Bugsy

For other uses, see Bugsy (disambiguation).

Bugsy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Barry Levinson
Produced by	Barry Levinson Warren Beatty Mark Johnson
Written by	Dean Jennings (Book) James Toback
Starring	Warren Beatty Annette Bening Harvey Keitel Ben Kingsley Elliott Gould Bebe Neuwirth Bill Graham
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Allen Daviau
Editing by	Stu Linder Christopher Holmes (Extended)
Studio	Baltimore Pictures
Distributed by	TriStar Pictures
Release date(s)	December 13, 1991 (Limited) December 20, 1991
Running time	Theatrical cut: 137 minutes Extended cut: 150 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$49,114,016

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.

Plot

Gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (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. 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. 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 himself. 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. 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 $6 million invested in Bugsy's dream of Las Vegas had generated revenues of over $100 billion.

Cast

• Warren Beatty as Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
• Annette Bening as Virginia Hill
• Harvey Keitel as Mickey Cohen
• Ben Kingsley as Meyer Lansky
• Joe Mantegna as George Raft
• Lewis Van Bergen as Joey Adonis
• Wendy Phillips as Esta Siegel
• Elliott Gould as Harry Greenberg
• Bill Graham as Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
• Richard C. Sarafian as Jack Dragna
• Bebe Neuwirth as Countess di Frasso
• Giancarlo Scandiuzzi as Count di Frasso

Reception

Accolades

Bugsy won Academy Awards 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

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Bugsy Siegel - Nominated Villain
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Why don't you go outside and jerk yourself a soda?" - Nominated
• AFI's 10 Top 10 - 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 rape 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).

External links

• Bugsy at the Internet Movie Database
• Bugsy at Box Office Mojo
• Bugsy at Rotten Tomatoes

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Dances with Wolves	Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama 1992	Succeeded by Scent of a Woman