Bugsy
Encyclopedia
Bugsy is a 1991 American crime
-drama film
which tells the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel
. It stars Warren Beatty
, Annette Bening
, Harvey Keitel
, Ben Kingsley
, Elliott Gould
, Joe Mantegna
, Bebe Neuwirth
, and Bill Graham
.
The movie was written by James Toback
from research material by Dean Jennings (1967 book We only Kill Each Other). It was directed by Barry Levinson
.
There is a Director's Cut released on DVD, containing an additional 13 minutes not seen in the theatrical version.
(Warren Beatty
), who works for the New York mob, goes to California
and instantly falls in love with Virginia Hill
(Annette Bening
), a Hollywood starlet. The two meet for the first time, when Ben visits his friend, the actor George Raft, on a movie-studio set. He buys a house in Beverly Hills from opera singer Lawrence Tibbett
, planning to stay while his wife and two daughters remain in the New York
suburb
of Scarsdale
.
As a representative for his associates Meyer Lansky
and Charlie Luciano
, Siegel is in California to muscle control of betting parlors away from Los Angeles gangster Jack Dragna
. Mickey Cohen
robs Dragna's office one day, and is confronted by Siegel. Dragna claimed losses of $56,000; Cohen admits to robbing $42,000. Siegel theorizes he should be in business with the guy that did the robbery, not the guy that got robbed. Mickey Cohen is put in charge of the betting casinos; Jack Dragna is forced to admit to a raging Ben, that Jack stole $14,000 from the New York Associates, and is told he now answers to Cohen.
A humiliated and degraded Jack Dragna leaves the house. "Everybody needs a fresh start," says Ben, to the departing Dragna. A suddenly quiet Ben Siegel returns to the dinner table, to eat his cold scampi, served over a bed of soft rice, rimmed with carrots and peas. After having had an earlier argument about Virginia's sexual trysts with drummer Gene Krupa
, and a variety of bull fighters, Virginia makes a romantic move on Ben, in the dining room.
On a trip to Nevada to visit a dive gambling joing, Siegel comes up with the idea for a casino in the desert. He acquires funding from head mobster Meyer Lansky
(Ben Kingsley
) and other New York mobsters who approve the deal for $1 million. The funds are approved when the associates make an unannounced visit to Siegel at his Scarsdale, New York Home. Ben is caught in the middle of preparations for his daughter Milllicent's birthday celebration. His wife, Esta, is full of marital frustration; Daughter Millicent feels abandoned on her birthday; Associate Meyer Lansky is conflicted between wanting to fund Ben's Casino-Hotel and worrying about Ben's obsession with wanting to kill Mussolini.
Bugsy puts Virginia in charge of accounting and begins construction of the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel Casino, Las Vegas
, Nevada
, but has no sense of control and the budget soon rises to $6 million. Bugsy tries everything to ensure it gets made, even selling his share of the casino and most of his belongings.
Bugsy returns to the East Coast for the party for Charlies trip to Italy.
Meyer says "Ben, what's the most this hotel will cost?"
Charlie says "Congratulations Ben. Virginia will make a great wife. But I hope you know what you're doing."
Bugsy pummels Joey A. at the party, for a previous insult made regarding Virginia.
Bugsy is visited in Los Angeles by former associate Harry Greenberg
. Harry has ratted out his old associates to save his butt. Harry has also ran out of money, from a combination of his gambling habits, and being extorted by the prosecutors who want his testimony. Ben is Harry's last and only friend. We don't see Ben kill Harry, but there is a gunshot, while Virginia waits in the car.
Ben and Esta are out to dinner in a restaurant with their two daughters. Ben suggests that maybe the anticipated move to California is not such a good idea. Esta and Ben have a confrontation in the women's restroom, away from earshot of the children. "You want a divorce! Say it!! You want a divorce!" Esta screams in Ben's face, slapping him several times. Ben has a guilty look on his face, as he watches their cab drive away from the restaurant.
Bugsy is arrested for Harry Greenberg's murder. But incarceration is short; The only witness is a cab-driver who dropped off Harry in front of Ben's Beverly Hills house. The cab driver is escorted to the train station by Mickey Cohen.
Meyer is waiting for Ben outside the jail. Meyer has a satchel of money that he gives to Ben. "Charlie doesn't have to know about it," he tells Ben. But he also tells Ben, "I can't protect you anymore."
Upset about the costs, the fact that the casino is a failure, and that $2 million of the budget is unaccounted for, Meyer Lansky asks Bugsy to meet him in Los Angeles. Bugsy discovers that Virginia stole the money but tells her to "keep it and save it for a rainy day" rather than return it. He then calls Lansky and tells him never to sell his share of the casino and that he'll live to thank him someday.
