Bugsy (1991)
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A gangster's ambitious dream to build a luxury casino in the Nevada desert leads to a high-stakes gamble of love and crime.
The story
In 1941, gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel travels to Los Angeles and falls in love with Hollywood starlet Virginia Hill. Tasked by New York mobsters to protect lucrative bookmaking rackets in California, Bugsy navigates the local underworld. After a series of conflicts with rival gangsters, he finds inspiration for a luxury hotel and casino in the Nevada desert. Seeking to go 'legit,' he secures funding from his associates and offers Virginia a share of the venture. However, as they begin constructing the Flamingo Las Vegas, the project's budget quickly spirals out of control due to massive overspending.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1941, gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel travels to Los Angeles and falls in love with Hollywood starlet Virginia Hill. While managing New York mobsters' interests in California, Bugsy decides to partner with a rising gangster, Mickey Cohen, after a robbery. Inspired by a trip to Nevada, Bugsy secures $1 million from Meyer Lansky to build a luxury casino, the Flamingo. He brings Virginia into the business, putting her in charge of accounting. The project quickly exceeds its $6 million budget, forcing Bugsy to sell his share to cover losses. During this time, Bugsy shoots his friend Harry Greenberg to protect his interests and is briefly arrested. After the Flamingo's disastrous opening night, Bugsy discovers Virginia stole $2 million from the budget but lets her keep it. He urges Lansky never to sell his share. Shortly after returning to Los Angeles, Bugsy is shot and killed in his home. Virginia, learning of his death in Las Vegas, later returns the stolen money to Lansky and commits suicide in Austria. By 1991, the investment had generated $100 billion.
- First release year
- 1991
- Runtime (minutes)
- 137
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Barry Levinson
- Writers
- James Toback · writer
- Cast and characters
- Warren Beatty · Bugsy Siegel; Annette Bening · Virginia Hill; Harvey Keitel; Ben Kingsley; Joe Mantegna; Elliott Gould; Bebe Neuwirth
- Genres
- biographical; crime; drama
- Themes
- Ambition; Crime; Love; Gambling
- Tone and mood
- Optimistic; Passionate; Stylish
- Setting
- Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada, 1940s
- Premise and plot tags
- Biographical; Gangster; Historical; Crime Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- The life of mobster Bugsy Siegel
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was well-received by audiences.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 84% · review count: 64; Metacritic · score: 80 · scale: null · review count: 27; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Art Direction · Won; Academy Award · Best Costume Design · Won; Golden Globe Award · Best Motion Picture - Drama · Won
- Production trivia
- Warren Beatty wanted to star in a film about Bugsy Siegel since the late 1970s.; The film was originally intended to be much longer, but was condensed from three and a half to four hours.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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