurant.
- Is that the last? - Yeah.
I had my kid brother, Dominick, run it for me.
Fuckers.
- Here you go, guys. - All right. Thanks a lot.
Enjoy. Have a good time.
- Choke on it, motherfucker. - Hey.
How you doing?
Yeah, Nicky loved restaurants.
He was a real restaurant buff.
And over the years, he always made money with it.
In Vegas, he had the Leaning Tower.
It was a very popular spot.
He had politicians, showgirls and movie stars
hanging out all over the place.
That show at the Flamingo just gets better.
Sammy said whenever you have a minute, give him a call.
Made a messenger out of you, too?
Anything for a buck.
He does it to everybody. Enjoy your dinner.
Thanks.
But I gotta tell you, the thing Nicky liked most was the showgirls.
To them, Nicky was the movie star.
You walk past me?
Hey! This is Shelly.
Hey, Shelly. How are you?
And this is Stacy.
- Stacy. - This is Nick.
They wanna have dinner. Come on.
All right. Let's check the kitchen first.
Excuse us one second.
I'll show you. I fly stuff in fresh every day.
I get bread from back home, fish from California.
You can always tell a great kitchen like ours
because of the milk-fed veal.
That's the secret. Milk-fed veal is pure white.
Out here they got that pink veal.
Slide over, honey.
Now, pink veal, you can pound that shit for two days.
It'll never, ever get tender.
You know what I mean?
I left here with the money.
Got muscled on the street.
A couple guys, I owe them, so I gave them the money.
- That's what I did. - Yeah?
You call yourself a man?
You know you're a lying lowlife,
motherfucking, gambling, degenerate prick?
You know that? Two small kids at home.
I gave you money to pay the fucking rent
and buy groceries, put the heat on.
Your wife called Frankie and told him the fucking heat's off.
And you didn't gamble that fucking money?
- No? You didn't? - I didn't...
Don't fuck with me, Al.
Don't make a fuck out of me.
You wanna embarrass me, make a fool out of me? You didn't gamble?
Tell me you gambled the fucking money,
I'll give you the money to put the heat on.
Did you gamble? Huh?
Fucking degenerate.
Fucking kids at home.
Here. Get the fuck out of here.
- Thanks, Nick. - Yeah.
Let me find out you fucked up,
I'll leave you where I find you.
How many of these you gonna eat?
- Two. - Two?
SAM: But around 6:30 in the morning,
when he finished his day, no matter where he was,
he always went home to make breakfast for his son, Nicky boy.
I know you like this.
A little butter, right? Not a lot.
- You know why, right? - Yeah.
- Why? - 'Cause it clogs up your heart.
What a smart kid you are. Okay, eat.
Every couple of weeks,
I sent Marino to the bosses with a piece of what I made.
Not a big piece, but what did they know?
They were 1,500 miles away,
and I don't know anyone who can see that far.
Their drop was a garage
where Remo and the guys hung out and counted their millions.
Hey, Frankie.
The cops knew but they didn't give a fuck.
Nicky sends his warmest regards.
But I knew how to keep the bosses happy.
Whenever they gave me little jobs to do, you know, to send a message,
I would carry things out to a T.
Like the time Tony Dogs, the new maniac tough guy in town,
shot up one of Remo's bars.
Here's a guy kills two of Remo's guys and a poor fucking waitress
who was just working on her night off, of all things.
I mean, this guy's just begging to be made an example of.
Frankie, I want the names of all the other people he had with him.
And I don't care what you have to do
to them to get them, understand?
I'll take care of it, Remo.
To be truthful with you, I had to admire this guy.
He was one of the toughest Irishmen I ever met.
This son of a bitch was tough.
For two fucking days and nights
we beat the shit out of this guy.
We even stuck ice picks in his balls.
He better give me a name or I'm gonna give him yours, Frank.
Thanks a lot.
But he never talked.
You would've ratted by now.
In the end, I had to put his fucking head in a vise.
Dogs, can you hear me, Dogs?
Listen to me, Antony.
I got your head in a fucking vise.
I'll squash your fucking head like a grapefruit
if you don't give me a name.
Don't make me have to do this.
Don't make me be a bad guy. Come on.
Fuck you.
Motherfucker. You believe this?
Two fucking days and nights.
Fuck me? Fuck me, you motherfucker?
Fuck my mother? That what you're saying?
You motherfucker, you, huh?
Oh, God. Give me the fucking name.
Charlie M.
- Charlie M. - Charlie M?
Charlie M? You make me pop your fucking eye out of your head
to protect that piece of shit, Charlie M?
You dumb motherfucker.
Kill me, you fuck. Kill me!
Kill you? You motherfucker, you.
Frankie, do him a fucking favor.
The word got around that finally there was a real gangster in town.
Nicky was the new boss of Las Vegas.
Charlie M.
Four reels, sevens across.
Three $15,000 jackpots.
Do you have any idea what the odds are?
Shoot, it's gotta be in the millions or more.
Three fucking jackpots in 20 minutes?
Why didn't you call me?
It happened so quick. Three guys won.
I didn't have a chance.
You didn't see the scam?
There's no way to determine that.
Yes, there is. An infallible way, they won!
It's a casino. People gotta win sometimes.
Ward, you're pissing me off. Now you're insulting my intelligence.
You know somebody had to get into those machines
and set those reels.
The probability on one machine
is a million-and-a-half to one.
On three machines in a row, it's in the billions. It can't happen.
What's the matter with you?
Didn't you see you were being set up on the second win?
You didn't see you were being set up?
I think you're overreacting.
You fucking yokel. I've been carrying your ass ever since I got here.
Get your ass out of here.
- You're firing me? - I'm firing you.
No, I'm not firing. I'm firing you.
You might regret this.
I'll regret it if I keep you.
This is not the way to treat people.
If you didn't see it, you're too fucking dumb.
If you did see it, you were in on it. Either way, you're out.
Go on. Let's go.
The guy's history as far as I'm concerned.
You can't fire him.
His brother-in-law is County Commissioner.
Everybody with cowboy boots
is a fucking county commissioner or related to one.
This is his state. His uncle's Chief Judge.
His brother-in-law runs the County Commission.
There's gotta be a way to work him back in.
You're in the finances, you're upstairs.
You are not on the floor.
You don't see what's going on.
I've got thousands of players, I've got 500 dealers.
They're all looking to rob me blind 24 hours a day.
I have to let them know I'm watching all the details all the time.
There is not one single thing I will not catch.
Look at yours. Look at that.
Look at this. There's nothing.
Look how many blueberries your muffin has and how many mine has.
What are you talking about?
If you don't do it yourself, it never gets done.
Where are you going?
From now on, I want you to put an equal amount
of blueberries in each muffin.
An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.
Do you know how long that will take?
I don't care.
Put an equal amount in each muffin.
Come on, honey, just a little.
Atta girl. Atta girl.
Oh, boy, look. You wanna go to Mommy?
Wanna come to Mommy?
It's all right, sweetheart.
I need to talk to you. I need some money.
What do you need?
Got her?
I need a lot. I need more than usual.
Why don't you take it out of your account?
I would, you know, Sam, it's just that...
Well, I need more than that. I need $25,000.
$25,000?
- For yourself? - Yeah.
Why do you need that much?
What's the difference? I just need it.
I gotta ask you. That's a lot of money.
You're not asking for a box of popcorn.
We don't have to turn this into a big deal.
Okay? We don't have to have a fight.
It was important to me. Forget it.
Just something I wanted to do.
Who's fighting? I mean, tell me what it's for.
Why can't you tell me what it's for? Huh?
You know what? Now I want you to tell me.
My wife comes to me and asks me for $25,000.
- What do you want, a coat? - No.
If you want a coat, you got it.
It's not the money.
It's just, why do you want it?
Am I not entitled to ask?
I've been independent my whole life.
I never had to ask anybody for anything.
Now you're making me beg.
What are you talking about?
And you're embarrassing me.
Why do you want to make me feel so bad?
You're asking me for $25,000.
I'm not out to make you feel bad.
I want to just be able to trust you.
You know, it's about trust.
I have to be able to trust you with my life.
Do you understand?
Can I trust you?
Answer me, can I trust you?
You can trust me.
Good. Then tell me what the money is for.
You've got to
Give a little
Take a little
And let your poor heart
Break a little
Yeah, she's leaving the bank now.
All right, I'm gonna follow her.
What is that? What does that mean?
I know that look. What does that look mean?
It means I got the money.
That's a good look.
You've got to
How are you doing, Les? It's Lester, right?
Sam.
From my recollection, aren't you the card shark,
the golf hustler, the pimp from Beverly Hills?
If I'm wrong, please correct me,
'cause I never knew you to be a heist man.
But if you are, you know what?
Here, take mine, too.
Go ahead, take it.
'Cause you already have hers.
She's my wife.
Look at me. You did know that?
You knew that she's my wife?
Huh? Hey, look at me.
Yeah, I know that.
You do, yeah?
But if you ever come back again, ever,
to take her money, next time bring a pistol.
That way you got a chance.
