Though Bugsy is hardly the real story of Benjamin Siegal, the criminal mastermind who turned Las Vegas into a desert pleasure town, Warren Beatty has captured the essence of the man. Bugsy got several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Beatty. Unfortunately it came out during the year of Silence of the Lambs which was the Best Picture in 1991 and Anthony Hopkins beat Beatty for Best Actor.
Certainly Ben Siegal was at the top of the racketeering profession, he was shrewd, he was connected to the rightest people there were in that world, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, he had it all. He was also a compulsive womanizer and had as Ben Kingsley who played Meyer Lansky put it, no respect for money. When he met Virginia Hill those two elements of his character destroyed him.
Annette Bening is Virginia Hill and I'm wondering why Beatty and director Barry Levinson didn't give her a trace of southern accent since the real Virginia Hill was born in Alabama. Of course after the film, Bening became Mrs. Wareen Beatty and the off screen romance certainly added to the portrait of the totally obsessed Siegal with Hill.
Harvey Keitel plays Mickey Cohen who was Siegal's number one lieutenant and took over eventually the west coast territory for the syndicate and does a good job as the tough as nails street kid who Siegal allies himself with in a gangland power play. Keitel and Kingsley both were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Jack Palance in City Slickers.
One character who isn't mentioned much in talking about this film is George Raft as played by Joe Mantegna. Raft who was born and grew up in Hell's Kitchen got his start in mob owned speakeasies during Prohibition and knew every one there was of importance in the underworld. It's probably the reason that the story of Ben Siegal was not brought to the screen until eleven years after Raft died.
Bugsy only took home one Oscar, for Costume Design and the players sure do have a Forties look about them. Bugsy is one of Warren Beatty's best films and should not be missed.
Certainly Ben Siegal was at the top of the racketeering profession, he was shrewd, he was connected to the rightest people there were in that world, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky, he had it all. He was also a compulsive womanizer and had as Ben Kingsley who played Meyer Lansky put it, no respect for money. When he met Virginia Hill those two elements of his character destroyed him.
Annette Bening is Virginia Hill and I'm wondering why Beatty and director Barry Levinson didn't give her a trace of southern accent since the real Virginia Hill was born in Alabama. Of course after the film, Bening became Mrs. Wareen Beatty and the off screen romance certainly added to the portrait of the totally obsessed Siegal with Hill.
Harvey Keitel plays Mickey Cohen who was Siegal's number one lieutenant and took over eventually the west coast territory for the syndicate and does a good job as the tough as nails street kid who Siegal allies himself with in a gangland power play. Keitel and Kingsley both were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Jack Palance in City Slickers.
One character who isn't mentioned much in talking about this film is George Raft as played by Joe Mantegna. Raft who was born and grew up in Hell's Kitchen got his start in mob owned speakeasies during Prohibition and knew every one there was of importance in the underworld. It's probably the reason that the story of Ben Siegal was not brought to the screen until eleven years after Raft died.
Bugsy only took home one Oscar, for Costume Design and the players sure do have a Forties look about them. Bugsy is one of Warren Beatty's best films and should not be missed.