Events in the film were inspired by the life of Frank Rosenthal, who is here called Ace Rothstein (Robert de Niro). There was indeed a brief time in the 1970s when the mob ran the casinos.

This is part of a four-part examination of three Martin Scorsese gangster films:įor a review of The Irishman, click here.Īs with Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese based Casino on real-life events.