Be a man. Don't be a fucking pimp.
Now, you wanna do me a favor?
Get out of here.
I wanna be alone with my wife.
Get the fuck up and get out of here.
Fucking piece of shit.
That's fucking bullshit.
You know? That's fucking...
I guess it's best that we should part
That's the glory of love
Remember when you called him that night and said goodbye?
He didn't say, "Don't get married, I'll be right down."
No, he didn't.
No. Instead, what did he say?
"Fuck him. Take him for everything he's got."
Come here. I want to show you something.
That's the story
The second letter came right after
Come back, you motherfucker.
No! No, no!
Make them stop it!
No!
No! No.
It's not his fault! It's my fault!
No!
Fuck!
Piece of shit.
Why didn't you do it yourself, you chickenshit cocksucker?
He's such a prick!
He had some guy from the hotel beat him up.
He didn't want to do it himself.
Oh, no, he didn't want to get his own hands dirty.
So why did he have to do that, huh?
Tell me.
I know it wasn't a nice thing to do...
No shit.
You gotta understand,
he doesn't know if this guy is shaking you down...
No. No.
I told him about this guy before we got married.
This is no fucking surprise.
- Oh, you did? I didn't know that. - Yeah.
He's just a friend of mine I was trying to help. So what?
You know, the first time I ever saw you guys together,
I never saw him so happy.
I know he's a crazy Jew fuck and everything,
but I never seen him act like that with anybody else.
I think he's crazy about you.
I mean, he really loves you. He does.
Come on. I went into this with my eyes open, you know.
I knew the bottom could drop out at any time.
I'm a working girl. You don't think I'm gonna go into a situation like this
if I don't think I'm gonna get covered on the back end?
- Sure, I can see that. - Right?
So he put aside some jewelry for me.
A lot of jewelry.
You mean like a lot of expensive jewelry?
About how much?
You want to steal it?
No. I'm just curious.
I was wondering, how much he would put into a thing like that.
I'm told it's worth about $1 million, maybe more.
Well, there you go. What does that tell you?
$1 million in jewelry.
The guy is crazy about you.
I should've never married him.
He's a Gemini.
Triple Gemini. Duality.
Gemini is the snake, you know.
You can't trust a snake.
I mean it.
I know what you mean.
Listen, Ginger.
You know, this is probably not...
I don't have the answers anyway.
This is probably not what you want to hear...
- I do. - ...'cause you're a little upset with Ace
and I understand that.
But I think you should try to make the best of it now.
Go slow. See what happens.
He could've killed him! Okay?
He didn't have to hit him.
It's not like I'm sleeping with the guy.
He makes me sneak around to see my own friends.
What the fuck is that all about?
I guess it's 'cause he loves you so much, he's jealous and worried.
Like he gives a fuck what I do.
I'll try to find out what the hell is going on.
When I see him, I'll talk to him.
Okay.
- All right? - Yeah.
Thanks. Thanks for putting up with me.
Take it easy with this shit.
This can only make matters worse.
You're a beautiful girl.
I've seen a lot of girls get shot to hell from this.
You're so nice.
Come on, now.
I don't wanna see you unhappy.
Thanks.
Thank you.
It's all right.
Mr. Rothstein, County Commissioner Pat Webb is here to see you.
- Give me a minute. - Okay.
He'll be just a minute.
Mr. Webb, can I get you anything?
No, thank you, little lady.
Okay, send him in, call me four minutes after.
Mr. Rothstein, I'm Pat Webb.
How do you do?
- It is a pleasure. - I've heard a lot about you.
Oh, thank you, sir. Hey, house is doing well.
Hey, all that money is rolling in.
I appreciate you taking the time to see a poor civil servant.
Why don't you have a seat?
Thank you, sir.
I come here personally to kind of smooth over
any fracas about a certain matter.
Maybe you didn't know it,
but Don Ward is a very well-liked man in this town.
He's got lots of friends, nice family
and their money go back many, many years.
Now, friends vote. Family and money votes.
That's important to me and you.
And if you'll think about our little problem along them lines,
and you'll forgive me for saying it,
maybe he did not deserve to be fired.
He knew about our getting hit on three big machines in a row
and he did nothing about it.
So he was in on it or he was too dumb to see what was going on.
Either way, I cannot have a man like that working here.
Before we point the dirty end of the stick at old Don,
we better be sure we can prove them charges.
Believe me, if I could prove it, he would be under arrest.
Are...
Are we certain that you want the Gaming Control Board
eyeballing your record and your gangster pals like Nicky Santoro?
You're way out of line talking to me like that.
That's libelous and you're in no position to challenge my expertise.
I went way out of my way to be very helpful to that kid.
He's weak. He's incompetent.
He jeopardizes the whole place.
There's not much more I can do for him.
You have got me there.
Old Don is as useless as tits on a boar.
But he is my brother-in-law
and I would look on it as a personal favor
if you'd think some more on hiring him back.
I can't do that.
I appreciate that he's your brother-in-law and I do want to help you.
I like to do favors.
And I know who you are but I cannot do that.
Well, could there be any position farther down the trough?
I'm sorry, I can't do anything.
He's too incompetent and he cannot be trusted.
Okay. Thanks.
No. That's it. I'm sorry.
Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand the way it works out here.
You're all just our guests.
But you act like you're at home.
Let me tell you something, partner.
You ain't home.
But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the Governor.
Thank you for your time.
No problem.
Sorry.
You bet.
What happened to my pills?
Your drinking is bad enough.
You're taking my pills, too?
I didn't take your pills.
Look, for my ulcer, I take a half of one of these
and that's when I have extreme pain.
I had a three-month supply.
What did you do with them?
You didn't have to beat him up.
What?
I was just trying to help him.
It's not like I'm sleeping with the guy.
Yeah, how do I know?
- You can't make me stop caring about people. - What? What?
I said, you can't make me stop caring about people.
Listen.
Ginger, I'm trying to make the best of everything here, you know?
I mean, you're my wife, for Christ's sakes.
I mean, people look up to you in this town. I don't know what to do...
You know what, Ace? I don't give a shit!
I'm getting out of here. I am.
You gotta get hold of yourself.
Okay.
If not for me, at least for Amy.
Okay.
Understand?
Your drinking's getting way out of hand.
I'm gonna get you into a program.
They got plenty of good ones.
I don't need one.
Yes, you do. It's very discreet.
There's no names in the papers.
That's all you care about.
You don't care about me.
Yes, I do.
- No, you don't. - How could you say that?
You're a beautiful woman, you're destroying yourself.
You don't need that.
You don't need that fucking leech living off you.
I know you better than you know yourself.
You're a tiger, you're stronger than I am.
When you set your mind on doing something,
you do it better than anybody.
You're gonna do it. Okay? You'll do it.
Oh, God.
Okay. Okay.
I'll try. I'll try.
I'll try. I will.
Don't be mad at me, okay?
I will.
No matter what the problems were outside the count room,
it was all worth it.
The cash kept rolling in
and the suitcases kept coming and going.
And let me tell you, the fucking bottom line here is cash.
The only problem was that after a while,
the bosses noticed that the suitcases were getting a little light.
Wait a minute. You mean to tell me
that the money we're robbing is being robbed?
That somebody's robbing from us?
We go through all this trouble and somebody's robbing us?
Like I said, it's part of the business.
It's considered leakage.
Leakage, my balls.
I want the guy who's robbing us.
Even John Nance, that's the guy who ran the scam,
he knew there wasn't much he could do about it.
You gotta know that a guy who helps you steal,
even if you take care of him real well,
he's gonna steal a little extra for himself.
Makes sense, don't it? Right?
Try and make these hardheaded old greaseballs understand that.
What's the point of skimming if we're being skimmed?
It defeats the purpose.
They take money because they're my guys,
so you gotta give them some leeway.
But the bosses never believed in leeway, so listen to what they do.
They put Artie Piscano, the underboss of K.C.,
in charge of making sure nobody skimmed the skim.
What were you doing?
I was with my goomah.
What are you doing with your goomah?
I gave her a schiaffo.
The only trouble was Piscano was a disaster.
This guy could fuck up a cup of coffee.
What you been doing?
I'm out there more than I'm here.
And if anybody had known where this would lead,
they would've been better off making fucking novenas.
You gotta go back and talk to that guy.
I never got my expenses for the last trip.
What expenses?
I'm laying money out of my own pocket
and I never get anything back.
You gotta go back out there.
I'm gonna start keeping records.
No records, Artie.
What are you gonna do with records, pay taxes?
I can't keep laying out my own fucking dough for these trips.
What the hell are we doing over here?
You're going to Las Vegas at my expense.
What the fuck? I mean, after all...
No matter how many novenas you could make,
nothing was gonna stop what came up next.
I can't believe you're doing this.
We made a deal. You came to me.
It turned out Phil Green, "Mr. Integrity,"
had a partner nobody knew about
and when she showed up, demanding money from the Tangiers...
Why are you doing this?
Because you're wrong.
- I'm not. - Yes, you are.
I am not wrong.
...Green tried to stonewall her.
I will see to it that you do not get away with this.
