There is an iconic scene in director Martin Scorsese’s 1995 film Casino in which Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) meet in the desert. While this scene may seem like any other scene, there is a story behind the setting as Scorsese got this this idea after some people made a creepy remark about the desert.
1995’s Casino was a worldwide box office success, earning roughly $116 million at the global box office on a budget of $40-50 million. The film featured Scorsese’s frequent collaborators, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, who gave an outstanding performance that made the film quite memorable.
Martin Scorsese was told that the desert was a creepy place
In a past interview, director Martin Scorsese explained the story behind the iconic scene in his 1995 film Casino in which Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro) and Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) meet in the desert. The director said (via YouTube),
“I was told by certain ‘people’ at that time that deserts are a wonderful place, you can put something in there, overnight it disappears, nobody will know. These two, in the sense of the traditional American cowboys, out of control, outlaws, only in silk suits and sunglasses in the middle of nowhere. By that point Ace Rothstein can’t say a word to Nicky Santoro, he’s got to take it because he knows he’s gonna wind up right in that hole.”
The primary characters in the movie are based on real people, Sam “Ace” Rothstein is inspired by Tony “The Ant” Spilotro. Nicky Santoro and Ginger McKenna are based on mob enforcer Anthony Spilotro and former dancer and socialite Geri McGee, respectively.
Casino was a massive success
Upon release, Casino was praised by fans and critics all over the world. The film also featured Sharon Stone, who earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in the movie.
Pesci and De Niro gave a remarkable performance, in fact, most of the conversations between the two were improvised as Scorsese only told them where to start and where to end. The film’s intense storytelling, amusing cinematography, and the raw brutality of the criminal world make the movie a classic in the crime genre that continues to inspire movies and TV shows in the genre.