While in his home back in L.A. later that night, Bugsy is killed by several gunshots (presumably from an assassin hired by Lansky or one of the other mobsters). Virginia is told the news back in Las Vegas and becomes upset, rushing out of the casino. The final text before the credits states that she returned the missing money a week later and committed suicide at some point after that. It also states that by 1991 (the film's release year) the $6 million invested in Bugsy's dream of Las Vegas had generated revenues of over $100 billion.
for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
(Dennis Gassner, Nancy Haigh) and Best Costume Design
. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
(Warren Beatty), Best Actor in a Supporting Role
(Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley), Best Cinematography
, Best Director
, Best Music, Original Score
, Best Picture
and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. It received eight (8) Golden Globe nominations and won for Best Picture - Drama. The Silence of the Lambs won many categories where Bugsy received nominations in 1991. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear
at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival
.
American Film Institute
Lists
and murder
, and glosses over his infamously short temper. Though Ben Siegel's reputation as a violent thug is not completely overlooked in the film. The film opens with a scene in which Siegel murders a betting-parlor manager for stealing from the business. Later in the film, when he buys a house from opera singer Lawrence Tibbett, Tibbett asks "why are you looking at me like that? You're not going to hurt me, are you?" Towards the end of the movie, Siegel beats Lansky associate Joey A. to a pulp. There's also the scene in which he punches a Jack Dragna associate, for calling him "Bugsy." Toward the end of the movie, we see Ben selling shares of the Hotel, when all the shares are already sold. So it could be arguable that the film really does not falsely represent Bugsy as some sort of good guy. The film portrays Bugsy as a man who betrays almost every friend, lover, and family member in his life.
The film also shows Siegel closing the Flamingo at Christmas of 1946 for improvements and being murdered that night alone at Virginia Hill's house holding a newspaper and watching a projection of himself reading movie lines as Hill leaves for Paris. While Siegel did close the hotel that day, his murder and Hill's leaving did not take place until six months later in June 1947. Furthermore, he was with his associate, Allen Smiley, reading a newspaper on the sofa, not watching himself on a home movie screen.
The film also completely ignores the role of William Wilkerson
('The Man Who Built Las Vegas') in the building of the Flamingo; Siegel is shown gazing over an empty desert and deciding to build the Flamingo, but the hotel was conceived and constructed wholly by Wilkerson — Siegel only became involved as it neared completion (Wilkerson owned 48% of the Flamingo until selling out much later).
Crime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
-drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
which tells the story of mobster Bugsy Siegel
Bugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
. It stars Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, Annette Bening
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
, Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
, Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
, Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
, Bebe Neuwirth
Bebe Neuwirth
Beatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is an American actress, singer and dancer. She has worked in television and is known for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin, Dr. Frasier Crane's wife , on both the TV sitcom Cheers , and its spin-off Frasier...
, and Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
.
The movie was written by James Toback
James Toback
James Lee Toback is an American screenwriter and film director.-Early life:Toback was born in New York City. His mother, Selma Judith , was a President of The League of Women Voters and a moderator of political debates on NBC. His father, Irwin Lionel Toback, was a stockbroker and former...
from research material by Dean Jennings (1967 book We only Kill Each Other). It was directed by Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
.
There is a Director's Cut released on DVD, containing an additional 13 minutes not seen in the theatrical version.
Plot
Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" SiegelBugsy Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family...
(Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
), who works for the New York mob, goes to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and instantly falls in love with Virginia Hill
Virginia Hill
Virginia Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the girlfriend of Genovese crime family mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.- The Kefauver hearings :...
(Annette Bening
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
), a Hollywood starlet. The two meet for the first time, when Ben visits his friend, the actor George Raft, on a movie-studio set. He buys a house in Beverly Hills from opera singer Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
, planning to stay while his wife and two daughters remain in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Scarsdale
Scarsdale
Scarsdale could be*Scarsdale, New York, a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States, for which The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet is named...
.
As a representative for his associates Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
and Charlie Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
, Siegel is in California to muscle control of betting parlors away from Los Angeles gangster Jack Dragna
Jack Dragna
Jack Ignatius Dragna was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 1900s. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States...
. Mickey Cohen
Mickey Cohen
Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:...
robs Dragna's office one day, and is confronted by Siegel. Dragna claimed losses of $56,000; Cohen admits to robbing $42,000. Siegel theorizes he should be in business with the guy that did the robbery, not the guy that got robbed. Mickey Cohen is put in charge of the betting casinos; Jack Dragna is forced to admit to a raging Ben, that Jack stole $14,000 from the New York Associates, and is told he now answers to Cohen.
A humiliated and degraded Jack Dragna leaves the house. "Everybody needs a fresh start," says Ben, to the departing Dragna. A suddenly quiet Ben Siegel returns to the dinner table, to eat his cold scampi, served over a bed of soft rice, rimmed with carrots and peas. After having had an earlier argument about Virginia's sexual trysts with drummer Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, and a variety of bull fighters, Virginia makes a romantic move on Ben, in the dining room.
On a trip to Nevada to visit a dive gambling joing, Siegel comes up with the idea for a casino in the desert. He acquires funding from head mobster Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States...
(Ben Kingsley
Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
) and other New York mobsters who approve the deal for $1 million. The funds are approved when the associates make an unannounced visit to Siegel at his Scarsdale, New York Home. Ben is caught in the middle of preparations for his daughter Milllicent's birthday celebration. His wife, Esta, is full of marital frustration; Daughter Millicent feels abandoned on her birthday; Associate Meyer Lansky is conflicted between wanting to fund Ben's Casino-Hotel and worrying about Ben's obsession with wanting to kill Mussolini.
Bugsy puts Virginia in charge of accounting and begins construction of the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel Casino, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, but has no sense of control and the budget soon rises to $6 million. Bugsy tries everything to ensure it gets made, even selling his share of the casino and most of his belongings.
Bugsy returns to the East Coast for the party for Charlies trip to Italy.
Meyer says "Ben, what's the most this hotel will cost?"
Charlie says "Congratulations Ben. Virginia will make a great wife. But I hope you know what you're doing."
Bugsy pummels Joey A. at the party, for a previous insult made regarding Virginia.
Bugsy is visited in Los Angeles by former associate Harry Greenberg
Harry Greenberg
Harry Schachter or Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg was an associate and childhood friend of Bugsy Siegel, and an employee of both Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky. On November 22, 1939, Greenberg was murdered by Bugsy Siegel and his brother-in-law, Whitey Krakower...
. Harry has ratted out his old associates to save his butt. Harry has also ran out of money, from a combination of his gambling habits, and being extorted by the prosecutors who want his testimony. Ben is Harry's last and only friend. We don't see Ben kill Harry, but there is a gunshot, while Virginia waits in the car.
Ben and Esta are out to dinner in a restaurant with their two daughters. Ben suggests that maybe the anticipated move to California is not such a good idea. Esta and Ben have a confrontation in the women's restroom, away from earshot of the children. "You want a divorce! Say it!! You want a divorce!" Esta screams in Ben's face, slapping him several times. Ben has a guilty look on his face, as he watches their cab drive away from the restaurant.
Bugsy is arrested for Harry Greenberg's murder. But incarceration is short; The only witness is a cab-driver who dropped off Harry in front of Ben's Beverly Hills house. The cab driver is escorted to the train station by Mickey Cohen.
Meyer is waiting for Ben outside the jail. Meyer has a satchel of money that he gives to Ben. "Charlie doesn't have to know about it," he tells Ben. But he also tells Ben, "I can't protect you anymore."
Upset about the costs, the fact that the casino is a failure, and that $2 million of the budget is unaccounted for, Meyer Lansky asks Bugsy to meet him in Los Angeles. Bugsy discovers that Virginia stole the money but tells her to "keep it and save it for a rainy day" rather than return it. He then calls Lansky and tells him never to sell his share of the casino and that he'll live to thank him someday.
While in his home back in L.A. later that night, Bugsy is killed by several gunshots (presumably from an assassin hired by Lansky or one of the other mobsters). Virginia is told the news back in Las Vegas and becomes upset, rushing out of the casino. The final text before the credits states that she returned the missing money a week later and committed suicide at some point after that. It also states that by 1991 (the film's release year) the $6 million invested in Bugsy's dream of Las Vegas had generated revenues of over $100 billion.
Cast
- Warren BeattyWarren BeattyWarren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
as Benjamin "Bugsy" SiegelBugsy SiegelBenjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American gangster who was involved with the Genovese crime family... - Annette BeningAnnette BeningAnnette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
as Virginia HillVirginia HillVirginia Hill was a Chicago Outfit courier who was famous for being the girlfriend of Genovese crime family mobster Bugsy Siegel, following the breakdown of his marriage.- The Kefauver hearings :... - Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
as Mickey CohenMickey CohenMeyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen was a gangster based in Los Angeles and part of the Jewish Mafia, and also had strong ties to the American Mafia from the 1930s through 1960s.-Early life:... - Ben KingsleyBen KingsleySir Ben Kingsley, CBE is a British actor. He has won an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards in his career. He is known for starring as Mohandas Gandhi in the film Gandhi in 1982, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
as Meyer LanskyMeyer LanskyMeyer Lansky , known as the "Mob's Accountant", was a Polish-born American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the "National Crime Syndicate" in the United States... - Elliott GouldElliott GouldElliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
as Harry GreenbergHarry GreenbergHarry Schachter or Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg was an associate and childhood friend of Bugsy Siegel, and an employee of both Charlie "Lucky" Luciano and Meyer Lansky. On November 22, 1939, Greenberg was murdered by Bugsy Siegel and his brother-in-law, Whitey Krakower... - Bebe NeuwirthBebe NeuwirthBeatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is an American actress, singer and dancer. She has worked in television and is known for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin, Dr. Frasier Crane's wife , on both the TV sitcom Cheers , and its spin-off Frasier...
as Countess di Frasso - Bill GrahamBill Graham (promoter)Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
as Charlie "Lucky" LucianoLucky LucianoCharlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission... - Joe MantegnaJoe MantegnaJoseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s... - Richard C. SarafianRichard C. SarafianRichard C. Sarafian is an Armenian-American TV and film director. Richard Sarafian has complied a versatile career that has spanned over five decades as a director, actor and writer. He is most popular for his film Vanishing Point . He is the father of: Richard Sarafian Jr., Tedi Sarafian, Damon B...
as Jack DragnaJack DragnaJack Ignatius Dragna was an American Mafia member and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 1900s. He was active in bootlegging in California during the Prohibition Era in the United States... - Giancarlo Scandiuzzi as Count di Frasso
- Wendy PhillipsWendy PhillipsWendy Phillips is an American actress, noted for playing David Selby's last wife, Lauren Daniels, during the final season of Falcon Crest and for playing Gerald McRaney's wife, Claire Greene, on both Touched by an Angel and Promised Land...
as Esta Siegel - Ksenia Prohaska as Marlene DietrichMarlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
Accolades
Bugsy won Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Dennis Gassner, Nancy Haigh) and Best Costume Design
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Warren Beatty), Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Harvey Keitel and Ben Kingsley), Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Music, Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. It received eight (8) Golden Globe nominations and won for Best Picture - Drama. The Silence of the Lambs won many categories where Bugsy received nominations in 1991. The film was nominated for the Golden Bear
Golden Bear
According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival
42nd Berlin International Film Festival
The 42nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 13 to 24, 1992.-Jury:* Annie Girardot * Charles Champlin* Sylvia Chang* Ildikó Enyedi* Irving N...
.
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- "Why don't you go outside and jerk yourself a soda?" - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- Nominated Gangster Film
Memorable Quotes
- Bugsy: "What are you saying Harry? That if I don't give you $50,000, you're going to rat on all your friends?"
- Harry: "No! Not you, Ben! Never! I love you, Ben!"
- Bugsy: "I'm going to try to pretend this never happened."
- Harry: "Thanks Ben. I owe you my life."
- Bugsy "I'd say thats a fair assessment. ...Bend your knees, Harry!"
- Harry: "Bend my knees?"
- Bugsy: "When you jump from the train, bend your knees to soften the blow."
- Harry: "Bend my knees. Okay Ben. Sure thing."
Criticism
Despite its good reviews, Bugsy faced criticism over its portrayal of Siegel. Some people complain that the film omits Siegel's long history of violent crime, including rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, and glosses over his infamously short temper. Though Ben Siegel's reputation as a violent thug is not completely overlooked in the film. The film opens with a scene in which Siegel murders a betting-parlor manager for stealing from the business. Later in the film, when he buys a house from opera singer Lawrence Tibbett, Tibbett asks "why are you looking at me like that? You're not going to hurt me, are you?" Towards the end of the movie, Siegel beats Lansky associate Joey A. to a pulp. There's also the scene in which he punches a Jack Dragna associate, for calling him "Bugsy." Toward the end of the movie, we see Ben selling shares of the Hotel, when all the shares are already sold. So it could be arguable that the film really does not falsely represent Bugsy as some sort of good guy. The film portrays Bugsy as a man who betrays almost every friend, lover, and family member in his life.
The film also shows Siegel closing the Flamingo at Christmas of 1946 for improvements and being murdered that night alone at Virginia Hill's house holding a newspaper and watching a projection of himself reading movie lines as Hill leaves for Paris. While Siegel did close the hotel that day, his murder and Hill's leaving did not take place until six months later in June 1947. Furthermore, he was with his associate, Allen Smiley, reading a newspaper on the sofa, not watching himself on a home movie screen.
The film also completely ignores the role of William Wilkerson
William Wilkerson
William Richard Wilkerson was the founder of the Hollywood Reporter, Flamingo Hotel and owner of such nightclubs as Ciro's. He was also responsible for discovering actress Lana Turner across the street from Hollywood High School.-Early life:Born in Nashville, Tennessee on September 29, 1890...
('The Man Who Built Las Vegas') in the building of the Flamingo; Siegel is shown gazing over an empty desert and deciding to build the Flamingo, but the hotel was conceived and constructed wholly by Wilkerson — Siegel only became involved as it neared completion (Wilkerson owned 48% of the Flamingo until selling out much later).