So she sued him in court.
The court will now hear the matter of the plaintiff, Anna Scott,
against Tangiers Corporation and its President, Philip Green.
John Marmot on behalf of Mr. Green.
Victor Oberon on behalf of Anna Scott.
Mr. Oberon, proceed.
Thank you, Judge.
I believe he was fair, and I'm delighted with the decision.
We got a problem.
It didn't go too well.
Green has to open up the books,
has to show how he got the financing.
And hey, that's not good.
She was doing pretty good with her lawsuit.
But before she could start counting her money,
the boys back home decided to settle the case out of court.
So they sent me.
Can you comment on Anna Scott's murder?
What?
She was found last night, shot in the head.
Was this just a real estate partnership?
Her lawyer said you were partners.
We were involved in minor real estate deals many years ago.
It was never a partnership.
Did you ever hear of the.22 caliber killer?
Now, instead of the cops only looking at Nicky,
they started looking at Green, too.
And he was supposed to be our squeaky-clean front man.
I had to start giving interviews
so everybody knew the casino was on the up-and-up.
So how often do you really fill in for him?
Green's here about two or three times a month
and he's busy with real estate deals.
So in Green's absence, you're the boss?
I serve at the pleasure of the Chairman of the Board
and my responsibilities are to run the day-to-day operations.
So day-to-day, then, you're the boss?
Well, in a sense, you could say that
I am the boss when Mr. Green is away.
You could say that.
Have you read this? It's about Mr. Rothstein.
It says, "The Midwest bookmaker with mob ties
"says that he is the real boss
of the $100 million Tangiers casino empire."
Do you believe that?
Did he really say that?
Why, of course he said that. It's right here.
Has that man even filed for his license yet?
I don't know. We have to check the files.
Without getting your shorts in a knot, would you do that?
Check closely, 'cause we may have to kick a kike's ass out of town.
Thank you.
A Gaming Control Board investigation
of Tangiers executive Sam Rothstein's gaming license application is under way.
Rothstein, who heads the Tangiers casino operation
and is a boyhood friend of Las Vegas mob boss Nicky Santoro,
could lose his ability to work in the casino...
Hello.
I gotta meet Clean Face. What about the Chez Paris?
You can't. You gotta make a reservation. It's all booked up.
- No, no. It's okay. - It's impossible.
You gotta make a reservation. It's difficult to get in.
It's okay, I'll use the service entrance. I'll see you at 9:00.
All right.
The battle between gaming officials and Tangiers casino boss,
Sam "Ace" Rothstein, is heating up.
Tonight, a look at Ace Rothstein's attempt to get state licensing
despite allegations of Rothstein's organized crime connections.
Will Rothstein's friendship with alleged organized crime figure Nicky Santoro
keep him from running the Tangiers casino?
Can the integrity of gaming laws
be jeopardized by a boyhood friendship?
Why don't you take it easy on that stuff, huh?
Come on. Let me help you down. Come on.
We're talking about some stuff.
Will a boyhood friendship unseat Rothstein as the Tangiers casino boss?
Exclusive on the KBBO special news report.
Go down. Just... Go downstairs.
You can't let this concern you, Ace.
Don't worry about that stuff.
It's just a political witch hunt.
Hey, Ace.
Do you want something to drink?
Charlie, a refill?
- Yeah, refill would be great. - No.
Hey, Mr. Clark.
You're tougher to reach than the President.
I've been busy.
Least you could do is return my phone calls.
Listen, Nicky, we talked about this.
And I explained to you that you might have to take some kind of loss.
Yeah.
I think I want my money back.
What are you gonna do, strong-arm me?
You know, I think you've gotten
the wrong impression about me.
I think, in all fairness, I should explain
to you exactly what it is that I do.
Tomorrow morning I'll get up nice and early, take a walk to the bank,
walk in and see you, and if you don't have my money for me,
I'll crack your fucking head wide open in front of everybody.
And just about the time that I'm coming out of jail,
hopefully, you'll be coming out of your coma.
And guess what?
I'll split your fucking head open again, 'cause I'm fucking stupid.
I don't give a fuck about jail.
That's my business, that's what I do.
We know what you do.
You fuck people out of money and get away with it.
You can't talk to me like that.
You put my money to sleep!
Get my money or I'll put your brain to sleep.
Sam.
Never mind Sam. This is personal.
I'll be there in the morning.
You can try me, fatso. You fucking try me.
You think he got the point?
He's a square guy, for Christ's sakes.
He's gonna run to the FBI.
Fuck the FBI.
That prick's been dodging me for three weeks.
You're trying to tell me what to do.
I'm not but you're way out of line, Nick.
Where's your head?
Where's your fucking balls? Huh?
You know I'm trying to put something big together here.
You know what I'm talking about.
If you're acting like this now, how can I depend on you?
A lot of things gonna change.
If you wanna be there, you're gonna have to go my fucking way.
Listen, Nicky, I'm responsible for thousands of people.
I got $100 million a year going through the place.
It's all over if I don't get that license.
If it goes bad for me, it's gonna go bad for a lot of people.
Forget your license.
I plant my own flag here and you ain't gonna need a license.
I don't know what it is, Sammy, but the more I talk to you,
the more I feel like you don't want to go along with me.
No, I don't want to come along with you.
Okay, fine.
I don't want to be involved with it.
I want to run a square joint.
I just want my license.
I want everything quiet. That's it.
Quiet like this? "I'm the boss"?
That's quiet?
I had no control over that.
Ronnie and Billy will tell you what happened.
Back home that looks bad.
Bad? Every time you're on television,
I get mentioned. That looks bad.
What the fuck happened to you?
What happened to you? You lost control.
I lost control?
You're walking around like John Barrymore.
A pink robe and a fucking cigarette holder?
I lost control?
I don't wanna bring this up,
but you been treating people with disrespect, even your wife.
What does she have to do with all this?
She was upset about a lot of things,
especially that fucking Lester Diamond incident.
You're the shoulder to cry on?
Did you her tell about your role in that?
No, that's not the fucking point.
The point is she's upset, and you've got a fucking problem.
I would appreciate it if you stay out of my personal life.
She came to talk to me.
What was I supposed to do? Throw her out?
Stay away. It's none of your business.
It's none of my business?
A week ago it was my business, now it's not.
So when you need me to take care of things, you need me?
Yeah, the way you need me to vouch for you as a citizen.
I'm gonna have to straighten out what you did.
This guy is gonna run to the FBI.
Your head's bigger than your casino.
I knew what he wanted and I didn't want any part of it.
Nicky wanted to take over.
He wanted to go after Gaggi, the skim, everything and everybody.
Plus, he had stopped asking permission from back home
for every little thing.
A casino boss and his wife were killed.
The bulls questioned Nicky.
A dealer from The Sirocco.
They questioned Nicky.
Some stool pigeons wound up in their car trunks.
They questioned Nicky.
A lawyer.
They questioned Nicky.
When guys who didn't pay, their shylocks began disappearing,
Nicky's name was in those newspapers.
Nicky was questioned in two dozen murders but they always let him go.
There were never any witnesses.
The coppers blamed me for every fucking thing that went wrong.
Watch yourself.
You're gonna get runned over, there.
If a guy tripped over a banana peel, they'd bring me in for it.
Come on, be nice, huh? Be nice.
The bosses were no better.
They complained because things don't run smooth.
In my line of work, things don't run so smooth. I'm sorry.
I'm dealing with degenerate animals out here.
But the bosses, what do they give a fuck?
They're sitting on their asses drinking anisette,
but I'm the guy in the trenches.
Fucking bosses think it's a fucking free lunch out here.
Frankie, they found a guy's head in the desert.
Do you know about that?
- Yeah, I heard. - Yeah.
They're making a big deal out of it.
It's in all the papers.
What are you gonna do?
And I mean, that's no good.
I know.
You gotta tell him to take care of things a little better.
I'll tell him, Remo.
Fucking bosses smoking their Di Nobilis
and eating trip' and fucking soffrit', fried pigs' guts,
while if I want to talk private, I gotta go to a bus stop.
What do they care, long as I keep sending money back?
They're complaining.
Let them complain. I'm the one who's here.
I do all the work.
Somebody don't like it, fuck them.
It's up to you.
They want a fucking war? I'm ready.
All I gotta do is take care of five of those guys,
the rest will fall into place. Believe me.
Peek-a-boo, you fucks, you.
I see you, you motherfuckers.
Nicky was not only bringing heat on himself but on me, too.
The FBI watched every move he made
but he didn't care. He just didn't care.
If you're gonna watch me, I'm gonna watch them right back.
I spent a few bucks. Top dollar.
Who gives a shit?
I got the latest anti-bugging equipment
from the same places that sell to the CIA.
I had special police frequency radios,
FBI de-scramblers, cameras that see in the dark.
And because of that, the miserable sons of bitches
never caught me doing anything.
I got my job on the line and this guy's having the time of his life.
He has every cop in the state watching him and he's out playing golf.
And at the worst possible time for me.
I had my license hearing coming up
and I didn't want to leave anything to chance.
