Where was Casino filmed? Guide to ALL the Filming Locations
Posted by Ra Moon
Martin Scorsese’s 1995 classic Casino is one of the great epic crime films of all time and is often considered one of the legendary director’s best movies.
Of course, the stellar lineup of Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, and Kevin Pollack, all at the heights of their careers helped, with Stone winning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination.
Of course, the stellar lineup of Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods, and Kevin Pollack, all at the heights of their careers helped, with Stone winning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination.
The film is based on the Nicholas Pileggi nonfiction novel Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. The book depicts the exploits of Mafia mobsters Lefty Rosenthal and Tony Spilotro and their control of the Las Vegas casinos in the seventies and early eighties.
Set in 1983 in Las Vegas, the film captures the glitz and glamor of the entertainment capital of the world as well as its dark underbelly.
Casino was entirely filmed on location in Las Vegas. Welcome to the best and most complete guide to the filming locations of Casino.
Casino Filming Locations
The explosive opening scene was filmed outside the Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel at 200 N Main Street, across the street from California Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The film is also famous for its title sequence, which was created by iconic graphic designer and filmmaker Saul Bass as his final work. Bass is best known for his work on Vertigo, Psycho, North by Northwest, and The Man With the Golden Arm.
The title sequence features an exploding car and stylish imagery - helping to set the tone and style for the rest of the film. The title sequence cost a massive $11,316 (excluding Bass’s fee).
(You can open all the locations on Google Maps by clicking on the links below in the captions ↴)
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The Tangiers Casino
The Landmark Hotel and Casino served as the exterior of the fictional Tangiers resort, which was based on the story of the Stardust Resort and Casino.
The Stardust was believed to be controlled by organized crime families with a skimming operation revealed by the FBI to be the largest ever exposed.
Today, the space where the Landmark once stood is a large parking lot for the Las Vegas Convention Center. The building and its iconic tower were torn down shortly after filming in November 1995.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The interior of The Tangiers was filmed at the old Riviera hotel and casino (aka "The Riv") on the Las Vegas North Strip.
The casino originally opened in 1955, which made it a key landmark on the strip. It became a popular shooting location over the years due to its legacy facade. The Riv was closed in 2015 and demolished in 2016.
In addition to Casino, The Riviera was also used for Ocean’s 11 (1960), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), The Hangover (2009), and Jason Bourne (2016).
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
In the Riviera, apart from the casino, the production filmed scenes at the hotel's penthouse, the restaurants, the kitchen, the ballroom, and La Cage Showroom.
However, Ace's office suite and the race and sportsbook (pictured) were not the Stardust. They were sets constructed at an unopened book in the old Jockey Club on the North end of The Strip.
The San Marino Italian Grocery in Kansas City is today the Ezpawn pawn shop at 3010 S Valley View Boulevard.
The Kansas Airport was filmed at Henderson Executive Airport and the scene with Mr. Ichikawa at the Harry Reid International Airport of Las Vegas.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures and Google Maps
In the short swimming pool scene, when the narrator talks about Philip Green (played by Kevin Pollak) was recorded at the Glass Pool Inn motel, which opened in 1952 at 4613 South Las Vegas Boulevard.
Unfortunately, the motel was also demolished in 2003. The complex was famous for its flashy above-ground pool with seven huge porthole windows.
Thanks to this peculiar pool, many productions were filmed here including Indecent Proposal (1993), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), and the ZZ Top Viva Las Vegas 1992 music video.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The pen scene where Nicky Santoro shows his enforcement skills for the first time in the movie was filmed at the old Moulin Rouge Hotel, which stood at 900 West Bonanza Road.
Opened in 1955, the complex was closed shortly afterward and remained shuttered for decades. After major fires in 2003 and 2009, the building and its distinctive tower were bulldozed to the ground in 2010, despite being listed on the Register of Historic Places.
Only the neon marquee sign, today located at the Neon Museum, survives.
The scene where Ginger and Ace appear together for the first time is the neon-lit Peppermill Restaurant and Fireside Lounge at 2985 Las Vegas Boulevard South.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The scene with Nicky and his brother Dominick in a sportsbook bar was filmed at the Fremont Street Experience, which is now a pedestrian street.
Pictured on the bottom, the school and the baseball scenes with Nicky's kid were filmed at Our Lady of Las Vegas School at 3046 Alta Drive.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Surrounded by Las Vegas National Golf Course, Sam "Ace" Rothstein's house was located at 3515 Cochise Lane in the Paradise neighborhood.
Built in 1964, this 4,862 square feet and five-bedroom home with a V-shaped pool has an estimated market value of about $717,100.
