The Lists / Editor / 17 January 2008 / Leave a comment

CASINO bosses have a stereotypically bad image in the movies.

Of course in real life casino owners are all good to their mums, honest to a fault and cleaner and softer than a Labrador's freshly wiped backside, but the impression can sometimes be otherwise.

The Casino Anorak looks at Casino bosses in the films and forms an impression:

GILDA, 1946:
Ballin Mundson is the German owner of an illegal casino in Buenos Aires. He is also a misogynist in a sexually perverse film. He has a duelling scar on his face, naturally. He carries an ebony cane which conceals a stiletto dagger. He controls a profession gambler called Johnny Farrell:

Mundson: You're sharp, Johnny, almost as sharp as my other little friend. But not quite so obedient.
Johnny: No?
Mundson: My other little friend will kill for me, Johnny.
Johnny: Well, that's what friends are for. (He releases the catch in the stick's knob - it snaps into a rapier with the blade exposed)
Mundson: (toasting) To us, Johnny. To the three of us.
Johnny: Three of us. [To himself in voice-over: "Makes me laugh now to think back. Me so sure it was just the three of us. I soon found out, all right."]

CASABLANCA, 1942:
Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, the iffy and cynical American who owns "Rick's Café Américain", a nightclub and gambling den frequented by Vichy French, Nazis refugees and thieves. He is a moody miserabilist with trust issues.

CASINO, 1995:
Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert De Niro) oversees the management of the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas. His job is to allow the four Mob bosses who employ him to illegally skim the casino profits. He is aided by his friend Nicholas 'Nicky' Santoro (Joe Pesci) who is famous for his temper and generous and fluent use of the F-word

OCEAN'S 11, 1960 and 2001
In 1960 former Sgt. Danny Ocean (Sinatra), get together 12 years after the war to rob five different Las Vegas casinos (Sands, Desert Inn, Flamingo, Riviera and Sahara) on New Year's Eve. George Raft plays the casino boss who dos as the police advise

In the 2001 remake, ruthless entrepreneur Terry Benedict owns the casinos. He is greedy, controlling and not all that bright

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