If I can't work in Vegas, where am I gonna go?
You've been very open with us.
I mean, your books and papers.
The Commission will appreciate that.
All I ask is a fair hearing.
This kind of honesty will guarantee that.
Good.
All right, we'll move on to...
I wanted to hear the summary about Kansas City.
What the fuck is this?
Where's this guy gonna land? The fairway?
They're fucking agents, Frankie.
Look at this.
The Feds were watching Nicky play golf
for so long, they ran out of gas.
Just what I needed, right in front of the Control Board.
$100, whoever hits the plane.
If things weren't bad enough,
in comes Piscano, the Kansas City underboss.
He ran that grocery store where they brought the suitcases.
Fighting over those suitcases again.
You know what that means?
Another trip to Vegas and another couple of grand.
He ran it with his brother-in-law,
but mostly he complained about his trips to Vegas.
You gotta lay down the law,
otherwise they're gonna make a fool out of you.
I write it all down.
Every fucking nickel goes down...
Hey. Oh, what's the matter with you?
Everything's here.
Since when do you talk like that?
I'm sorry.
Screw with those suitcases and I'll take the eyes out of his fricking head.
Again.
I didn't curse. I said fricking head.
- That's enough. - Sorry.
What happens next? You can't believe it.
Who would believe that the FBI had a wire in the place
looking for information about some old homicide
about some guy who was whacked out God knows when.
What's to prevent him taking what he wants?
Nance brings two suitcases from the Tangiers.
What about three or four?
We've got nobody in the room to watch.
That's the law.
We can't even go into the count room
to watch our money. Cowboy bullshit.
He's got his people in there,
but they could all be in on it together, those fucks.
I'll find out.
If it's Green, I'll bury that bastard.
I never trusted him.
They trust that scumbag. I don't.
I'll hit the two of them with a fucking shovel.
Take it easy.
I'm sorry. They're beating me left and right.
Ma, I'm sorry. I'm upset.
I know, but that's enough.
I can't take this no more. Back and forth.
Take it easy.
You'll get a heart attack like that.
I'm too upset. An end has to be put to this.
The damn thing is, they hear all this stuff about Las Vegas
and the casinos and suitcases and that's it.
Let's start handling things
the way I did years ago, start kicking ass.
And I'll use a goddamn shovel.
Everything's coming out of my pocket.
You are right.
Would you believe it could happen?
I'm in it to make money, not to lose money.
Every FBI man across the country had their ears open now.
If you want something done right, gotta do it yourself.
I mean, Piscano, this guy basically sunk the whole world.
Some are good and some are bad.
Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission,
Mr. Rothstein is pleased to be here today.
And when the day finally came, I was ready.
I felt so confident that all I had to do was present my case.
We have documents, one of which
is a report by retired FBI agents,
which completely absolves Mr. Rothstein from any wrongdoing.
Counselor...
I want to have this marked.
This Commission is prepared to act
on a motion denying the application.
Denying?
Do I hear a motion seconded?
Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.
Do I have a vote on the motion?
Mr. Chairman.
Aye.
The ayes have it. This hearing is adjourned.
You're kidding.
What do you mean, adjourned?
Mr. Chairman, Senator, you promised me a hearing.
You didn't even look at the FBI reports.
When you were my guest at the Tangiers Hotel,
did you not promise me a fair hearing?
I was never your guest.
You were never my guest?
I don't comp you about three times a month?
I'd like to answer that.
Mr. Rothstein is being very typical.
He's lying.
The only time I was at the Tangiers
was dinner with Barney Greenstein.
Was I at that dinner?
Tell me, was I at that dinner?
You were wandering.
You were... You were in the building.
You know I was at that dinner and you swore to me
I would have a fair hearing, did you not?
Did you not?
Well, tell me I was at least at the dinner.
Allow me that much.
Give me that much at least.
Yes, you were.
Thanks for not calling me a liar, you son of a bitch.
Good evening.
A routine licensing hearing turned into bedlam yesterday
when the flamboyant Tangiers casino executive,
Sam "Ace" Rothstein,
accused the state's top gaming officials of corruption.
...at my hotel and you asked for copies of your bill
so you could put them on your expense account.
In a wild outburst that followed his gaming license denial,
Rothstein followed stunned commissioners into the hallway
where he continued his harangue until his own lawyers urged him to leave.
You have a past, I have a past
and my past is no worse than yours,
but you guys think you have the right to pass judgment.
Long suspected of running the Tangiers without a license,
yesterday's hearing was to determine
if someone with Rothstein's history
was qualified to officially hold a top gaming post.
Fucking hypocrites!
What the hell's he gonna do now?
I don't know.
What's he doing?
He knows all those guys he yelled at are friends of ours.
What's the matter with him?
Maybe he could run things with another job title.
Wouldn't be the best but what can we do?
However he runs things, it's gotta be quiet.
Let him hide upstairs in the office.
Say he's a janitor, I don't give a shit.
But, please, whatever job he takes,
make sure it's something quiet.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Tangiers Hotel proudly presents
the all-new Sam Rothstein show,
Aces High.
Tonight, taped live from the all-new sports book,
we present the premiere showing of Aces High,
with the Sasha Semenoff Orchestra,
and the Sam Rothstein dancers!
Mr. Rothstein is a professional gambler
and the best football handicapper in America.
A man who will take you inside the real Las Vegas
as no one has ever done before.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, the new entertainment director of the Tangiers Hotel,
Mr. Sam Rothstein.
Welcome to the Sam Rothstein Show.
We're very happy to have you here tonight.
The young lady to my left is Trudy,
who is a lead dancer in our fabulous show from Paris.
Our first guest this evening
is Frankie Avalon.
Keep an eye on him.
I've got a large family.
How many kids do you have?
I'm very proud to say that we have eight children.
Eight children.
No, please. Please.
That's amazing.
There's nothing to it. It was my pleasure.
Ace, don't do it.
Oh, no, no. Oh, no.
Oh, Jesus.
He's juggling!
Let's not take County Commissioner Pat Webb too seriously.
I recently challenged him to a debate
on this program and he declined.
What are you worried about, Pat?
You don't have to send me any questions.
You can ask me anything you want.
What the hell is he doing on television?
He's on all night screaming about how
he's gonna take this to the Supreme Court.
He's crazy.
He's going to Washington with this?
He's out of his fucking mind.
It's a pity we have such hypocrisy.
Some people do what they want,
other people have to pay through the nose.
Andy, go see him.
Tell him maybe it's time he should quit.
What they did was totally unconstitutional.
We're on the list to be heard before the Supreme Court.
They don't give a fuck about the Supreme Court.
They want you to walk away.
Walk away? Andy, you can't be serious.
How can I walk away?
Don't you see what's at stake?
The old man said maybe your friend should give in.
When the old man says "maybe," it's like a papal bull.
Not only should you quit, you should run.
The problem is every time they mention my name,
they mention Nicky, too.
How the fuck does that help?
The heat he brought down is murder.
The police department was cooperative
but he's pissed them off so much now
that nobody can make a move anymore.
What are you proposing?
I don't know. He doesn't listen to me.
Maybe he should get lost for a while.
They ain't sending Nicky nowhere.
It'd give everybody time to maneuver.
I would forget about the maneuver.
I would just get out.
I can't do that.
Of course, as soon as Andy got home, Nicky heard about our talk.
Next morning, bright and early, I get the call.
I've got to do some shopping.
You want to go?
But just getting a call from Nicky wasn't easy.
Even the codes didn't work.
So we figured out another act.
If a phone's tapped,
the Feds can only listen in on stuff involving crimes.
So on routine calls, they have to click off after a few minutes.
Yeah, I got a sprained fucking elbow.
- Yeah. - Meet me at 3:00.
Caesar's?
100 yards down the road.
- Why? - Don't ask questions.
Suzy Cream Cheese has the exact same outfit.
I saw something, something very cute.
Okay, he's out. It's the brown unit.
And he's with a bogey. I think it's Frankie.
Nicky started out before me
because it wasn't easy for him to get around.
Pulled out fast.
Nicky couldn't go for a ride without changing cars at least six times
before he could shake all his tails.
And because of the planes, he had to use underground garages.
Meeting in the middle of the desert always made me nervous.
It's a scary place.
I knew about the holes in the desert
and everywhere I looked, there could have been a hole.
Normally, my prospects of coming back alive
from a meeting with Nicky were 99 out of 100.
But this time, when I heard him say,
"A couple of hundred yards down the road,"
I gave myself 50-50.
Where the fuck you get off talking to people about me behind my back?
What people?
You think I wasn't gonna find out?
What are you talking about?
You said I'm bringing heat on you.
I gotta listen to people because of your shit?
You're ordering me out?
You better get your own fucking army.
I didn't order anybody.
I told Andy Stone that you had heat and that was a problem.
You want me to get out of my own fucking town?
Let the bullshit blow over so I can run the casino.
Anything goes wrong with the casino, it's my ass. It's not yours.
I don't know whether you know
but you only have your fucking casino because of me.
I'm what counts out here.
Not your fucking country clubs or your fucking TV shows.