This is a private residence - if you are visiting, please be considerate to the owners of the property.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The "Femme Fatale" show scene with the company from Paris was recorded at the still existing Jubilee Theatre at the Bally's Las Vegas Hotel.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The Vegas Valley Country Club with a big central pool is the Mansion54, previously known as the Hartland Mansion.
Built in the 1940s, the house is now available for large-scale weddings, parties, and events for celebrities.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The Idle Spurs Tavern located 60 miles to Vegas, where Ace meets Nicky, is a 24h bar in Sandy Valley, Nevada.
Most of the conversations between Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro were improvised on the fly. Scorsese just told them where to start and where to end.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The Gold Rush jewelry was located at 1201 South Las Vegas Boulevard, but today the place has completely changed, becoming the Ocha Thai Cuisine restaurant.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Nicky's restaurant, The Leaning Tower, was filmed in what is today the Piero's Italian Cuisine restaurant.
Located at 355 Convention Center Drive, this restaurant has been completely refurbished.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The All American Gas truck stop garage in Chicago is quite hard to recognize since it was transformed in 2016 into The Kitchen at Atomic restaurant at 927 E Fremont Street.
As you can see in the lower pic, the "Liquor Cocktails" sign from the Atomic Liquors bar is one of the few elements that remain unchanged.
The warehouses in the background were added via digital effects.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures and Google Maps
The fictional Vegas Valley bank is today the Jade Company, a 24h dispensary at 1130 E Desert Inn Road.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Ginger meets her ex-boyfriend Lester Diamond (played by James Woods) at the Salvadoreno Restaurant at 720 N Main Street, located next to the Regency Motel.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Foley Federal Building courthouse is located at 308 S Las Vegas Boulevard.
The Mighty Mart parking lot where Ace and Andy have a chat is now the Bells Market convenience store at 515 East Oakey Boulevard.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Maps: Courthouse / Store
Ace and Nicky meet in the middle of the holes desert at Jean/Roach Dry Lake Beds in Sloan, the same location where the lanterns RiSE Festival is held.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The Ginger and Ace diner scene was filmed at Oscar's Steakhouse, a steaks and seafood restaurant in the dome of the Plaza Hotel with views of Fremont Street.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
The awesome La Concha Motel used to be near The Riviera at 2955 Las Vegas Boulevard South.
The shell lobby of this old Las Vegas landmark was saved from destruction and relocated to The Neon Museum visitors' center, situated at 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures and Google Maps
The garage where Ginger's car chase ends doesn't exist anymore, but the Star Motel that appears in the background of the scene is still standing at 1418 South 3rd Street, near Las Vegas Boulevard South.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
Andy Stone goes on permanent vacation after leaving the now-closed Ruth’s Chris Steak House at 3900 Paradise Road (upper picture).
John Nance's house in Costa Rica, with the small indoor waterfall, was filmed in an opulent house at 5795 South Lamb Boulevard, in Las Vegas (lower scene).
Also, the corn field in Indiana was created for the shoot at the Rocking K Arena horse boarding farm at 6500 Rio Vista Street, in the north of the city.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Maps: Restaurant / House / Corn field
The tour through modern Las Vegas includes the lion of the MGM Grand, the Treasure Island's pirate show outside of TI, the castle of the Excalibur Hotel, the volcano of The Mirage, and the Luxor Pyramid and Sphinx.
These images are combined with real footage of the Landmark Hotel demolition, which was also used in Tim Burton's 1996 sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks!
Ace's home in San Diego, pictured, was actually a house in the old Desert Inn at 3145 South Las Vegas Boulevard, now transformed into the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
Image courtesy of Universal Pictures - Map
This article was created with the help of IMDb, Las Vegas Weekly, Then and Now, Movie-locations.com, and The Movie District.
Can you help to improve this article about the filming locations of Casino? To complete and correct this report, any feedback, info, or images that you may have are more than welcome, thank you!
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NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
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2 comments:
1- Paulie - Jul 25, 2022, 10:04 PM
Still one of my favourite moves ever made, especially around the mafia theme. I have just ordered the book so looking forward to that too! Great post here, interesting to see all of the places that they filed at. I would love to visit these in person!
2- Anonymous - Oct 17, 2024, 11:29 AM
Excellent post. Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash. Ace Rothstein.
1- Paulie - Jul 25, 2022, 10:04 PM
Still one of my favourite moves ever made, especially around the mafia theme. I have just ordered the book so looking forward to that too! Great post here, interesting to see all of the places that they filed at. I would love to visit these in person!
2- Anonymous - Oct 17, 2024, 11:29 AM
Excellent post. Running a casino is like robbing a bank with no cops around. For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash. Ace Rothstein.
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