Viva Las Vegas: Film in Sin City
Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas
How long have we been sheltering in place? As the days, weeks, and months blur, we still need escapist entertainment, and what better source than films about the city where day becomes night and night becomes day? Las Vegas, home town to COUPAR founder and CEO, Krista Coupar. The mid-century desert landscape of neon and decadence lends itself to the visual art form of motion pictures.
For pure fun, mix a Viva Las Vegas cocktail of Grey Goose Le Citron, white cranberry juice, and a touch of blue curacao to watch the 1964 movie that inspired the drink. It stars a sleek 29-year-old, Elvis Presley, as a singing race-car driver competing in the Las Vegas Grand Prix opposite a nubile 23-year-old Ann-Margaret playing a dancing swim instructor. The soundtrack of 12 songs showcases Elvis and Vegas at their best in the George Sidney directed film.
Nastassja Kinski in One From The Heart
Inspired by the musicals of the 1940s and 50s, Francis Ford Coppola's 1982 film One from the Heart bathes Las Vegas in hallucinatory primary colors. Coppola did not shoot a single frame on location, and yet his artistry captures the magical artifice of the city. Visually and technically brilliant, the actors are mere props to the sets. The storyline focuses on the break up between mechanic Hank (Frederic Forrest) and window dresser Frannie (Teri Garr). Each explores a dream partner, Hank, in the form of the exotic Leila (Nastassja Kinski), a circus performer and Frannie with Ray, a Latin Lover (Raul Julia) against the bright lights and glitter of Vegas.
Warren Beatty in Bugsy
What is Las Vegas Quarantine Culture without a movie about a real-life mobster? Called the "Father of Las Vegas" New York gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel's relationship with his leggy girlfriend, Virginia Hill features in the 1991 film Bugsy, directed by Barry Levinson. Siegel, (Warren Beatty), becomes obsessed with developing a 1940's Nevada desert roadside stop into a gambling mecca. Envisioning a city of glamorous hotels and casinos with lavish floor shows, he built "The Flamingo" named for Hill's long legs (played by Annette Bening). Unfortunately, the mob killed Siegel before he could see his dream Las Vegas realized.
Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone in Casino
Martin Scorsese's 1995 crime film Casino showcases the seductive fool's gold Las Vegas that Bugsy Siegel imagined. Set in the 1970s and '80s, Robert De Niro plays Sam "Ace" Rothstein, a casino operator. Sharon Stone is his love interest Ginger McKenna, a high-priced call girl, and Joe Pesci, his best friend Nicky Santoro, a violent mobster. While the movie opens with a car bombing, the flamboyant interiors, fashion, and jewelry are just as attention-getting.