And what the fuck are you doing on TV anyhow?
I get calls from home every day.
They think you went batshit.
I'm only on TV because I gotta be able to hang around the casino.
Come on.
You could have had the food and beverage job without going on TV!
You wanted to go on TV.
Yeah, I did.
That way I have a forum. I can fight back.
They know they can't fuck around with me
like they could if I was an unknown.
You're making a spectacle of yourself.
Me? I wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you.
Every time I meet somebody, the question is do I know you?
Now you wanna blame your license on me?
No, Nicky.
When you asked me if you could come out here,
what did I tell you? Do you remember?
Back up a fucking minute.
I asked you?
When the fuck did I ever ask you if I could come out here?
You never...
Get this through your head,
you Jew motherfucker, you.
You only exist out here because of me.
That's the only reason.
Without me, you personally,
every fucking wise guy still around
will take a piece of your fucking Jew ass.
Then where you gonna go?
You're fucking warned.
Don't go over my head again, you motherfucker, you.
Crack that whip
Give the past the slip
We got company.
When a problem comes along
You must whip it Before the cream sits out too long
You must whip it
You see that? Dumb Jew motherfucker.
Grew up together and he's acting like he don't even know me.
I know we're supposed to avoid each other,
but there's ways to do things.
Fuck him.
To Abraham Lincoln.
To him.
Don't let it bother you.
Does it look like it's bothering me?
Why do I give a fuck?
Fucking Oscar, too.
All the fucking money I give him. Prick.
He won't even look over. What's his fucking problem?
Fucking Jews stick together.
They're having a good time, too.
So are we.
- Yeah? - Sam, we got a problem.
- What is it? - The little guy.
Nobody told him he was eighty-sixed from the joint
so we turned our heads and made out we didn't know who he was.
He's over at the 21 table with his nose wide open.
He took money out of his own kick.
His nose is open for about $10,000.
Now he's really pissed.
Oh, no.
He wants a $50,000 marker.
Just give him $10,000. That's it.
I'll be right down.
He'll come up with $10,000.
Nicky: $10,000? No, no, no.
$50,000. I said fucking $50,000!
Go get it. I don't give a fuck where.
Fuckers. They take it but they don't wanna give it back.
How the fuck can you grin?
You know how much I'm stuck?
You give a fuck? Do you?
Yeah. Give yourself a hand, right across your fucking mouth.
Look at this fucking beaut they put in now.
Sherbert send you to rob me now?
Been fucking knocking everybody's dick all night?
Been beating the customers?
Huh, jag-off? Hit me.
Take this stiff and pound it up your fucking ass.
Hit me again.
Take this one and stick it up your sister's ass.
Hit me again.
That's it. Keep looking at him.
If you had any heart at all, you'd be stealing for a living.
Hit me again! What the fuck you keep looking at him for? You fucking...
Look at this, 20 fucking paints in a row.
Hit me again.
He's here.
You should pay as fast as you collect.
You gotta get out of here.
Tell this Jew motherfucker to pay that marker off.
I'm here to help you.
You're gonna bury us both.
Just give me the money.
Give me the fucking money, Sammy.
I'm gonna okay you $10,000.
Then you gotta get out before the cops are all over you.
$10,000 and that's it.
What are you staring at, you bald-headed Jew prick?
Come on. Let's get out of here.
I'm still gonna get you, fucker.
Get out of here?
I got a marker coming. Deal.
Everything's changed.
You're talking about divorce.
You're asking for alimony payments,
child support, and now custody.
I want what any divorced woman would get.
She's only sober about two hours a day.
From 11:00 a.m. till 1:00 in the afternoon.
If I gave her her money and her jewels,
she's gonna piss it away in a year.
Where would you be then?
Coming right back to me. Right back to me.
Or finding some other excuse to come...
We had a deal. Remember that?
He said if it didn't work out between us,
I could get my things and leave.
Look in my eyes.
You know me.
Do you see anything that makes you think
I would ever let someone in your condition take my child away from me?
Do you?
You know that won't happen.
And after all this time,
and as hard as I tried, as much as I wanted,
I could never reach her.
I could never make her love me.
I always felt she should have gone for it,
all that money, being somebody
for the first time in her life,
a home, a kid.
That's not what happened.
It didn't work out.
Everything all right?
What could we do?
After a while, we'd take breathers from each other.
Little separations.
At that time, I remember Ginger took Amy
to Beverly Hills to spend a week shopping.
Yes, Mr. Rothstein?
The Beverly Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Beverly Hotel.
Mrs. Rothstein, please.
Sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Rothstein have checked out already.
Mr. and Mrs. Rothstein?
Hey, little Dale Evans.
Yes, they both checked out.
Thank you.
- Hello. - Yeah.
My wife is with an old friend of hers in L.A.
Some lowlife. A guy named Lester Diamond.
My daughter is with them.
I think they're gonna kidnap her.
Is there anybody you can send?
We'll take care of it.
We got a number and an address.
Hello?
Hello.
Is this Lester?
Who's calling?
This is Sam Rothstein.
I want to talk to Ginger. Put her on.
She's not here, Sam.
Lester, listen to me very carefully.
I want to talk to Ginger.
I want my kid back.
I want her put on a plane immediately.
I know she's there. Don't fuck around.
Sam, I wouldn't.
You shouldn't do this.
Understand? Put her on the fucking phone.
Sam, I don't know where she is, okay?
So, listen.
Can I call you back in a few minutes?
702-472-1862.
1862. I'll call you right back.
Right away.
- Right back. - You got it.
Schmuck. All right, I just bought us a few minutes.
You want to get back at this prick?
Okay, you got what, $2 million in that box?
Hey, you got a minute? Hey.
He's got $2 million in the box, am I right?
Okay, you let him keep your jewels.
We take the cash and the only other thing he cares about.
Her majesty.
We go to Europe. You dye your hair.
I don't want to go to Europe.
I want to go to see The Elephant Man.
We're going to Europe. Let the adults talk.
You dye your hair.
You get plastic surgery like we talked about.
How much will he pay to get this kid back...
- I don't want to go to Europe. - Shut your mouth.
You shut up.
You want me to come and smack your face?
Don't give me your shit!
This has always been a dream, but now we're going.
Lester, he called you here.
Right. That's who was on the phone.
I talked to him.
He knows where you are.
That means he's sending some guys over right now.
It means he's sitting by the phone,
like a dumbbell, waiting for me to call.
He's sitting by the phone just waiting for you to call.
What are we gonna do?
He's probably got guys outside the fucking house!
This is fucking bullshit!
Get your bag! Let's go!
What bullshit? You want to talk it over?
Okay, you done yakking?
Go, go! Get in the car! Go!
Just relax. Nobody's killing anybody.
I think he's gonna kill me.
Call me back here in exactly an hour
on this phone. I'll see what I can do.
I'm gonna call you back in an hour and you're gonna be there?
I'll be here.
Listen, don't do anything else crazy. You all right? Okay.
Bye.
Knock it off.
She started it. I'm just standing here.
You're not gonna drive.
I'm not gonna drive with some crazy woman.
You're driving me nuts!
Get on the passenger side!
I'm sending this kid to Bolivia in a fucking box!
Gin...
You can go your own way
Go your own way
Tell me why
Everything turned...
Ginger called me.
Yeah?
I just told you she called me.
What'd she want?
She was afraid to call you.
She's with that cocksucker again.
They got Amy.
She wants to come back but she's afraid you're gonna whack her out.
They're gonna kidnap my kid.
What do you want?
I know. Why didn't you come to me?
I mean, this is family. It ain't business.
You make calls back home. It makes us look bad out here.
You know what I mean?
Back and forth, this one and that one.
In the meantime, she's gone anyway.
Am I right?
What am I going to do with this woman?
She's driving me fucking crazy.
I think if you assure her that she's gonna be all right,
she'll come back.
Driving me fucking crazy.
Once you get her here, you think about it.
Wait till you get the kid back.
She wants to come back.
That's the main thing here.
You want your kid, don't you? Huh?
Hello.
Hi, it's me.
Just who you wanted to talk to, right?
Listen, I'm not gonna ask you where you are.
Just, please, put Amy on a plane,
any plane, to get her here right away.
- Please. That's all I'm asking. - Do you...
I mean, I don't think she should go by herself.
What do you mean?
What I mean is...
Do you think if...
Do you think if I came back...
Do you think you could forgive me?
I don't know. I gotta tell you, I don't know.
I understand that.
I know I fucked up.
What about the money? Where's the box?
I gotta tell you, I made some mistakes, and I spent some money.
What's it under?
Pretty serious.
How serious?
It's under $25,000.
- It's under $25,000? - Yeah.
The rest of the $2 million is still there?
Yeah. I got the rest.
Okay, no big deal. That's okay.
He got his $25,000.
That I'll live with. Any more, I couldn't.
Okay.
All right. All right. Where are you?
I'll send a plane right away.
Hi, Sam.
So what'd you do with it?
With what?
You...
With the money.
He needed some clothes.
$25,000 on clothes?
He wanted a watch, too.
