The flashing lights, the sirens, the hum of conversation, and the adventure of placing a bet are all part of the appeal of casinos. While gaming has actually been around for centuries, gambling establishments began turning up in Italy in the 17th century. The Casino di Venezia, which opened in 1638 in Venice, is the world's earliest gambling establishment, though it was initially referred to as Theatre Saint Moses. It provided guests the opportunity to gamble during theatrical production intermissions.
By the 19th century, casinos appeared all over Europe. In the United States, towns like Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada, and Atlantic City in New Jersey, ended up being known for gambling establishments and the infamous ties held to arranged criminal offense. Gambling itself had a credibility as a vice that might lead to other bad habits.
Hollywood's own fixation with casinos has a long history also. Classic film "Casablanca" features a gambling establishment as part of Rick Blaine's club. Throughout the next a number of years, directors like Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Soderbergh tried their hand at films about the appeal of gaming and the casinos that supported the lifestyle.
OLBG researched the history of casinos on screen and assembled a list of 20 of the finest casino films. To be consisted of, movies had to have important scenes happen in a casino, and the movie had to have at least a 6.0 on IMDb or a 65 on Metacritic.
ATO Pictures
# 20. 'Casino Jack' (2010 )
- Director: George Hickenlooper
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 108 minutes
This fictionalized retelling of a true story stars Kevin Spacey as Jack Abramoff, a corrupt Washington D.C. lobbyist inspired by greed and power. Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon stole funds from Native American casinos all while twisting laws for their benefit. In a nod to the 1996 film "Jerry Maguire," one scene discovers and Abramoff shouting, "Show me the money!" Actress Kelly Preston who plays Abramoff's better half in the film played Maguire's former girlfriend also.
# 19. 'Ocean's Twelve' (2004 )
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user ranking: 6.5
- Metascore: 58
- Runtime: 125 minutes
The follow up to "Ocean's Eleven" finds Danny Ocean adding a partner to his band of thieves as they collaborate to manage numerous European break-ins. Steven Soderbergh directed not just this 2nd movie in what would be a trilogy, but all three "Ocean's" installations. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Elliot Gould, and Bruce Willis not only starred in the movie, however they also had another thing in common-they were all visitor stars on the sitcom "Friends."
Warner Bros. Pictures # 18. 'Ocean's 11' (1960 )
- Director: Lewis Milestone
- IMDb user ranking: 6.6
- Metascore: 57
- Runtime: 127 minutes
Featuring the Rat Pack-Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop-" Ocean's 11," focuses on 11 guys who manage an amazing Las Vegas heist. Danny Ocean, played by Sinatra, leads his former World War II buddies in a strategy to rob numerous gambling establishments in a single night. This classic movie would be remade in 2001 with George Clooney taking over the function of Danny Ocean. Angie Dickinson played Danny Ocean's ex-wife in the 1960 film, while Julia Roberts stepped in for the upgraded variation in 2001.
Eon Productions
# 17. 'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971 )
- Director: Guy Hamilton
- IMDb user ranking: 6.6
- Metascore: 59
- Runtime: 120 minutes
The seventh movie in the James Bond film franchise, which was based on the books by Ian Fleming, stars Sean Connery as 007. The spy jets off to Las Vegas to examine diamond smuggling and discovers a rich tycoon and a nefarious plot. Connery was the very first star to play James Bond and starred in seven of the films. The Oscar-nominated movie was shot on area in Las Vegas at a number of gambling establishments including The Riviera, Tropicana Las Vegas, and Circus Circus Las Vegas.
TriStar Pictures
# 16. 'Bugsy' (1991 )
- Director: Barry Levinson
- IMDb user score: 6.8
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 136 minutes
This film narrated the life of notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel and his considerable role in building modern-day Las Vegas. Starring Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, the 2 would fall in love throughout recording, wed soon after, and go on to have four kids together. The film was nominated for a remarkable 10 Oscars and won 2. While "Bugsy" lost for best image at the Oscars to "The Silence of the Lambs," it did handle to take home the Golden Globe Award for finest movement picture-drama.
Columbia Pictures
# 15. '21' (2008 )
- Director: Robert Luketic
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 123 minutes
Under the tutelage of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology teacher, six MIT students were trained to end up being card counters and made a killing in Las Vegas in this film, which is loosely based on the novel "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich. While lots of filming places remained in Boston, consisting of the general public Garden, Boston University, and Newbury Street, Las Vegas was likewise an important recording area for "21." According to the Nevada Film Office, shooting took location in many Las Vegas casinos, consisting of Planet Hollywood, The Venetian, Caesars Palace, Acid Rock Hotel, and Red Rock Casino.
Lions Gate Entertainment
# 14. 'The Cooler' (2003 )
- Director: Wayne Kramer
- IMDb user score: 6.9
- Metascore: 69
- Runtime: 101 minutes
An unfortunate man is utilized by the mob to cool things down for high-stakes gamblers who are on a winning streak at a Las Vegas casino up until he gets fortunate in love, changing his own luck at the casino. Maria Bello, William H. Macy, and Alec Baldwin star in this movie that was mainly shot in Reno, Nevada. Baldwin received both an Oscar and a Golden Globe election for finest supporting star for his function as casino boss Shelly Kaplow.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
# 13. 'Ocean's Thirteen' (2007 )
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 122 minutes
The final film in the "Ocean's Eleven" trilogy, "Ocean's Thirteen" discovers the gang getting together to pull off another break-in after among the initial 11 is double-crossed by casino owner Willy Bank, who is played by famous actor Al Pacino. One of the lines in the movie, "You shook Sinatra's hand," is a referral to Frank Sinatra who played Danny Ocean in the initial variation of "Ocean's 11." The phrase is meant as a sort of values or gentleman's agreement.
New Line Cinema
# 12. 'Boiler Room' (2000 )
- Director: Ben Younger
- IMDb user ranking: 7.0
- Metascore: 63
- Runtime: 120 minutes
When Seth Davis' dad, a judge, catches him running an unlawful casino from his apartment, he isn't happy. Davis, played by Giovanni Ribisi, goes out and gets a job as a broker in a boiler space, which according to Dictionary.com is, "a place where illicit brokers take part in high-pressure selling, over the telephone, of securities of an extremely speculative nature or of suspicious worth." The movie was loosely based on the story of Jordan Belfort who was the subject of the 2013 Martin Scorsese movie, "The Wolf of Wall Street," which was likewise the title of Belfort's memoir.
Sony Pictures Classics
# 11. 'Owning Mahowny' (2003 )
- Director: Richard Kwietniowski
- IMDb user score: 7.1
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 104 minutes
At the heart of this movie is a tale of gambling addiction. Based on the true story of Brian Molony, "Owning Mahowny" informs the tale of Dan Mahowny, a bank manager, who has access to multimillion dollar accounts that he used to feed his betting routine. The real-life Molony committed bank fraud by embezzling $10.4 million from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The film, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as Mahowny, was recorded in Toronto and Atlantic City, where Molony actually dropped $1.4 million at a New Jersey gambling establishment right before his arrest in 1982.
ARTE
# 10. 'Croupier' (1998 )
- Director: Mike Hodges
- IMDb user ranking: 7.1
- Metascore: 75
- Runtime: 94 minutes
Aspiring writer Jack Manfred gets a task as a croupier, somebody who works the tables at a casino and deals with bets and payments. While Jack does not bet, his daddy does, and it is he who gets Jack the task at a London gambling establishment. Portrayed by Clive Owen, Jack gets captured up in a love triangle and a plot to cheat the casino before the film's end. The gambling establishment in the film was really produced on a set in Germany.
Paramount Pictures
# 9. 'The Gambler' (1974 )
- Director: Karel Reisz
- IMDb user ranking: 7.2
- Metascore: 65
- Runtime: 111 minutes
James Caan stars as high-stakes bettor and English teacher Axel Freed, who gets so captured up in gambling that he provides a loan shark his life for security against a loan. This crime thriller earned Caan an Oscar nod for best actor. Screenwriter James Toback has lots of experience with gambling and based the movie's screenplay on his own addiction-though Freed's betting seems a dependency to the rush and threat rather than to the act of betting. A 2014 remake of the movie starred Mark Wahlberg ahead role.
Spelling Goldberg
# 8. 'California Split' (1974 )
- Director: Robert Altman
- IMDb user ranking: 7.2
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 108 minutes
A casual gambler and an expert become good friends and dig themselves deeper into the world of betting in this movie starring Elliott Gould and George Segal. In a final desperate attempt to win huge, the 2 characters head to Reno, Nevada, for the poker game to end all poker games. "California Split" was the very first non-Cinerama film to use the eight-track sound system for dialogue, permitting for the recording of 8 different audio channels. Using this technology solidified Altman's use of overlapping dialogue, which became one of his trademarks as a director.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
# 7. 'Hard 8' (1996 )
- Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
- IMDb user score: 7.2
- Metascore: 78
- Runtime: 101 minutes
" Hard 8" marked director Paul Thomas Anderson's film launching and was based on his short film "Coffee & Cigarettes." A professional bettor played by Philip Baker Hall, takes an amateur played by John C. Reilly, under his wing. Things go fine up until the amateur falls for Clementine, a mixed drink waitress played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Several gambling establishments in Reno and Sparks, Nevada, worked as shooting locations, consisting of the Nugget Casino Resort.
Miramax
# 6. 'Rounders' (1998 )
- Director: John Dahl
- IMDb user score: 7.3
- Metascore: 54
- Runtime: 121 minutes
Not only does this movie star Matt Damon and Edward Norton, however the supporting cast is an entertainment market who's who and consists of John Malkovich, John Turturro, Martin Landau, and Famke Janssen. The story discovers Damon's character, Mike McDermott, who is a reformed bettor, assisting his good friend, played by Norton, who was recently released from prison and who drags McDermott right back into the world he was trying to get away. Much of the movie's areas were made to look like gambling establishments or country clubs, including the imaginary Chesterfield Club in the movie.
United Artists
# 5. 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995 )
- Director: Mike Figgis
- IMDb user score: 7.5
- Metascore: 82
- Runtime: 111 minutes
Screenwriter and alcoholic Ben Sanderson, played by Nicolas Cage, heads to Las Vegas to consume himself to death. There he fulfills a prostitute named Sera, portrayed by Elisabeth Shue, who assures not to disrupt his plan, though things get complicated when they fall in love. The movie is based upon John O'Brien's semi-autobiographical novel. O'Brien died at 33, before production on the movie started, and according to the author's father, the novel functioned as a morbid suicide note.
Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.
# 4. 'Gilda' (1946 )
- Director: Charles Vidor
- IMDb user score: 7.6
- Metascore: n/a
- Runtime: 110 minutes
Starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford, this classic movie discovers a small-time bettor getting caught up in dubious organization when he finds his previous enthusiast is wed to his current company at a gambling establishment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The film was nominated for the Grand Prize of the Festival for feature movie at the Cannes Film Festival. Hayworth did not sing a word in the film, however rather, was talented at lip syncing. Anita Ellis was the singing voice behind Gilda.
Warner Bros.
# 3. 'Ocean's Eleven' (2001 )
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 74
- Runtime: 116 minutes
A remake of the 1960 movie starring Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack, this variation stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt with their own modern-day team, that includes Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Eddie Jemison, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, and Shaobo Qin. Like the original, the remake features Danny Ocean and his pals robbing 3 casinos at the exact same time. "Ocean's Eleven" got several elections for best acting ensemble.
Danjaq. LLC/ United Artists/ Columbia Pictures
# 2. 'Casino Royale' (2006 )
- Director: Martin Campbell
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 144 minutes
In his first objective as incredibly spy 007, Daniel Craig as James Bond should defeat a wicked banker at Casino Royale, Montenegro, at high-stakes poker. The film serves as Bond's origin story though it was the 21st film in the franchise and the 3rd film adaptation of Ian Fleming's first Bond book. "Casino Royale" was primarily recorded in the Czech Republic spa-town of Karlovy Vary.
Universal Pictures
# 1. 'Casino' (1995 )
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- IMDb user ranking: 8.2
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 178 minutes
This movie was the last one for Saul Bass who created the title series. Bass was popular for his work that not only included a number of Scorsese films including "GoodFellas," and "Cape Fear," but classics such as "Psycho" and "Spartacus." Starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone, "Casino" was motivated by the mob partner and gambling establishment manager Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and concentrates on the relationship between a casino executive and a mob enforcer. Striving for credibility, Scorsese shot at the Las Vegas Riviera, inhabiting a little area of the casino while genuine betting was taking place.