$25,000 for clothes and a watch?
- Mmm-hmm. - Mmm-hmm.
Good evening, signora. This way.
Gino.
The good part was I had Amy back.
So we went home, had the housekeeper stay over,
put the kid to bed,
I calmed myself down and we went to dinner.
I tried to keep things nice and civil, you know, but, hey,
$25,000 for three suits?
That doesn't make much sense.
First of all, he's not gonna wear $1,000 suits.
Let's say he did, which he won't,
how you gonna get fitted for 25 suits in three days?
How could you get fitted that fast?
I can't and I pay twice as much.
I bought him a watch, too.
Yeah.
But even if you bought him a really nice watch,
one he thought was nice...
He doesn't know what the fuck a good watch is.
Say you go 10, 12 grand...
Yeah.
At the most, which is impossible, for him.
Plus, at the most, three suits,
$1,000 apiece, that still leaves what?
Around $10,000?
Would you knock it off, Sam?
I'm just trying to figure it out.
There's nothing to figure out.
I'm home. We're working it out.
But I've been told before, "We're working it out."
You think that you're home,
after what you just put me through with Amy, as a favor to me?
So, counting the watch, let's say another $4,000
for expenses over the weekend,
of which you must have had a good time.
I know he did, that's for sure.
I know that fucking piece of shit had a good fucking time.
On my money.
You might as well have fucked him,
which you probably did anyway.
You're looking at me a certain way.
You're teary-eyed, huh?
You're upset.
You're a good actress, you know that?
Good fucking actress.
You can fucking get that pity out of people.
I'm not a john. You understand?
You always thought I was, but I'm not.
And I'm not a sucker.
That fucking pimp cocksucker.
He's lucky I didn't kill him last time.
Lucky he's fucking living.
If you'd stayed with Amy,
and you'd have ran away, he would have been fucking dead.
Both of you. Dead. Dead.
I can't fucking live like this.
No, it isn't right. It isn't fair.
What do you...
Of course. Yes.
He doesn't come home at night.
What is the big fucking deal? I go...
I just can't fucking take it.
Why should I fucking take it?
That wasn't the deal.
He acts like I'm the only one around here with a fucking past.
He'll never let me live it down.
Well, yes, I have tried.
Of course I've tried.
What the fuck do you think I came back here for?
No, I'm not. I want to have him killed.
Yes, I want him killed. I've fucking had it.
So are you with me on this?
You want to get rid of me? Here I am.
Go ahead. Get rid of me.
Hello?
Yes, I do!
I fucking hate you! I can't take it anymore!
Yes, I want to kill you!
I hate your fucking guts!
You hate my guts?
I'm sick of being with you!
I want you to come with me now!
Come with me now.
I want you out. I want you out of here.
I want you out of here!
No!
I want you out of here!
Take your fucking bag and get out!
I want my money right now!
You'll get your money, don't worry.
The arrangement is over.
No kidding!
And I still get my money.
I need some cash now!
You can't just put me in the street!
You haven't been straight with me since we met!
You never loved me!
I need eyes in the back of my fucking head with you, bitch!
How could I love you?
You treat me like I'm your fucking dog!
You're lower than a dog!
Fuck you!
Here! Here! Is this enough money?
Will it last you two fucking days? Take it!
Greedy bitch. Take the fucking money.
I'm going to the bank and getting my jewelry!
Good. It opens at 9:00 a.m. Be there.
Don't send your guys down there to stop me! I mean it!
I guarantee you, I will not stop you.
You don't get rid of me with one suitcase!
Come back tomorrow for the rest.
- Get out of here. - Fine!
- I'm taking Amy. - You're not.
I'm waking her up right now.
You're a junkie. Get out.
She's my daughter too!
Send my lawyers a letter, God fucking damn you!
You're not getting away with this!
You're not gonna cut me out of my end!
Fucker!
The funny thing was, after all that, I didn't want her to go.
She was the mother of my kid. I loved her.
And later, I realized I didn't want to give her the money
because if I did,
I knew I'd never see her again.
Oh.
- Have a good day at school, okay? - Okay.
Okay, angel.
From now on, I have to know where you and Amy are at all times.
Here's a beeper.
I want you to keep it on you.
It's very light.
So I can call you whenever I have to.
Okay?
What are you supposed to do?
You want to stay the way you are?
You can't do that.
Two people don't get along, at some point you gotta call it.
It's not my business, but that's what you gotta do.
You're right. I know.
I was just...
What? What?
- Nothing. - What were you gonna say?
I don't...
Tell me what you were gonna say.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
I was thinking maybe you know somebody at the bank
who could help me get my jewelry out.
There's a lot of money in there.
I'd be willing to take care of anybody who helped me out.
Let me think about that.
Okay.
Let me see who I got.
Gotta get somebody I can trust, you know?
Yeah, 'cause you know he's never gonna give me my jewelry.
He holds that key so tight, it's probably up his ass.
You're right. That's Sammy.
And he's probably got it there, too.
He's so fucking lucky.
I could have buried him.
I could have gone to Europe and taken the baby.
Then he'd have tracked me down and he'd have killed me.
No, he wouldn't. I would have.
- He'd have been right. Seriously. - Come on.
You don't take a guy's kid and then take off.
I didn't.
I did, but then I did exactly what you told me to do, and came back.
You did. You're right. You did. I like that.
That's what I like about you.
You did the right thing.
- I did what you told me. - Yes, you did.
You always tell me the right thing to do.
Yeah.
He really fucked himself up out here, didn't he?
He sure did.
Everything went to his head.
- Changed. - Changed.
He did. He ain't the same person.
No, he's not.
He really thinks who the fuck he is.
Exactly.
He hates me. He hates my fucking guts.
Come on. You're a toughie.
You can take this.
Don't cry.
I'm not as tough as you think I am.
Yes, you are.
He scares the shit out of me.
I never know what he's gonna do.
Come on.
Don't be scared.
I need some help. I do.
I need some help.
You gotta help me.
I need a new sponsor, Nicky.
I do. I need a new sponsor.
Is that what you want?
Yeah.
- A sponsor? - Yeah.
Okay.
Don't worry about it.
Nobody will fuck with you anymore.
- I'll take care of you. Yes, I will. - Take care of me.
It's what you want, isn't it?
Thank you. Yeah.
It's what you want?
You see that? That's Ace's wife.
Why you fool
You poor, sad, worthless, foolish fool
Fantastic.
...for the hard years I have suffered
Till things broke your way
This is great for the boss.
...that says we must part
I am tearing it to pieces the way you tore up my heart
I smile when you kiss me and I thrill at your touch
My only sin was I loved you
Much too much
Hi.
You didn't answer your beeper.
I threw it away.
You threw it away?
Look, I tried to do it.
I know you want me to, but...
Driving down the freeway, the fucking thing's beep, beep!
I'm in a restaurant, it's embarrassing.
I don't want to do it anymore.
Where's Amy?
I put her to bed.
Oh. I got your cigarettes.
Oscar wants you to call him.
So who'd you go to lunch with?
With Jennifer.
Where'd you go?
To the Riviera.
What'd you have?
I had a salad.
What did Jennifer have?
She had the same.
Okay.
I want you to call Jennifer,
and I want you to tell her to tell you what you had for lunch.
And I'm gonna listen in on the other line.
Why do you want to do that?
You know why I want to do it.
Just do it.
Fine.
I just need to get the bowl for my thing.
The line's busy. There's nobody there.
- Hello. - Hello, Jennifer. It's Sam.
All right. I didn't have lunch with Jennifer.
Who were you with?
I was with somebody.
I know you were with somebody.
Who was it?
I just hope it's not someone who I think it might be.
I just hope it's not that.
I knew she fucked around.
She did what she did, I did what I had to do.
But, Jesus, Nicky was the worst thing she could have done.
What if he won't stop?
It could get us both killed.
I can back him off.
She was very convincing when she wanted to be.
This is how she backed him off.
Hey, Ginger,
don't forget, if you're challenged,
if he asks anything, deny everything.
You understand?
I don't want him bringing beefs back home.
'Cause that could really cause a serious problem.
Got to be careful.
He's not dumb, you know?
You hear what I'm saying?
I know. You don't have to tell me that.
Do you think I'm stupid?
Do I think you're stupid? No.
I think you're beautiful. But I gotta go.
Nicky now had things so fucked up on the streets
that every time Marino went back home,
the packages got smaller and smaller.
When he walked into the place,
he didn't know whether he was going to be kissed or killed.
Frankie, I want to ask you something.
It's private.
But I want you to tell me the truth.
Of course, Remo.
I want you to tell me the truth, mind you.
I always tell you the truth, Remo.
Frankie, the little guy,
he wouldn't be fucking the Jew's wife, would he?
Because if he is, it's a problem.
What could I say?
I knew if I gave the wrong answer,
Nicky, Ginger, Ace, all of them could have wound up getting killed.
There's one thing about these old-timers.
They don't like any fucking around with the other guys' wives.
It's bad for business.
So I lied,
even though I knew that by lying to Gaggi,
I could wind up getting killed, too.
No, I ain't seen anything like that.
Are you sure?
I'm positive.
Remo, things are very fucked up down there, you know.
I know. That's why I'm asking.
You see, my main concern is Nicky.
I want to know if he's doing all right, if he's okay.
He's good. He's fine.
I'm asking you, Frankie, to keep an eye on Nicky.
Do it for me.
No problem.
I wouldn't want to be jeopardizing anything
for people who are our friends.
- Understand? - I understand.
Okay.
Frankie, you're a good boy.
Thanks, Remo.
By now, Nicky and his crew had already hit rock bottom.
Vegas really got to him.
The booze, the coke, the broads.
I mean, he got sloppy.
He just wasn't the same Nicky anymore.
You must have drank too much.
Go fuck yourself.
One night he had to belt a guy three
times before the guy finally went down.
In the old days, Nicky would have decked him with one shot.
You add this into the mix...
Maybe just Vegas got to all of us.
His crew followed him right over the edge.
They were all tuned up half the time on coke.
They started doing stupid things.
The worst was Blue.
What do you guys want?
Police! Stay in the car!
He never knew when to keep his mouth shut.
Drop the gun!
Fuck you!
The cops shot him.
They shot Blue because they thought his hero sandwich was a gun.
They could have been right but who knows?
Christ. What gun?
Cop #2: He's got a fucking hero sandwich.
What do you want? It's pitch black.
It's tinfoil. It looked like a gun!
You fucking moron! I'll be filling out paperwork for the next two months!
- I'm sorry! - You jerk-off!
To get even, Nicky's crew got stoned one night
and they started shooting up the cops' houses.
They couldn't talk in The Gold Rush anymore
because the Feds put a wire in the wall.
When they talked outside, they had to cover their mouths...
He's covering up.
...because the Feds brought in lip readers.
Nicky found out from a teller who owed him money.
He asked me again about you and the Jew's wife.
Walk, walk, walk. What'd you say?
He asked me again about you and the Jew's wife.
Yeah? What'd you tell him?
I told him I didn't know nothing.
Jiggs and Tony Gorilla said if you did anything, you're fucked up.
You think he's going home making a beef behind my back?
Nah, you would have heard something.
What's to stop him?
I know, I know.
I don't trust him anymore,
but they'd never okay anything, you know?
Yeah, but they keep asking about it.
Sure they're asking.
They earn with the prick.
I got a funny feeling
he's gonna start a fucking war or something.
I'm not sure yet, but you know what I want you to do?
Who's this guy? Who's this guy?
That ain't nobody.
You know what I want you to do?
Get a couple of guys to dig a hole in the desert,
then let them show you where it's at.
Angelo and Buster.
I'm not sure yet.
They'll do it.
When I'm ready, I'll say the word.
Go see the Jew, and you make it disappear.
Just let me know. But you gotta be ready.
You know what I'm saying?
Did I say to do anything? I said I'm not sure.
I'll let you know. I want to think about it.
Where these pricks at?
Dominick said they're in the motel?
There or in the fucking bank. I don't know.
All over the joint.
I can't get no
Satisfaction
I can't get me no...
And I try and I try
I can't get no
I can't get me no...
Be right back. I'll be right back.
Rudy. Any calls, give them to Mr. Sherbert.
I'll be right back.
Sure, Mr. Rothstein.
I'm going home for a few seconds.
He's on his way home.
Oh, yeah?
Hello?
Ginger?
Help, Daddy!
Amy? Amy, open the door!
I can't! I'm tied!
- Dad! - What happened?
- Who did this to you? - Mommy.
I'll get a knife and cut you loose, honey.
No, please, please.
Okay, Papa'll be right back.
When did this happen, honey?
I don't know.
What time did your mother do this?
When did she leave?
I don't know.
Oh.
- Hello. - Sammy.
Yeah. Who's this? Nick?
Yeah. You okay?
No, I'm not okay. How'd you know I was here?
I just wanted to talk to you.
Ginger's missing.
She tied Amy up in her room.
I gotta find her. I don't know where she is.
Ginger's at the Leaning Tower with me.
She's there with you?
- Yeah, she's here. - I'll be right over.
All right.
Coming over.
Great.
Ace, listen, don't make a scene, all right?
I want to talk to her.
She didn't know who to turn to.
She's trying to save your marriage.
Nicky, I want to talk to that fucking bitch.
Hey.
Be fucking nice.
Calm.
Be nice.
Don't fuck up in here.
- Hi, Sam. - Are you out of your fucking mind?
You tie up our kid and lock the fucking door?
Are you out of your mind?
That's our child. Are you out of your mind?
It was just for a while.
The baby-sitter wasn't there.
I ought to fucking have you committed.
You do that again, I'll...
I was just gonna be out for a little while.
She was asleep.
I was gonna be back before she woke up.
Listen, you fucking cunt. Listen to me.
- Fuck you. - Let me tell you something.
Listen to me. Listen carefully.
You ever touch her again, you ever do anything like that again,
I'll fucking kill you, pure and simple.
Pure and fucking simple.
Why don't you just let me go?
You fucking whore.
I'll sign anything you want me to.
I just want the key to my jewelry and you to let me go.
- You want your jewelry? - Let me go.
And let you disgrace me, you fucking pig?
Get up and be a mother.
Get in the car and go to the house right now.
Get up and get in the...
Get up. Get up!
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
Get up. Get up.
Get going. Get up! Get the...
Are you threatening me?
I'll fucking kill you in this place.
Get up and go home.
- I'm going! - You...
You need approval from him to go home?
So what?
Who fucking blew you in the parking lot before you came in?
You make me sick, you fucking...
Once a hooker, always a hooker.
Oh, fuck you!
Fuck you, Sam Rothstein! Fuck you!
I can't get me no
Satisfaction
I can't get no
Satisfaction
Yeah, Billy Sherbert, please. Put him on.
Who's this?
Billy, I'll explain later.
You got a gun at home?
Bring it over right away.
- Take it easy. I'll do it. - Okay.
Leave it where it is!
Where is he? I want that Jew bastard killed!
Calm down.
Hide her car in the back.
There's no reason to. He already knows!
What did I say?
Supposing he goes home and makes a beef?
I gotta know exactly what you said.
Me? I said nothing. I said, "No, no, no."
Everything he said, I just kept saying no.
I told you this was fucking dangerous.
I said, "Ginger, this is a dangerous situation. Be very careful."
If it's so dangerous, why don't you kill him?
I'm not gonna kill him. Shut the fuck up.
Have him killed, and get it over with!
Don't be such a smart ass!
I know the guy 35 years, I'm gonna fucking whack him for you?
Motherfucker.
I knew this. I knew it.
What about my money?
How the fuck am I gonna get your money now?
You think he's gonna give you fucking money?
Look what you did to this fucking guy!
If you would have just kept your fucking mouth shut.
What the fuck is the use!
I should've never got involved. Hey.
You motherfucker, you!
You fuck! You fucker!
Get the fuck out of here.
Get out! Get the fuck out!
Oh, calm down. Take it easy!
Get up! I should never have gotten involved!
You'll fucking kill her. Take it easy.
Get her out of here.
Let's go. That's right.
Get the fuck out of here.
I don't need you!
I'll get my own fucking money!
All right, all right.
I'm going to the FBI!
I'm not scared anymore!
Be careful.
You've fucked with me for the last time!
Okay, yeah.
Be careful. Okay. Come on. Get inside.
Can you believe that?
Look at this motherfucker.
I fucked up, Frankie.
I fucked up good this time.
I should never have started with this fucking broad.
Take it easy. What could you do?
I mean, she threw herself at you, right?
I'm in a bad fucking spot here.
You know that? Huh?
Bad fucking spot.
I'd left the kid with neighbors
and I had $1 million in cash and jewels
that I gave to Sherbert to lock up.
Put it in the hotel safe, then I want you to come right back.
She's alone.
Take the gun and go into Amy's.
Wait there for me.
Get down here and talk to me, God damn it!
Don't fucking ignore me, you motherfucker!
I mean it!
You come down here right now!
Get down here and talk to me, God damn it!
Fuck you! God damn you, come out here!
I'm gonna drive your fucking car through the living room!
You fucking coward!
You motherfucker, you!
Come out here and talk to me, you fucker!
Will you stop it?
You're drunk. You're on drugs.
I am not!
- You're gonna be sorry if you don't stop it. - Don't you threaten me!
You are not threatening me anymore!
You fuck! You fuck! I'm sick of you!
I am fucking Nicky Santoro! I am!
He's my new sponsor!
How about that, you fuckhead!
What are you looking at? Fuck off!
- Hey. Hey. - Go inside!
This is none of your business!
I don't have to take your shit anymore!
Hey.
I'll go to the FBI! I will go to the police!
I am not protecting you anymore!
Mrs. Rothstein. Okay.
He won't let me inside!
Mr. Rothstein, I'm sorry.
We've been getting some complaints about the noise.
I'm trying to get in my house.
He won't let me in.
I'm sorry, Randy, I'm not gonna let her in.
I'm not gonna let her in the way she's behaving.
Who knows what you'll do in there.
What?
I've been in the same clothes for two days!
I want to get some things!
How about we just let her in the house to get a few things?
This is half her house.
I'm afraid to.
You aren't afraid, you fucker!
Let me in the house!
- All right. - Hey.
- Please! - Fucker!
You ought to be afraid, the way you fucking treat me!
It'll make it easier on everybody.
Let her get her things, we'll be out of your hair.
If she calms down, I will let her in.
I am calm!
No, you're not.
If she calms down,
I will let her in for five minutes
if you gentlemen will escort her out
if she happens to not want to leave.
- Can I go in? - That's not a problem.
Jeff, would you go in with her?
Yes. Fine! Fuck you!
You won't believe how mean he is.
He's locked up my important stuff.
All my papers. I have to get them.
Don't let him come up.
I know they're in the desk. Fuck.
Just pay attention.
He could come up here at any time.
Are you watching for him?
Got them.
I don't want her in there more than a few more minutes.
We got other things to do, too.
I'll hurry her up.
How's everything else besides this?
Fine.
How's your family?
Not bad. In fact, my wife's pregnant again.
Oh, good. Congratulations.
Thanks. Yeah.
We're kind of happy about that.
I just have to get this one more thing and then we can go.
Shit! Fuck!
Shit! God!
Oh, that pisses me off! Don't worry about it.
It would be great if you guys follow me out of here,
because he's been threatening me.
Take care. Thank you.
I just need to pick up a little cash.
Could you come with me?
You've got to stop her.
I'm sorry, Sam. What can I do?
She's a fucking junkie.
She's out of her fucking mind!
She has the keys.
It's still in both your names.
I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do.
I'd like to help.
Legally, she can't take that stuff.
Half of everything is mine.
There's nothing I can do.
I'm coming down.
Shit. God damn it.
I'm gonna need a bag.
If you could just ask the guy for the big bag.
Go get a bag, man.
Here, here.
Lady, I can't take it.
No, you can. You've been so nice to me.
Just hold the top open, all right?
And I can...
Oh, God, it's him. You have to stop him.
He said he was gonna kill me.
You should just stop him.
Mr. Rothstein, wait a minute.
Hold on a second. Hold on a second.
She's driving away.
There's nothing we can do.
Look, look.
You can't stop her for speeding?
Look what she's doing.
She had the keys.
She's on the account.
Let's pull her over at that Citgo station.
Okay. Let's do it.
We're placing you under arrest for...
For what?
We're placing you under arrest for aiding and abetting...
For aiding and abetting...
But I'm just trying to leave.
After all the threats and the bullshit,
Ginger didn't tell them anything.
By then the Feds didn't need her anyway.
But it was mine.
They had all they needed.
I didn't do anything.
Everybody began to tumble...
FBI! We have a warrant!
...one after the other, like dominoes.
Between Piscano complaining on the wire,
Nicky, Ginger, me and my license,
paradise, we managed to really fuck it all up.
Mom.
Yeah, someone's at the fucking door.
FBI. We have a search warrant.
I got wind of the pinches coming down, so I took off.
Who needs to hang around for that?
My name is Mark Casper, FBI.
Can I make a fucking phone call?
Hold on. Make a phone call but don't talk to us like that.
Everybody, out of the room.
Over to the alarm.
But they got almost everybody else.
This area is seized!
Get the master account list.
I want all papers seized, regardless of what they are.
Put every box on the table.
Oh, yes. Here we are. Little craps figures.
Green? Don't even ask.
...$30,000 of yours.
It wasn't valid.
I was being extorted.
I'll tell you what you want to know.
I've got nothing to hide.
Now for the best. I couldn't believe this shit.
Piscano's expense reports took the cake.
This is good. Bingo.
He might as well have given them a blueprint.
Names, addresses, dates, everything.
Look at this.
Thank you so much, Mr. Piscano.
How considerate of you.
Those are my mother's books.
You're under arrest.
Fucking balloon-head.
What are you doing?
Wait! Wait a minute! He's sick!
Move back.
God! It's his heart! Is he breathing?
Artie got so upset, he had a heart attack
and dropped dead in front of his wife.
- Calm down! - Artie! No, I won't calm down!
- He's my husband! - We can't help...
And at the end of the day, they came to see me with the pictures.
Why protect a friend who betrayed you?
But I didn't want to look at them.
I didn't want to look at the guys who brought them either.
Your honor, as you can see, my clients are elderly and infirm.
Any incarceration could pose a serious health risk.
Some of the bosses were so old,
they needed doctors at their arraignment.
Pre-trial services recommends bail as set.
We're going to take a recess.
When it looked like they could get 25 years to life
for skimming a casino,
sick or no fucking sick, people were going to get clipped.
The day of the arraignment, they had this meeting in the back of the courthouse.
See, when something like this happens,
you know how things are gonna work out.
It's always better with no witnesses.
So what about Andy?
He won't talk. Stone is a good kid.
Stand-up guy just like his old man.
That's the way I see it.
I agree. He's solid. He's a fucking Marine.
He's okay. He always was.
Remo, what do you think?
Look,
why take a chance?
At least, that's the way I feel about it.
Call Artie. Tell him, I don't care what.
He's got to be in my office Thursday morning before 11:00.
It's important.
I gotta have a conversation with that guy...
As much as they liked him, he wasn't one of us.
He wasn't Italian.
As far as they knew, he could have talked.
Otherwise, Stoney might still be alive.
The first one to skip was John Nance.
He found a nice, warm, secluded place in Costa Rica.
He thought nobody would find him there.
But then his kid got nabbed by the Feds for drugs.
Naturally, the bosses were afraid he'd come out of hiding
just to save his kid and give them all up.
So...
Where you going, jag-off?
But, anyway, they all had to follow.
Everybody went down.
Fuck you.
Before you knew it, anybody who knew anything
wound up getting whacked.
Oh, no! No. No.
After Ginger took off, she wasn't much help to anybody.
She found some pimps, lowlifes, druggies and bikers in L.A.
In a few months, they went through all the money
and all the jewels.
To wear that ball and chain
Well, there is a house in New Orleans
After they found her body, I had a private doctor do another autopsy.
He said they gave her a hot dose.
In the end, all she had left was $3,600 in mint condition coins.
No matter what the Feds or the papers
might have said about my car bombing,
it was amateur night, you could tell.
Whoever it was, they put the dynamite under the passenger side.
But what they didn't know, what nobody outside the factory knew,
was that that model car was made
with a metal plate under the driver's seat.
It's the only thing that saved my life.
The bombing was never authorized
but I suspect I know who lit the fuse.
Hey, Nicky.
And so did the powers that be.
- Hi. - How you doing?
It took months for everything to calm down.
But, finally, my guys got out on bail,
and the bosses wanted me to send
my brother Dominick out to Vegas.
Always the dollars.
Always the fucking dollars.
I mean, it was still way too hot for me to even go near Vegas.
So I set up a meeting with the guys way out in the sticks.
I didn't want my brother fucked around.
What's right is right.
They don't give a fuck about...
Holy fucking...
What the fuck...
Come on, motherfucker!
Tough guy! You and your fucking brother!
You fucking scumbag! No more!
Frankie!
No more! You see? Watch!
Frankie! You piece of shit!
Fuck you, you motherfucker!
Fucking punk, motherfucker!
Piece of shit!
No! No! No! No!
Take this motherfucker out!
Oh...
Oh, Dominick.
Frankie, leave the kid alone.
He's still breathing. Leave him alone.
Frankie.
All right. Strip him.
No balls. You got no fucking balls.
Oh, Dominick.
Dominick. Dominick.
Dominick.
Come on, come on.
Bury them?
Bury them.
The word was out.
The bosses had enough of Nicky.
They had enough.
How much were they gonna take?
So they made an example of him and his brother.
They buried them while they were still breathing.
- Mister, you all right? Watch out! - Yeah.
Mister, you all right?
Yeah.
They had other ideas for me.
You sure are lucky, mister.
The town will never be the same.
After the Tangiers, the big corporations took it all over.
Today it looks like Disneyland.
While the kids play cardboard pirates,
Mommy and Daddy drop house payments and junior's college money
on the poker slots.
In the old days, dealers knew your name,
what you drank, what you played.
Today, it's like checking into an airport.
If you order room service, you're lucky if you get it by Thursday.
Today it's all gone. A whale shows up with $4 million in a suitcase
and some 25-year-old hotel school kid
is gonna want his Social Security number.
After the Teamsters got knocked out of the box,
the corporations tore down practically all the old casinos.
And where did the money come from to rebuild the pyramids?
Junk bonds.
Still not sure?
Probable. Maybe questionable.
Let me know as soon as you can find out.
But in the end, I wound up right back where I started.
I could still pick winners
and I could still make money for all kinds of people back home.
And why mess up a good thing?
And that's that.
Sometimes I wonder why I spend the lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
Ah, but that was long ago
And now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song
Beside a garden wall
When stars were bright
And you were in my arms
The nightingale told his fairy tale
Of paradise where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain