Casino - The Screenplay

Nicholas Pileggi &
Martin Scorsese


Adapted from a true story


NOTE
This edition represents the structure of the completed film rather than that of the shooting script.

---

1983


EXT. RESTAURANT PARKING LOT, LAS VEGAS, 1983 - DAY

SAM 'ACE' ROTHSTEIN, a tall, lean, immaculately dressed man approaches his car, opens the door, and gets inside to turn on the ignition.

ACE: (Voice-over) When you love someone, you've gotta trust them. There's no other way. You've got to give them the key to everything that's yours. Otherwise, what's the point? And, for a while . . . I believed that's the kind of love I had.

(Suddenly, the car explodes. Flames, smoke and metal rise into the sky covering the view of the Las Vegas casinos and their signs.
Music in: J.S. Bach - 'St Matthew Passion'.
Ace's body comes flying in - extreme slow motion. His body twists and turns through the frame like a soul about to tumble into the flames of damnation.)

MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE.


INT. TANGIERS CASINO FLOOR - NIGHT

Vignette of ACE: through rippling flames, we move in on ACE ROTHSTEIN overseeing the casino. He lights a cigarette.

ACE: (Voice-over) Before I ever ran a casino or got myself blown up, Ace Rothstein was a hell of a handicapper, I can tell you that. I was so good, that whenever I bet, I could change the odds for every bookmaker in the country. I'm serious. I had it down so cold that I was given paradise on earth. I was given one of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas to run, the Tangiers . . .

INT. SAN MARINO ITALIAN GROCERY/BACK ROOM, KANSAS CITY - NIGHT

Vignette of MOB BOSSES: sitting at a table surrounded by food and wine like the gods of Olympus.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . by the only kind of guys that can actually get you that kind of money: sixty-two million, seven-hundred thousand dollars. I don't know all the details.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Matter of fact . . .

INT. BAR, LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

Vignette of NICKY SANTORO: standing at a bar with DOMINICK SANTORO, his brother, and FRANK MARINO, his right-hand man.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . nobody knew all the details, but it should'a been perfect. I mean, he had me, Nicky Santoro, his best friend, watching his ass . . .

INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT

Vignette of GINGER MCKENNA: a dazzling thirty-one-year-old blonde seated by a small fiery pool.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . and he had Ginger, the woman he loved, on his arm. But in the end . . .

INT. TANGIERS SPORTSBOOK/ACE'S OFFICE - NIGHT

ACE looks over the casino he rules.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . we fucked it all up. It should'a been so sweet, too. But it turned out to be the last time that street guys like us were ever given anything that fuckin' valuable again.

EXT. LAS VEGAS - NIGHT

Aerial shot coming down out of the clouds over the brightly lit Vegas Strip and off into the blackness of the desert night.

ACE: (Voice-over) At that time, Vegas was a place where millions of suckers flew in every year on their own nickel, and left behind about a billion dollars. But at night, you couldn't see the desert that surrounds Las Vegas . . .

EXT. DESERT - DAWN

Aerial shot swooping along the desert floor, then rising above the mist to reveal mountains in the distance.

ACE: (Voice-over) But it's in the desert where lots of the town's problems are solved.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Got a lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems are buried in those holes. Except you gotta do it right. I mean, you gotta have the hole already dug before you show up with a package in the trunk. Otherwise you're talkin' about a half-hour or forty-five minutes of diggin'. And who knows who's gonna be comin' along in that time? Before you know it, you gotta dig a few more holes. You could be there all fuckin' night.

EXT. LAS VEGAS STRIP, 1973 - NIGHT

TITLE IN: 'THE STRIP', 'LAS VEGAS', 'TEN YEARS EARLIER'

ACE is greeted by a casino exec and walked through the brightly lit entrance to the Tangiers Casino.

ACE: (Voice-over) Who could resist? Anywhere else in the country, I was a bookie, a gambler, always lookin' over my shoulder, hassled by cops, day and night. But here, I'm 'Mr Sam Rothstein'. I'm not only legitimate, but running a casino. And that's like selling dreams for cash.

INT. TANGIERS CASINO - NIGHT

We see ACE enter alone. He is greeted by BILLY SHERBERT. They are joined by top executives RICHIE and RONNIE in suits and ties. They walk through the casino, past crowded and noisy craps tables, spinning roulette wheels, blackjack tables, poker-faced players at poker tables, and elegant, cordoned-off, black-tie, baccarat tables.

ACE: (Voice-over) I hired an old casino pal, Billy Sherbert, as my manager and I went to work.

SHERBERT: (Introducing the EXECS to ACE) . . . And this is Ronnie, who takes care of the card room . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) For guys like me, Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's a morality car wash. It does for us what Lourdes does for humpbacks and cripples. And, along with making us legit . . .

INT. TANGIERS/HARD COUNT ROOM - NIGHT

Dolly back from a wall of money. An employee pours a bucket full of coins into a trough. Camera follows progress as numerous coins move on a conveyor system, through a sorting machine. Camera reveals several rolls of coins on a lower conveyor as they move up a ladder towards an employee's hands, who then places the rolls on a rack.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . comes cash. Tons of it. I mean, what do you think we're doing out here in the middle of the desert? It's all this money. This is the end result of all the bright lights and the comped trips, of all the champagne and free hotel suites, and all the broads and all the booze. It's all been arranged just for us to get your money. That's the truth about Las Vegas.

INT. TANGIERS/FLOOR/SOFT COUNT ROOM - DAY

Camera follows JOHN NANCE carrying a small suitcase and walking through the casino to a door leading to the cashier's cage. The sign on the door reads 'Authorized Personnel Only'. He walks through the cage, to another door: 'Notice - Keep Out'.

ACE: (Voice-over) We're the only winners. The players don't stand a chance. And their cash flows from the tables to our boxes . . . through the cage and into the most sacred room in the casino . . . the place where they add up all the money . . . the holy of holies . . . the count room.
(He opens the door. We see inside the count room from NANCE'S point of view. It looks like the area behind a teller's cage in a bank. A large room, windowless, decor-free. One side is a mesh cage, opened to reveal stacks of cash boxes. Several COUNTERS in white shirts are gathered around a glass table counting and sorting paper money.)
Now this place was off limits.

COUNTER #1: Verify two thousand.

ACE: (Voice-over) Even I couldn't get inside, but it was my job to keep it filled with cash. That's for sure.

NICKY: (Voice-over) They had so much fuckin' money in there, you could build a house out of stacks of $100 bills. And the best part was that upstairs, the board of directors didn't know what the fuck was going on.

(At one end of the room the clerks empty the metal boxes and rapidly count the cash at a counting table. The camera follows a cash 'drop box' being lifted from the stack by a clerk. He pours the cash on to the table and shows the empty box to a video camera. COUNTER #2 rapidly counts the cash and announces:)

COUNTER #2: Five thousand.

NICKY: (Voice-over) I mean, to them everything looked on the up and up. Right? Wrong.

(The first counter recounts the cash.)
COUNTER #1: Verify five thousand.

NICKY: (Voice-over) The guys inside the counting room . . .

(Stacks of bills lie nearby. The camera pans across the room to another table manned by a COUNT ROOM EXECUTIVE who repeats the figure and writes it down on a master list.)

COUNT ROOM EXEC: Five thousand.
(We move back to NANCE opening a cabinet full of stacks of $100 bills. He opens his suitcase and begins to fill it with cash. As he does this, the workers studiously look in other directions.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . were all slipped in there to skim the joint dry. They'd do short counts, they'd lose fill slips. They'd even take cash right out of the drop boxes. And it was up to this guy right here [NANCE], standin' in front of about two million dollars, to skim the cash off the top without anybody gettin' wise . . . the IRS or anybody.

COUNTER #1: Verify two hundred.
(NANCE closes the case and walks out. One of the counters dumps another container of money on the table.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Now, notice how in the count room nobody ever seems to see anything. Somehow, somebody's always lookin' the other way. Now, look at these guys [COUNTERS]. They look busy, right? They're countin' money. Who wants to bother them? I mean, God forbid they should make a mistake and forget to steal. Meanwhile, you're in and you're out.
(NANCE exits the count room and proceeds through the lobby of the casino, passing ACE and SHERBERT, to a side exit door.)
Past the jag-off guard who gets an extra c-note a week just to watch the door. I mean, it's routine. Business as usual: in, out, hello, goodbye. And that's all there is to it. Just another fat fuck walkin' out of the casino with a suitcase. Now, that suitcase was goin' straight to one place: right to Kansas City . . . which was as close to Las Vegas as the Midwest bosses could go without gettin' themselves arrested.

(NANCE leaves the casino and gets into a cab parked at the curb.)

EXT. KANSAS CITY AIRPORT - DAY

NANCE arrives. He is greeted by ARTIE PISCANO, a gray-haired sixty-year-old underboss.

TITLE IN: 'KANSAS CITY'

NICKY: (Voice-over) That suitcase was all the bosses ever wanted . . . and they wanted it every month.

PISCANO: Hey, John, how are you? How was your ride?

EXT. SAN MARINO ITALIAN GROCERY, KANSAS CITY - DAY

NANCE, with suitcase, and PISCANO leave the car and enter the produce market.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Now this old Mormon fuck here . . .

(Cut to: NANCE, as he gets out of Piscano's car.)

INT. SAN MARINO ITALIAN GROCERY, KANSAS CITY - DAY

NANCE and PISCANO walk through the grocery store, through the warehouse, past various employees to a doorway leading into the back room, where they are greeted by five older men around a large wooden table with bowls of macaroni and old jelly glasses filled with red wine.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . he had to fly in with suitcases once a month, nice and easy.

NANCE: Somethin' smells good.

PISCANO: Yeah, they made us somethin' to eat.

NICKY: (Voice-over) The bosses would come from all over the place: Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee. All over the Midwest. And they would meet in the back of this produce market in Kansas City. I mean, nobody even knew.
(NANCE shakes hands with AMERICO CAPELLI, sixty-eight, a bald, affable Milwaukee entrepreneur and ARTHUR CAPP, his thirty-year-old yuppie lawyer son. Camera continues to pan around the room.)
One of the guys made his mother do all the cooking.

(On VINCENT BORELLI, seventy-year-old Kansas City boss.)
BORELLI: Did you ever see that guy Jerry Steriano?

(On VINNIE FORLANO, mid-seventies, an old-timer who once drove for Capone and is now Remo Gaggi's right-hand man.)
FORLANO: Jerry Steriano?
BORELLI: Yeah.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Now, these old greaseballs might not look it, but believe me, these are the guys who secretly controlled Las Vegas.
(PISCANO joins his MOTHER and DAUGHTER by a stove.)

PISCANO'S MOTHER: That man's here again.
(Piscano dips a piece of bread into a pot of tomato sauce).

NICKY: (Voice-over) Because they controlled the Teamsters' Union, and that's where you had to go if you wanted to borrow money to buy a casino.

BORELLI: (Off-screen) When you've finished with him, I want him.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (Carrying a plate of food to the table where BORELLI and FORLANO are seated.) Here you are, gentlemen.

NICKY: (Voice-over) And nobody got a Teamsters' loan, unless the guys in this room knew they were gonna get their little suitcases.
(FORLANO gets up from the table and walks toward NANCE.)
Guys like this antique here [FORLANO], out of Detroit. Or especially guys like Remo Gaggi, the outfit's top boss.
(NANCE embraces REMO GAGGI who's seated on a couch, and sits across from him.)

GAGGI: You got a round figure on it?

NICKY: (Voice-over) Definitely the most important guy in this room.

NANCE: (Picking up the suitcase) About twenty pounds.
GAGGI: So?
NANCE: That's around seven hundred thousand.
GAGGI: Uh-huh, good.
(NANCE opens the case to reveal the money.)
ANDY STONE: (Off-screen, from following scene) I know it's a little early for Las Vegas . . .

INT. TANGIERS EXECUTIVE OFFICE PRESS CONFERENCE/BANQUET ROOM - DAY

Camera tilts down a model of the Tangiers Hotel and Casino, then reveals the cover of Business Week magazine with a drawing of PHILIP GREEN, a young corporate type, smiling out under the headline: 'Philip Green, Vegas Wunderkind'.

STONE: (Off-screen) . . . but I do want to welcome the ladies and gentlemen of the gaming industry.

(On ANDY STONE, a middle-aged man at a podium giving a speech while GREEN, seated at a table, looks on. PHOTOGRAPHERS flash their cameras. ACE and SHERBERT, sitting next to GREEN, also watch the photo op ceremony.)

ACE: (Voice-over) As far as the world was concerned Andy Stone, the head of the Teamsters' Pension Fund, was a legitimate guy.

STONE: This is a very auspicious occasion.

ACE: (Voice-over) A powerful man.

STONE: Philip, if you would rise.
(GREEN stands up.)

ACE: (Voice-over) He even played golf with the President.

STONE: On behalf of the Teamsters' Pension Fund, it is my pleasure to present to you . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) But Andy also took orders. And when he was told to give a pension fund loan to Philip Green . . .

STONE: (Handing GREEN a large cardboard facsimile 'check') . . . this check for $62,700,000 for the new Tangiers.
GREEN: Thank you.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . he did what he was told.

(PHILIP GREEN, who is now the head of the Tangiers Hotel and Casino Corporation, is standing at the podium giving a speech.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Now here was the perfect front man. I mean, what the fuck else could he be? He didn't know too much. He didn't want to know too much, especially that the bosses made the Teamsters lend him the money. He wanted to believe the Teamsters gave him all that fuckin' money 'cause he was smart.

(An exploding flash bulb fills the screen.)
GREEN: . . . I say that, knowing full well just how much competition we have in this great city.

EXT. CHEAP MOTEL OFF HIGHWAY - DAY

We see a MAN and a WOMAN swimming underwater. Camera reveals that they are in a motel swimming pool with glass portholes. Expensive cars are parked outside one of the rooms. Hoods stand around outside the door.

NICKY: (Voice-over) And where they got Green from - who the fuck knows? All I know is that Green was an Arizona real estate hustler, who barely had enough gas money to come and pick up his own fuckin' check . . .

INT. TANGIERS EXECUTIVE OFFICE PRESS CONFERENCE/BANQUET ROOM - DAY

We return to the press conference. Photographers snap away. In the background are six-foot blow-ups of the Business Week cover. The camera moves past GREEN, CAPP and several other men, past SHERBERT, to ACE.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Now, all they needed was somebody they could trust to run the casino. And who better than Ace? I mean, he was already in Vegas a couple of years and he had the fuckin' place clocked.

(Freeze frame on ACE.)


INT. TANGIERS SWIMMING POOL - DAY

Camera looks straight down from the top of a hotel to a large pool area.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But typical Ace . . .

INT. TANGIERS SWIMMING POOL/POOLSIDE - DAY

STONE, in a bathing suit and robe, sits on a lounge chair with a telephone. ACE, in sports clothes, sits on another chair.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . give him a shot at runnin' a casino and he tries to talk you out of it.

ACE: You know, I don't know if I could do this even if I wanted to. The Gaming Commission would never give me a license. I have at least two dozen gambling and bookmaking pinches on me.
STONE: You don't have to have a license to work in a casino. All you gotta do is apply for one. The state law says you can work in a casino while they're processing your application. They got a ten-year backlog.
ACE: But what happens when they do find out?
STONE: Why would they want to find out? We're puttin' a hundred million into this desert here. Why would they want to lock us out? And besides, they'll never find out. All you gotta do is keep changing your job title. Like, uh, from Casino Executive to Food and Beverage Chairman. And what happens it, they take your application, they put it at the bottom of the pile. I know guys workin' there for thirty years, don't have a license.
ACE: (Exhales) It's a tough proposition, Andy. You, you know, if I did it, I'd have to run it my way.
STONE: You got it.
ACE: I'm serious. No interference.
STONE: Nobody's gonna interfere with your running the casino. I guarantee it. (STONE lights a cigarette.)

INT. TANGIERS CRAPS PIT - NIGHT

ACE blows on a die.

NICKY: (Voice-over) And that's how that got Ace to take over.
(ACES's hands place the die into a micrometer.)
They wanted him because Ace ate, slept and breathed gambling.
(Camera swish tilts up to ACE, then swish pans to boxman, dealers and players watching him, trying to act calm.)
They worked out a real cute job title too.
(We see the die in the micrometer.)
Tangiers Public Relations Director.
(Satisfied the die is not loaded ACE sets it on the craps table, the camera cranes up to reveal the Tangiers Casino floor.)
But the only thing he ever directed was the casino. He made his first bet when he was fifteen years old, and he always made money. But he didn't bet like you or me.
(A DEALER is sliding chips, tossing them on to a craps table.)
You know, havin' some fun with it, shit like that.

ACE: (Approaching the DEALER) Where the hell did you learn how to deal? (He reaches down, stacking and arranging the chips.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) He bet like a fuckin' brain surgeon.

ACE: (To the chastised DEALER) Place the checks properly. That's the way you do it.
DEALER: Yes, sir.

NICKY: (Voice-over) He had to know everything, this guy.
(Direct overhead tracking shot as ACE walks between two rows of gaming tables.)
He'd find out the kind of inside stuff nobody else knew, and that's what he'd put his money on.

INT. GYM/BOOKIE JOINT, BACK HOME, PRE-SEVENTIES - DAY

ACE walks past two boxers sparring in a ring, through a doorway into a room where several gamblers are seated around a table.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Even back home, years ago, when we were first hangin' out together . . .

TITLE IN: 'BACK HOME, YEARS AGO'

. . . he'd know if the quarterback was on coke.
(ACE is looking at the odds board for college football games. The bookie, LUCKY LARRY, is waiting for ACE to hand in his picks.)

ACE: I'll take Columbia for twenty.

NICKY: (Voice-over) If his girlfriend was knocked up.

LUCKY LARRY: Twenty dimes on Columbia . . .
(As soon as ACE bets, a man erases a number from the chalkboard and replaces it was a '6', changing the odds. Two GAMBLERS saunter from the room.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) He'd get the wind velocity so he could judge the field goals. He even figured out the different bounce you got off the different kinds of wood they used on college basketball courts, you know?

EXT. GYM/BOOKIE JOINT PUBLIC PHONES - DAY

The two GAMBLERS we saw sauntering out of the bookie joint are racing to the nearest public phones. Another GAMBLER has already beaten them to it.

NICKY: (Voice-over) He'd be workin' on this shit day and night. There was nothin' about a game he was gonna bet that he didn't know.

GAMBLER #1: (Into phone) Ace got down at six.
GAMBLER #2: (Into phone) Charlie, hey. Rothstein got six.

A bookie hands a stack of money to another bookie, who hands the money to ACE. ACE removes several bills from the top of the stack of winnings and holds them out to the BOOKIES.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Season after season, the prick was the only guaranteed winner I ever knew. But he was so serious about it all that I don't think he ever enjoyed himself. But . . .
(Ace exits.)
. . . that's just the way he was.

The room has an espresso machine and a saint's day calendar. Assorted hoods are listening to NICKY at the bar. Camera dollies to REMO GAGGI, at the rear table playing gin rummy with OLD MAN CAPO and losing. Every time the CAPO picks up a card, he's able to knock or get gin, sending GAGGI into a fit bemoaning his bad luck.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But back then the bosses didn't give a fuck about whether he enjoyed himself of not. To them, he was a cash register. All they had to do was ring the bell and take the money. Especially Remo, who was a fuckin' degenerate gambler who always lost.

GAGGI: (Slams down his cards and curses at his losing hands) Ma che cazzo! [Italian-American slang for 'What a prick.'] All those fuckin' sweeps.

NICKY: (Voice-over) I mean, unless Ace made his bet.

GAGGI: That's enough now!
OLD MAN CAPO: I can't contest the cards.
GAGGI: Va fa 'n culo! [Italian-American slang for 'Fuck off'] (Summoning a young man.) Johnny!

NICKY: (Voice-over) Ace made more money for them on a weekend than I could do heisting joints for a month.
(ACE enters and walks to GAGGI's table.)
Whatever Ace picked up on the street he told Remo.

NICKY: (Walks over to ACE and whispers) Hey, did you bring that thing?

NICKY: (Voice-over) You know, I mean fixed fights, doped horses, crooked fuckin' zebras . . . locked-in point spreads. He told fuckin' Remo everything. And to tell you the truth. I don't blame him.

(GAGGI stands up and shakes ACE's hand.)
GAGGI: Ace.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Keepin' Remo happy with money was the greatest insurance policy in the world.

(GAGGI beams as ACE takes out an envelope filled with cash and hands it over to him. GAGGI sits back down and ACE, knowing his place, smiles and is about to leave. )
GAGGI: Son-of-a-bitch. How the hell did you get Oklahoma-Michigan? Nobody ever had Oklahoma-Mi . . . How the hell'd you do it?
ACE: Well, that's why they paid so well.
GAGGI: You see? (Chuckles.) Never tells me nothin'. Ace, what do we got on for next week?
ACE: Well, it's a little too early. I'd say Thursday would be good. I'll know by then. Is that all right?
GAGGI: Okay. You come by the house?
ACE: I'll come by.
GAGGI: Seven o'clock?
ACE: Seven o'clock.
(GAGGI gets up and kisses ACE as NICKY and OLD MAN CAPO look on.)
GAGGI: Good job, my boy. Keep it up. Okay, Ace?
(ACE nods in agreement and leaves the room.)
(To NICKY) Hey, Nick. Vien acca. [Italian-American slang for 'Come here']
NICKY: (To ACE) I'll be right out.
GAGGI: T'aggia parla. [Italian-American slang for 'I've got to talk to you'] Nicky . . . see that guy (pointing to the off-screen ACE)?
NICKY: Mm.
GAGGI: Keep a good eye on him. He's makin' a lot of money for us. And he's gonna continue makin' a lot of money for us, so keep a good eye on him.
NICKY: Mm.
GAGGI: Not like your fuckin' friends out there, that . . . without brains. Okay?
NICKY: All right.
GAGGI: Uh-huh. Mi raccomando. [Italian-American slang for 'I'm counting on you']
NICKY: Yeah.
GAGGI: Fine.
NICKY: (Reaching down to touch GAGGI's money, joking with him.) Want me to take this for you? (He walks out.)
NICKY: (Voice-over) So, now, on top of everything else, I gotta make sure that nobody fucks around with the Golden Jew.

We move past JOE, a guy at the bar entertaining a BRUNETTE and a BLONDE, to NICKY and FRANK MARINO at the other end. There are other bar patrons in the background.

JOE: (To the BARTENDER) Chase, couple of shooters for the ladies.
BARTENDER: (Off-screen) All right.

ACE:(Voice-over) Yeah, we made a great pair. I made book and Nicky made sure we always collected. The old men loved us. And why not? They all made money with us.

NICKY: (To MARINO) They payin'?

ACE: (Voice-over) How did Nicky collect?

MARINO: They pay every week, like they're supposed to.

ACE: (Voice-over) Don't ask.

NICKY: Then where the fuck is the money? I don't see the money.
(ACE enters, and greets the two girls.)
ACE: Hi, Melissa. Heidi.
BLONDE: Hi, Sam.
JOE: (To the GIRLS) Who's this guy?
MARINO: (To NICKY) Get the fuck out of here. It was nine. I laid nine.
(ACE approaches NICKY and MARINO.)
NICKY: It was eight. Ace . . . tell him the line on the Bear's game.
ACE: Eight.
NICKY: If he don't know, nobody knows. Told you it was eight.
MARINO: Well, how come I laid nine?
NICKY: 'Cause you're a jag-off. I would have fuckin' made you lay ten . . .
(ACE notices a pen lying on the bar. He taps JOE on the shoulder.)
ACE: (To JOE) Excuse me.
JOE: What?
ACE: (He holds up the pen) Is this yours? Your pen?
JOE: Yeah, that's my pen. Why?
ACE: I ju- Well, it's a nice pen. I just didn't know whose it was. I thought it was yours. I didn't want it to get lost.
JOE: Well, thank you. Why don't you take that fuckin' pen and shove it up you ass, you fuckin' jag-off?
(NICKY looks over.)
ACE: Well, I was just offering you the -
(NICKY moves towards JOE.)
JOE: (Turning his back to talk to the girls, referring to ACE) This fuckin' asshole.
(NICKY grabs the pen out of ACE's hand.)
MAN #1 (To JOE) Look out -
(Before ACE can react, NICKY grabs JOE and starts stabbing him in the neck with the pen.)
- Joe! Look out, Joe! Look out!
(NICKY grunts while JOE gasps and groans. The BLONDE screams while NICKY's hand continues to plunge the pen into JOE's throat. JOE tumbles to the floor. NICKY pounces on him, still stabbing and now kicking. JOE whimpers.)
NICKY: What's that? You hear? You hear a little girl, Frankie? You hear a little girl, Ace? Is that a little fuckin' girl?! What happened to the fuckin' tough guy? Told my friend stick it up his fuckin' ass?! Huh?! Huh?!
ACE: (Over whimpers and pants) Wait a sec, Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. Ta-take it easy.
(ACE looks stunned. NICKY's still holding the bloody pen.)

ACE: (Voice-over) While I was tryin' to figure out why the guy was sayin' what he was sayin', Nicky just hit me. No matter how big a guy might be, Nicky would take him on. You beat Nicky with fists, he comes back with a bat. You beat him with a knife, he comes back with a gun. And you beat him with a gun, you better kill him, because he'll keep comin' back and back until one of you is dead.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Listen . . .

Camera swoops from a woman cheering as she wins at a slot-machine to a blackjack table, then to a roulette table and over to a craps table.

Montage of very short cuts of chips being picked up, dice thrown, money being poured from a bucket, stacks of money.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . with me protecting Ace, he made a fortune for the bosses. I mean that's what got him to Vegas. He was a money machine. A tremendous earner for these guys. As soon as he took over, he doubled the fuckin' drop. With Ace the casino never saw so much money. And the bosses, they couldn't be happier.

Camera moves in on ACE as he looks out over the casino. Dealers deftly stack chips, scoop up losses and pay off winners. Chips and money are everywhere.

In extreme close-up slow motion a die falls on to a table.


INT. TANGIERS CASINO SLOT-MACHINE AREA - NIGHT

ACE and SHERBERT are walking down a casino aisle by the slot-machines. Dealers immediately snap to attention at their approach.

ACE: (Voice-over) In Vegas, I had to keep a few juiced-in local cowboys working. They were close to the, you know, good old boys.

ACE: (To SHERBERT) Pay him six hundred a week, tell him to walk around and look smart.

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, without us, these guys, they'd still be shovellin' mule shit.

(ACE points at paper cups, empty glasses and the debris of silver dollar wrappings on the floor. DON WARD, the Slots Manager in Western garb, immediately starts picking up the debris. ACE looks at WARD sternly.)
ACE: Ward, you gotta keep a cleaner station. If you need 'Mr Clean', page him, all right?
(WARD bends down and picks up some trash.)
WARD: It won't happen again, Sam.
ACE: Mr Rothstein.
ACE: (To SHERBERT.) Is this guy just another dumb fuckin' white man, or what? What's his story?
SHERBERT: We need this guy.
ACE: We can't get rid of him?
SHERBERT: He's juiced in. He's the County Commissioner's cousin.
ACE: I wouldn't give the bum a mop job.
(They exit.)

A card shoe slides across the baccarat table. A state SENATOR , a little drunk, tips the dealer, kisses the blonder HOOKER with him, fills his pockets with his winnings and walks over to see ACE.

ACE: (Voice-over) These yokels ran the state.

DEALER #1: Thank you very much, Senator.

ACE: (Voice-over) They passed the laws, they owned the courts.

SENATOR: Hi, Ace.
ACE: Hello, Senator.
(They shake hands.)
SENATOR: (To ACE) Hey, I need a room. Need a room.
ACE: Good to see ya. (To SHERBERT.) William would you . . .
(The SENATOR shakes hands with SHERBERT as the HOOKER joins them.)

ACE: (Voice-over) I had dozens of politicians and state officials comin' through that place every week.

SHERBERT: Nice to see you, Senator.
ACE: (To SHERBERT) Help the Senator, give him whatever he wants.
SHERBERT: Certainly. (Leads the way.) Senator.

ACE: (Voice-over) Why not make them happy?

SHERBERT: We have some nice penthouses you'll enjoy. Maybe the Presidential Suite.

The SENATOR unzips the HOOKER's dress, kisses her and walks through the bedroom doorway, looking over his shoulder to her as she takes off her dress and walks out of his sight.

ACE: (Voice-over) For politicians . . .

ACE smoking a cigarette by the baccarat tables.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . like our state senator up there, everything was on the house.

The SENATOR opens a bureau drawer and takes out a small velvet pouch and pours black $100 into his palm.

ACE: (Voice-over) These guys won their comped life when they got elected. So, hey, why not take advantage of it? Still, the politicians come cheap. We could handle them.

K. K. ICHIKAWA a Japanese businessman, and a male associate pick up towels and soap from about the bedroom of their suite. A blonde woman checks herself in the mirror.

ACE: (Voice-over) It's a whale like K. K. Ichikawa, who plays thirty thousand dollars a hand in baccarat. That's the one you really gotta watch.
(ICHIKAWA and his associate walk into the the suite's living-room and join a Japanese woman seated on a couch.)
He plays fast and big and he has the cash and the credit to turn out your lights. About a year ago, he cleaned out a couple of casinos in the Cayman Islands.
(They begin to stuff Tangiers soap and towels into their luggage.)
Downstairs, he takes us for two million . . . and upstairs he takes free soap, shampoo and towels. Another billionaire cheapskate who loves his free rooms . . .

The Tangiers jet with the Tangiers logo on its side as ICHIKAWA shakes ACE's hands before boarding. SHERBERT follows him and his associates aboard.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . free private jets, and two million of our money.

ACE: Nice to see you again.

ACE: (Voice-over) But we got him back. I had our pilot tell him the plane was on the fritz.

DISSOLVE TO:

SHERBERT apologizes to ICHIKAWA and his entourage as they all get off the jet.

SHERBERT: Ken, I don't know what the hell went wrong. I'm awfully sorry.
ICHIKAWA: This is a big problem. Big problem.
SHERBERT: I can't understand it. These mechanical things, you know, they happen. Hey, be-better here than (gesturing to the sky) up there, you know what I mean?

SHERBERT arguing with TICKET AGENT as ICHIKAWA and entourage look glum.

ACE: (Voice-over) Then he missed the commercial flights connecting with Japan.

AGENT: I'm so sorry. There's a convention in town, and all flights are booked.
SHERBERT: A convention? (Turning to ICHIKAWA.) I can't believe that there's a convention. It's never . . . ?
ICHIKAWA: What can I do?

A smiling ACE greets ICHIKAWA and his entourage as they drive up and get out of Tangiers limos.

ACE: (Voice-over) We got him back . . . with a whole floor of rooms for himself.

ACE: I'm sorry you missed the plane.
ICHIKAWA: You want to get my money back, right? (Chuckles.)
ACE: No, no, no. No gambling. No.

ICHIKAWA, with the Japanese woman, picks up some chips and places them on the table. ACE and SHERBERT watch from behind a barrier.

ACE: (Voice-over) He bet one thousand a hand instead of his usual thirty thousand a hand.

(A dealer's hands slide two cards on the table.)

DEALER: The bank wins a natural eight over a five.
(Another dealer's hands place two chips on a table. ICHIKAWA looks on.)

ACE: (Voice-over) But I knew, the trick with whales like Ichikawa was that they can't bet small for long. He didn't think of it as winning ten thousand, he thought of it as losing ninety thousand.
(ICHIKAWA places a larger bet.)
So, he upped his bets . . .
(A dealer picks up some chips from a rack and places them on the table. ICHIKAWA is now seated with stacks of chips in front of him.)
. . . until he dropped his winnings back and gave up a million of his own cash.

DISSOLVE TO:

(ICHIKAWA, hours later, his chips depleted. ACE and SHERBERT still watch from behind the barrier as millions in chips are back in the dealer's racks.)
In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing . . .
(Move in on ACE as he smokes a cigarette.)
. . . and keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose. In the end, we get it all.

ACE: (Voice-over) In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else.

(Camera reveals the DEALER at a craps table.)
DEALER: Six, an easy way. Six! All right, who's gonna give me . . . (The DEALER places some chips on the table.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Since the players are looking to beat the casino . . .

(The camera is on the DEALER.)
DEALER: . . . both dice must hit that back wall each and every roll. All right, make a six!
(Camera pans to a WOMAN and a MAN at the table. The WOMAN tosses some dice.)

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . the dealers are watching the players.

WOMAN: Gimme a six!
DEALER: Come on, baby, make a six!
(A BOX MAN, seated mid-table is watching the DEALER.)

ACE: (Voice-over) The box men are watching the dealers.

(Camera pans to the DEALER.)
DEALER: Humming, fielding, every roll.
(Camera pans to a FLOOR MAN, standing directly behind the BOX MAN.)

ACE: (Voice-over) The floor men are watching the box men.
(Camera swish pans to reveal a PIT BOSS stepping in, scanning the floor.)
The pit bosses are watching the floor men.
(Swish pan to a SHIFT BOSS surveying the casino.)
The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses.
(Swish pan to SHERBERT.)
The casino manager is watching the shift bosses.
(Swish pan to ACE.)
I'm watching the casino manager.
(Camera swish pans and tilts up to a video camera mounted inside a glass dome hanging from the ceiling.)
And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all.
(Swish pan to:)

ACE: (Voice-over) Plus . . .
(Swish pan to surveillance catwalkers adjusting cameras and spying on players below with binoculars.)
. . . we had a dozen guys up there, most of them ex-cheats, who knew every trick in the house.

HIGH ROLLER: Come on, come on.
(She rolls a winner.)
GINGER: Yes!
HIGH ROLLER: Thank you. Very nice.
GINGER: (Chuckles) I told you I was hot tonight.

HIGH ROLLER: (Off-screen) Let's go. This is for Ginger. Come on. This is for Ginger.
(The HIGH ROLLER notices GINGER's hand on her purse. She pretends to have taken out her lipstick.)
GAMBLER #1: Let me have a hundred on the hard ten. Thank you.
GAMBLER #2: Hard ten. One hundred.

HIGH ROLLER: I'm sorry.
GINGER: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. (To the table.) Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
(ACE and two casino execs are now on the floor watching her.)
GINGER: Thank you, sir, I appreciate that. Everybody, thanks.
(Gives some chips as tips to the dealer and box man.) Thanks. Take care, Steve. Take chances and drive fast.
HIGH ROLLER: Ginger, honey.
DEALER: Thank you very much, now.
HIGH ROLLER: Ginger, honey, this is for you love. Thanks for your time.
(She turns to the HIGH ROLLER, who is handing her a thin stack of chips worth about $2,000.)
GINGER: (Chuckles) Come on.
HIGH ROLLER: What's the matter?
GINGER: What do you mean, 'What's the matter?' I made a lot of money for you. I want my cut.
HIGH ROLLER: What money? I've seen you stealing from me.
GINGER: What money? Look at this stack of chips. Don't give me that shit. I want my end.
HIGH ROLLER: Ginger, I've been watching you all night. You've been stealing from me.
GINGER: Don't give me that shit. I want my money.
HIGH ROLLER: That bag's full of fuckin' chips you -
GINGER: (Interrupts) What do you mean 'stole'? I didn't steal anything from you.
(ACE watches the argument heat up.)
HIGH ROLLER: Get lost, Ginger! Get lost!
GINGER: Get lost?
HIGH ROLLER: Yes.
GINGER: Get lost?
HIGH ROLLER: Yes.
(GINGER knocks the chip rack out of his hands.)
GINGER: Well, how 'bout that?
HIGH ROLLER: Come on! (He bends down to pick them up.)
(Gamblers and dealers shout and yell. She picks up another rack of chips and tosses them into the air, then another, and another. Chips fly all over the casino. Everyone starts diving for chips. Dealers. Players. Security guards. Waitresses. Pit bosses. Bedlam.
ACE and the two execs with him are the only ones not diving for chips. He looks at GINGER. She looks at him.
Freeze frame on GINGER.
Slow motion: GINGER smiles at ACE and walks off.)

ACE: (Voice-over) What a move. I fell in love right there.

ACE: (Voice-over) But in Vegas, for a girl like Ginger, love costs money.

(They kiss.)
GINGER: I'm going to go powder my nose.
(ACE hands GINGER a single $50 bill. She smiles coyly. He hands her another fifty.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Ginger's mission in life was money.

GINGER: I'll be right back.
(Off-screen, from following scene:) See you, Ginger.

GINGER: Okay, thank you for asking.

ACE: (Voice-over) She was a queen around the casino. She brought in high rollers and helped them spread around a lot of money.

GINGER: (To VALET PARKERS) Hello.
VALET PARKER: Hey, Ginger, how you doin'?
GINGER: Great. (Handing the VALET some money.) And I have something for you. You got me covered?
(The VALET PARKER places a vial of pills in her hand.)
VALET PARKER: Yes. Something for you, there.
GINGER: And you do. Thank you very much.
VALET PARKER: Take care of yourself.

GINGER: I got some lucky pills for you, honey.
HIGH ROLLER #2: Oh, yeah?

ACE: (Voice-over) Who didn't want Ginger? She was one of the best-known, best-liked and most respected hustlers in town. Smart hustlers like her could keep a guy awake for two or three days before sending him home broke to the little woman and his bank examiners.

ACE: Any change?
GINGER: (Chuckles) I hit a few . . . uh, games on the way back.

ACE: (Voice-over) That was all bullshit. She just pocketed the cash.

GINGER: (To CASHIER) How you doin' tonight?
CASHIER: Good. How are you?
GINGER: (Sighing) Oh, beat.

ACE: (Voice-over) Ginger had the hustler's code.

CASHIER: Okay.
GINGER: Take one for you.
CASHIER: (While she counts out the cash) Thank you.

ACE: (Voice-over) She knew how to take care of people. And that's what Vegas was all about.

CASHIER: (As she pushes a stack of $100 bills across the counter) Sixty-eight hundred.
GINGER: Thanks (She picks up the cash.)
CASHIER: You're welcome.

ACE: (Voice-over) It's Kickback City.

GINGER: You have a good night.
CASHIER: Thank you. You too.
Close-up of GINGER folding a $100 bill and placing it in her palm. She slips the folded bill deftly into the palm of a floor manager.)

ACE: (Voice-over) She took care of the dealers . . .

GINGER: Hey, Mitch.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . pit bosses, floor managers.

GINGER: Thank you.
ACE: But mostly . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . she took care of the valet parkers, the guys who could get you anything and take care of anything.

GINGER: Thanks a lot.
SHIFT BOSS: Thank you, Ginger.

ACE: (Voice-over) Ginger took care of the parkers because they took care of the security guards, who took care of the metro cops, who let her operate.

VALET PARKER #3: Thank you, Ginger.
GINGER: (Getting into her car) I need that stuff tonight.
VALET PARKER #3: No problem.
GINGER: You're a doll.

ACE: (Voice-over) The valet parking job was such a money-maker that they had to pay off the hotel manager just to get the concession.

ACE: (Voice-over) But one thing I could never understand, was that she could have everything under control, except for her old pimp boyfriend, Lester Diamond.

LESTER: Look, Gin, you know I got other people in this. I got partners. But I want you to understand that I am lookin' out for you in this thing. Okay? You're going to get yours back . . . and you're gonna get it back first. Okay?
GINGER: All right.
LESTER: Okay?
GINGER: Yeah.
LESTER: Where are you goin'? Where are you? You're in that place. Where are you?
GINGER: I'm here.
LESTER: No, you're not. Where are you? Where are you?
GINGER: I'm always here for you.
LESTER: You are.
GINGER: I am.
(He hastily kisses GINGER and slips out the door.)

ACE: (Voice-over) The Ginger I knew wouldn't even look at this creep.

GINGER: Good luck.
LESTER: Yeah.

ACE: (Voice-over) He was a moocher, a card cheat, a country-club golf hustler. A scumbag . . . chasing dentists for a few bucks.

GINGER: Careful.
(GINGER looks out of the window and sees LESTER get into a convertible and drive off.)

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, the guy was always broke, he always had a story. And somehow, she could never turn him down. The way Ginger saw it, I guess, was that Lester was just an unlucky guy. Somebody had to take care of him.

ACE: (Voice-over) But nobody had to take care of Nicky.

NICKY: (To customs agent) You find any cash in there, we'll whack it up with you.

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, he took care of himself only too well. And that's why every badge back home wanted to nail him.

JENNIFER: (To customs agent) Excuse me, but I folded these things beautifully and I would appreciate a little respect. Jesus Christ!
NICKY: Don't look at me, pal. I gotta live with her.
(We see MARINO waiting for NICKY outside the customs area. Two COPS push past him.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Even after a little vacation, they hassled him at the airport.

COP #1: (To MARINO) Excuse me.

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, Frank Marino was there to meet him, but so were the cops. This time they wanted to pinch him for some diamond burglary in Antwerp.

(Camera dollies in on JENNIFER's beehive.)

JENNIFER: Oh, yes. Will you help me fold these, please?

ACE: (Voice-over) They were ready to blame him for anything, no matter where it happened.

JENNIFER: (To LITTLE NICKY) You go and put your things away.

ACE: (Voice-over) And they were usually right.

(NICKY, JENNIFER and MARINO are gathered around the kitchen table. JENNIFER leans over and starts to shake her hair.)
MARINO: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
NICKY: Hold it, hold it. Here.
(NICKY places a red towel down on the table. JENNIFER leans over again, tugs and shakes her hair until diamonds begin to fall out of her beehive.)

ACE: (Voice-over Because Nicky enjoyed being a gangster, and he didn't give a damn who knew it.

JENNIFER: Come on. There we go. Look at that. Beautiful.
(Diamonds fall on the red towel in slow motion.)

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, that's what worried me, 'cause it turns out Nicky was about to be sent to Vegas.

JENNIFER: All right, we're clear.
NICKY: There's more!
JENNIFER: I think that's it.
NICKY: There's more! There's a couple stuck in there. I know there's more.
JENNIFER: God, I'm telling you, they're out!
NICKY: Come on, damn it. Don't get so defensive. It could be stuck in your hair, you know.
(NICKY grasps JENNIFER's hair.)
JENNIFER: Look, there aren't . . .
(A diamond falls out of her beehive.)
There aren't but -
NICKY: Oh, there aren't? (Showing her the diamond.) What's that? (Slaps her.) Huh? What's that.
(FRANK chuckles.)
There's no more. Thanks, hon. (Kisses her.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) I couldn't wait to get my hands on Vegas. But the bosses didn't send me out there to have a good time.

NICKY: (Voice-over) They sent me out there to make sure that nobody fucked with Ace and . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . nobody interfered with the fuckin' skim.

ACE: (Opening door) Hey.
JENNIFER: Hey, how you doin'? (Kisses ACE.)
NICKY: Hey. Hey, Sammy, how are you?
(JENNIFER and NICKY take in ACE's spectacular Vegas-style penthouse.)
JENNIFER: (Whispering) Wow.
NICKY: Boy, look at this place, huh?
JENNIFER: Incredible.
NICKY: All right.
ACE: Welcome to Vegas.
(Camera tilts up to reveal a sweeping view of the Las Vegas skyline.)
NICKY: Okay, Sammy.
ACE: Somethin', huh?
NICKY: Yeah.
ACE: (Calling her over) Ginger.
(GINGER emerges from the bedroom. NICKY and JENNIFER are both stunned by her beauty.)
NICKY: (To ACE) Holy shit, what've you been doin' out here?
ACE: Honey, come here.
(She walks to them)
This is Jennifer and Nick. They're dear friends of mine.
JENNIFER: (Shaking hands) Good to meet you.
GINGER: Hi, Jennifer.
NICKY: Pleasure. (Grasping GINGER's hand and kissing it.) Very nice to meet you.
GINGER: Hi, how are you?
NICKY: Okay, Sammy.

ACE: (Voice-over) After we ate, we left Jennifer and Ginger alone and we took a ride to talk. And then . . . he hit me with it.

NICKY: What do you think about me movin' out here?
(ACE looks away.)
What's the matter? You got a problem with that?
ACE: No, of course not.
NICKY: (Playfully) You mean, I have your permission?
ACE: Sure, you have my permission. But I - I just gotta tell you it's no joke out here. It's no joke, you know? You gotta keep a low profile. It's not like back home. Right off the bat, they don't like guys like us. And this sheriff's a real cowboy. Even the coppers aren't afraid to bury people out in the desert here.
NICKY: I don't care. I want to get away from back home for a while. I'm tired of that shit back there. (Referring to the Vegas lights.) Look at this place. It's made of money. You know what the best part is? Nobody's gonna know what we're doin'! There's nobody here to see us! Everybody's back home.
ACE: Nick, I gotta tell you, I got pinched twice for no reason. You really gotta be careful. I'm running a licensed place. Everything's legit.
NICKY: Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna do anything. What am I gonna do? I'm especially not gonna involve you in anything.
(ACE gives NICKY a look.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Ace saw Vegas one way.

NICKY: You call this guy and tell him I'm comin'?
MARINO: Of course.
(They walk into the sportsbook, past numerous bar patrons and gamblers to TONY, the bookie at a betting counter.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) But I saw it another. I saw it as untouched. I mean, they had bookies, pimps and drug dealers I could shake down. Who the fuck were they gonna run to? So, I started getting everybody in line. Best of all, for the first time in my life, I figured out a way not to lose.

ACE: (Voice-over) Yeah, he had a fool-proof scheme, all right. It wasn't very scientific but it worked. When he won, he collected. When he lost, he told the bookies to go fuck themselves. What were they gonna do? Muscle Nicky? (Chuckles.) Nicky was the muscle.

(NICKY grabs TONY by the back of his neck.)
NICKY: Tony.
TONY: Hey.
NICKY: How you doin'?
TONY: How you doin'?
NICKY: All right, yeah. You got that thing for me?
TONY: What thing? Oh, Nicky . . . I thought you was layin'.
NICKY: I was layin'? No, no, I'm taking it. I was takin' it.
TONY: You sure?
NICKY: I'm positive.
TONY: Well, I'm a little confused here.
NICKY: You're a little confused?
TONY: Yeah.
NICKY: (Pointing to a window, above a counter with a tiny opening to talk through) Maybe if I stick your fuckin' face through this window over here like, you know, you'll - you'll get unconfused. Give me the fuckin' money!
(TONY takes some money out of his coat pocket.)
TONY: (Groaning) I'm sorry, Nicky. I didn't mean anything by it.
NICKY: Yeah, I know, that's why you had it ready. You thought I was fuckin' layin' it?!
(He smacks the bookie on the head with the wad of money.)
TONY: (Gasps) My fuckin' head.
NICKY: Your fuckin' head, huh? Don't fuck around, Tony.
MARINO (Pointing to TONY) Smarten up.
NICKY: (Walking out) You jag-off.
CLASSROOM NUN: (Off-screen, from following scene) And now . . .

CLASSROOM NUN: . . . Nicholas Santoro will come up and tell us about our first president.
LITTLE NICKY: (Stepping up in front of the class to begin a speech)
George Washington was born in a . . .

ACE: (Voice-over But still, it was nice and quiet for a while. Ginger and I presented Nicky and Jennifer all over town, like regular Ozzie and Harriets.

LITTLE NICKY: . . . typical Virginia farmhouse.

DETECTIVE JOHNSON: (To LITTLE NICKY) Beautiful. You got a beautiful swing.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Ace got my son, little Nicky, involved with Little League, and it was great.

DETECTIVE JOHNSON: Now, I want you to get out there and get me singles and doubles, okay? 'Cause that's what's gonna win this game.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Turned out to be one of the other coaches was a fuckin' . . .

DETECTIVE JOHNSON: Now go out there and show your dad what you can do.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . metro intelligence cop. But it didn't matter. I mean, it was all about the kids, you know.

DETECTIVE JOHNSON: You know, he's gotta realize everything can't be a home run that he does.
NICKY: Yeah, well, that's exactly what I keep tellin' him, but that's the kind of kid he is ever since he's born.
DETECTIVE JOHNSON: It's instinctive, you know.
NICKY: He tries to do everything . . .
(LITTLE NICKY hits the ball, NICKY and DETECTIVE JOHNSON applaud.)
Ohh!

ACE: (Voice-over) And, Nicky being Nicky, he made his presence known.

ACE: (Voice-over) Especially at the casino, where he definitely did not work, people got the message.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Me? That's why the bosses sent me out here. They wanted me to make sure none of the other crews robbed the joint. Like these two fuckin' balloon-heads over here [EDDY and JERRY]. They were gonna try and bang us out of two hundred fuckin' grand?
(Chuckling.) Yeah, right, I'm sure.

JERRY (Shakes NICKY's hand) Hey, Nicky. How are you?
NICKY: Hey, Eddy.
EDDY: Hey, Nicky, how are you? What are you doin' here?
NICKY: I'm over here now.
JERRY/EDDY: (In unison) You're over here?
JERRY: You're over here?
NICY: Yeah, I'm over here with him.
(Swish pan to ACE with SHERBERT off to the side.)
EDDY: Oh.
JERRY: Oh.
EDDY: We're waiting on Carmine.
JERRY: Yeah, we're lookin' for Carmine.
NICKY: Carmine? He was here before. I saw him. He had a suitcase and everything, and then he left.
EDDY: Carmine left?
NICKY: Uh-huh.
JERRY: Carmine left?
EDDY: He's gone?
JERRY: He's not here?
EDDY: Carmine's gone.
NICKY: I think, you know, maybe he went across the street or somewhere else or somethin'. I don't know.
EDDY: Well, listen, uh . . . good luck with the joint, huh?
(Shakes hands with NICKY.)
NICKY: Oh, thanks, Eddy.
JERRY: (Shakes NICKY's hand) Yeah, lots of luck. Lots of luck.
NICKY: Hey, great, Jerry.
(They walk away.)
Good luck to you too.
CREDIT CLERK: (To NICKY from behind the cage) Hey, they forgot to sign their papers.
NICKY: What?
CREDIT CLERK: They forgot to sign their papers.
NICKY: Yeah, they don't need those anymore.
(He looks over to ACE and SHERBERT. NICKY smiles.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Out of respect, guys from other crews got away with a warning.
(ACE taking a drag off his cigarette, nods an 'okay'.)
Everybody else: watch out.

ACE: (Voice-over) Like these yokels here who never heard of Nicky or the bosses back home, 'cause they're the morons who give you the most trouble. Even after we'd catch 'em, they'd try sneakin' back with beards and wigs and fake noses.
(ACE and SHERBERT walk up to watch the WINNER who is playing all six hands at the blackjack table.)
You can spot these assholes by watching the way they bet. Like this guy. He's bettin' lavender chips at five hundred each with only one little problem. He's always guessed right. If he wasn't so fuckin' greedy, he'd have been tougher to spot. But in the end, they're all greedy.
(ACE walks around the WINNER's table, past the crowd, to the pit. Behind him are more blackjack tables, dealers and players. ACE bends down and ties his shoelace.)
I saw that the dealer was weak, but he wasn't in on it.
(The DEALER's hands lift the corner of his hole card a half an inch to determine the casino's hand against the WINNER. The slightly exposed hole card is a six of clubs.)
He just wasn't protecting his hand. He was lifting his hole card way to high.
(On ACE's face then to his POV of the card, past a PIT BOSS, panning to the SIGNALLER at the blackjack table to the right. The SIGNALLER is slumped down in his seat, tossing down some cards and sneaking looks at the DEALER's hand at the WINNER's table.)
Now, here's this guy . . .
(Overhead pan from the SIGNALLER slumped in his seat.)
. . . reading the dealer's hole card . . .
(Pan continues past ACE to reveal the WINNER's table.)
. . . and signalling his buddy [the WINNER] at this table.
(Overhead dolly in on SIGNALLER who appears to be nervously tapping his thigh. We see through his trousers, that he is tapping a copper transmitter with a battery pack attached.
Back at the WINNER's table we see inside his pant leg where a device strapped to his leg is receiving the impulse signal - buzz - buzz - buzz - from the SIGNALLER.)
And that's just what these hustlers look for. They cruise from casino to casino, lookin' for weak dealers the way lions look for weak antelope.
(ACE starts to get up.)

ACE: (Off-screen, from following scene) Operator?

ACE: This is Mr R. Get me Armstrong and Friday over at pit two right away. (He hangs up, and fixes his tie in the mirrored panel above the phone.)
(Overhead view of the SIGNALLER's table. Various security guards slowly begin to gather around it.
ACE, waiting, lights a cigarette. ARMSTRONG joins ACE. They look towards the SIGNALLER's table.)
(To ARMSTRONG) BJ nineteen, second base, the beard [Blackjack table number 19, second position, man with the beard]
(ACE picks up the phone again.) Operator . . . I need Mr Happy, loud.
(On ACE's signal, WAITRESSES, one carrying a cake with a sparkling candle, start singing 'Happy Birthday', attracting the crowd's attention.)
WAITRESSES: (In unison) 'Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Jeff. Happy Birthday to you.'
(Gamblers cheer and applaud.
ACE nods and ARMSTRONG lets a long metal object drop out from under his jacket sleeve and moves in close behind the SIGNALLER, as though looking at the game. He presses the object - a cattle prod - under the SIGNALLER's arm near his heart. The SIGNALLER instantly goes into convulsions, falling to the floor gasping and groaning. Several SECURITY GUARDS grab the SIGNALLER as he falls. ARMSTRONG walks away.)
SECURITY GUARD #1: Man down!
(The WINNER sees what happened to his partner.)
Notify medical! We got a cardiac arrest here!
SECURITY GUARD #2: He's fine, folks. Just give us some room, please!
(ACE watches the scene. The guards lift the stunned SIGNALLER to his feet and help him away from the table. Play is immediately resumed.)
Watch it now.
(The WINNER hurriedly places his chips into racks.)
SECURITY GUARD #1: (Off-screen) Stand back!

ACE: (Voice-over) They never know what hit them. And if and when . . .
(SECURITY GUARDS drag the SIGNALLER out.)
. . . they do find out they just got zapped by a cattle prod . . .
(SHERBERT follows the WINNER as he rushes away.)
. . . they wish they really did have a heart attack.

(ACE exits behind the GUARDS and the SIGNALLER.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Turns out this guy and his fuckin' pals, they were knockin' this place dead for years.

SECURITY GUARD #1: He's got a wire on him.
(The SIGNALLER is roughly shoved into the room. A SECURITY GUARD tears his trousers down revealing the signalling device strapped to his leg.)
SIGNALLER: Hey, hey, what are you doin', man?
SECURITY GUARD #2: (Exposing the device) There it is! On the table!
SECURITY GUARD #1: Cheater's justice!
(The SIGNALLER is slammed down face first on the bench and the two GUARDS spread his arms out on the table.)
SIGNALLER: (In pain) Oh, God! Oh!
(Another GUARD starts up a power saw and approaches the SIGNALLER who is now pinned to the table. He starts to scream.)
Hey, no! No! No!
(ACE walks toward the table, gesturing for the GUARD to turn off the saw.)

ACE: (Voice-over) We had to make an example of these pricks that the party was over.

ACE: (To relieved SIGNALLER) I'm just curious. I saw you shuffling your checks with your right hand. Can you do that with both hands?
SIGNALLER: No.
ACE: Can't do it with both hands?
SIGNALLER: No, Sir.
ACE: Can you do it with your left hand?
SIGNALLER: Well, I . . . I never tried.
ACE: So, you're a righty?
SIGNALLER: Ye-yeah.
(ACE nods to one of the GUARDS. Instantly a large rubber mallet smashes onto the man's right hand four times to the sound of screams. ACE watches.)
ACE: Now, you're gonna have to learn with your left hand.
SIGNALLER: God! (He moans and sits back.)
WINNER: (Off-screen, from following scene) It's a hundred . . .

WINNER: . . . a hundred ten.
CASHIER: Yes, it is.
WINNER: I think.
CASHIER: Yes.
WINNER: Okay.
SHERBERT: Hiya. That's a lot of money to be counting out in public.
WINNER: Yeah.
SHERBERT: (To CASHIER) Why don't I take him over to the office and verify it, huh?
CASHIER: Yes.
SHERBERT: A little privacy. And, by the way, send over a . . . nice bottle of champagne on ice, huh?
CASHIER: Sure will.
SHERBERT: Real special. Somethin' . . . (To WINNER.) By the way . . . I'm Billy Sherbert, your casino manager.
(He shakes hands with the WINNER.)
WINNER: Hi.
SHERBERT: Having a good time?
(SHERBERT leads him away from the cage.)
WINNER: Yes, uh . . .
SHERBERT: You'll want to count the money in privacy. You know, you don't need . . .
WINNER: Uh, I have a plane to catch to Cleveland . . . Can I get my winnings?

SIGNALLER: Look what they did to my hand, man!
ACE: (Walks over to the WINNER) All right, I'm gonna give you a choice. You can either have the money and the hammer or you can walk out of here. You can't have both. What do you want?
(SHERBERT stands next to the WINNER)
WINNER: I just wanna get out of here.
ACE: And don't forget to tell your friends what happens if they fuck around in here. You understand?
WINNER: I'm sorry. I made a bad mistake.
ACE: You're fuckin' right, you made a bad mistake. 'Cause if you come back here - we catch either one of you - we're gonna break your fuckin' heads and you won't walk out of here. You see that fuckin' saw? We're gonna use it. You don't fuck around in this place. You got it?
WINNER: Yeah.
ACE: Get out of here.
WINNER: Thank you.
(The GUARDS usher the WINNER out of the room.)
ACE: (To the GUARDS, referring to the SIGNALLER) Throw him out in the alley. And just tell the cops he got hit by a car.

ACE: (Voice-over) Within no time, everything was set in place. We got rid of the freelance scamsters. The per was way up. The gods were happy, or as happy as the gods can ever be. And I, I decided to complicate my life. For a guy who likes sure things, I was about to bet the rest of my life on a real longshot.

ACE: We're not getting any younger. Don't you think it's time? Aren't you gettin' tired of all this shit? Bangin' around, hustlin' around?
GINGER: What, are you trying to handicap me?
ACE: I'm gonna do you one better. I'm trying to marry you. You want to marry me?
(GINGER looks doubtful.)
I'm serious. I mean, I - I want to settle down. I want a family.
GINGER: (Sighs, laughing) You got the wrong girl, Sam.
ACE: I know I'd be a good father. I know you'd be a good mother.
GINGER: You don't know me. What, you've known me, two, three months. What do you know?
ACE: I'm forty-three years old. I don't want to wait. I know you well enough to know that I really love you very much. And I can't think of anybody better to be with. And I don't feel like waiting anymore.
GINGER: You know a lot of happily married people, Sam? 'Cause I don't.
ACE: Yeah, I know all that.
GINGER: I care about you, a - But I just don't have those kind of feelings for you. I'm sorry. I'm not in love with you.
ACE: (Brushing cigarette ash off his dressing gown) I - I - I . . .
GINGER: Understand? (Pause) I'm sorry.
ACE: No, I - I . . . mean . . . that can grow as I - as long as there's a mutual respect . . . that kind of thing can grow. I'm realistic. I can accept that. But, you know, what is . . . what is love anyway? It's a . . . it's a mutual respect. It's - it's a devotion. It's a . . . it's a caring from one person to another. And if we could set up some kind of foundation . . . based on that mutual respect . . . I feel that eventually you would care enough about me . . . that I could live with that.
GINGER: If it doesn't work out. You know, if it doesn't play out, then what happens to me?
ACE: You know I'm doin' well now. And I'm gonna do even better. And so, whatever happens, if it doesn't work out between us, I'm gonna make sure you're okay for the rest of your life. And if there are kids, especially, you know, I'll take care of you better than you'd ever imagine.
GINGER: (Interrupts) What're you . . . what're you pitching me, here?
ACE: Just what I said. You'll be set up for the rest of your life. That I can promise you. (Pause) Want to take a chance?
(She looks at him. ACE is holding her hand tightly.)

ACE: (Voice-over) When I married Ginger I knew all the stories, but I didn't give a fuck. 'I'm Sam Rothstein,' I said. 'I can change her.'

NICKY: (Voice-over) It was typical Ace. He invited the biggest people in town and he knew they'd show. Because he knew they all wanted somethin' from hom. With Ace, nobody ever got a free ride. Even Ginger. With her -
(We see AMY in the cradle.)
- he still covered his bets. They had too have the baby first, before they got married. Even made Jennie and me watch Amy for a few days when they went on their honeymoon. But I didn't mind, we loved the kid.

(In slow motion camera moves in on ACE and GINGER, standing next to a large wedding cake. They are kissing. NICKY, SHERBERT and other guests look on. Camera moves in closer as they kiss, then past them to the bride and groom figurines on the cake.
LESTER's and GINGER's telephone conversation is heard in voice-over this scene.)
LESTER: (Over telephone) Can you feel my eyes on you? Can you feel me look into your heart? Can you feel me in the pit of your stomach? Can you feel me in you? In your heart?
(We see a wide view of the elaborate wedding, guests mill about the banquet hall.)
Don't make me come there. Answer me.
GINGER: (Over telephone, sobbing) I love you.

LESTER: (Into telephone) Bu-but, baby, do you know that I love you too?
GINGER: (Over telephone) No, Lester.
LESTER: (Into telephone) Do you know that?
GINGER: (Over telephone) Yeah. This is the best thing I can do for my life right now.
LESTER: (Into telephone) That's right.

LESTER: (Over telephone) So, it's gonna be okay, isn't it?
GINGER: (Sobbing, into telephone) Promise?
LESTER: (Over telephone) God . . . I wish you . . .

LESTER: (Into telephone) . . . all the luck in the world.
GINGER: (Over telephone) You do?
LESTER: (Into telephone) Yeah, I do. I mean, it's - it's the - it's the best thing you can do right now. I mean this. And you'll have real security. Sweetheart . . . you're gonna be situated just right in Vegas.

LESTER: (Over telephone) Come on, this is great for us. You know I'm gonna be here for you. I ain't going no place. Huh? I'm lookin' at you right now. I'm seein' you for the very first time, right this minute. I'm seein' you, and I can feel my heart click. I see you fourteen years old. I see you the first second I ever saw you. I see you, long-legged little colt -
(GINGER notices ACE behind her.)
- with stupid braces on your teeth.
> GINGER: (Into telephone, sniffing, trying to cut him off) Okay, then.
LESTER: (Over telephone) Every time I ever see you, that's what I see.
GINGER: (Into telephone) Uh, talk to you later. Bye. (She hangs up the phone quickly.)
ACE: You all right?
GINGER: (Drinking some champagne, wiping away tears) Yeah.
ACE: Why're you crying?
GINGER: (Laughs) I'm not crying. (Sniffs.)
(ACE walks up behind GINGER.)
ACE: Maybe you shouldn't drink so much.
GINGER: I'm okay. I just - (Sniffs) You just have to understand. I've been with Lester since I was a kid. I just wanted to say goodbye. I - I just . . . I don't . . . I think I have a right to do that. Okay?
ACE: It's all right. That part of your life is over with. Right?
GINGER: Yeah.
ACE: You're with me now.
GINGER: Yeah.
ACE: Right?
GINGER: Uh-huh.
ACE: You sure?
GINGER: Yeah. Yeah.
(They are reflected in a mirror behind the telephone.)
ACE: Want to go? Let's go back in.
GINGER: (Sniffs) Okay.
(ACE's hands pick up a white rose and GINGER's gloves from the desk.)

GINGER: Oh . . .
(Through sliding glass doors, we see a patio and a pool area.)
(Sighing) It's great.
(The living-room has exposed white brick along the walls, bronze ostrich figurines, a white baby grand piano, and a zebra print rug surrounded by a few couches.)
Oh, it's great.

GINGER: (Running into the closet) Oh! It's all my stuff. Oh, my God.
(ACE presents her with a long chinchilla coat.)
You brought all my stuff. I can - (She sees the coat.)
ACE: Try it on. It's yours. (He puts it on her.)
GINGER: (Whispering) You're kidding? My God. What is it?
ACE: It's chinchilla.
GINGER: (Looking at herself in the mirror) Oh, it's so soft.
ACE: It's nice isn't it?
GINGER: Oh . . .
(ACE kisses her.)
No one's ever been so nice to me.
(They kiss and embrace.)

GINGER: (Gasps) Oh, my God.

GINGER: So, do you think it's too much if I wear these in the same day?
ACE: You do whatever you want. Do I keep my promises, or do I keep my promises?
(ACE kisses GINGER.)
GINGER: You're so wonderful. The jewelry's not so bad, either.
ACE: The only thing is . . . you shouldn't keep this in the house. We gotta put it in a bank.
GINGER: (Putting on a gold bracelet) Come on. Can I keep this one in the house?
ACE: Now look (gently holding her face, gathering her total attention), pay attention to me. What I'm gonna tell you is very important.
GINGER: Okay.
ACE: All this stuff doesn't mean anything. Money, this, doesn't mean anything without trust. I have to be able to trust you with my life.

ACE: (Voice-over) With over a million in cash and jewels tucked in a bank in Vegas only for Ginger, she was secure and happy.

ACE: (Voice-over) She loved that shit. But a guy in my line of work has to have a lot of pay-off cash around.

ACE: (Voice-over) Crooked cops and kidnappers, they don't take checks.

GINGER: Need a little help with that, Mr Collins?

ACE: (Voice-over) So, I put two million in cash in a Los Angeles bank under the name of Mr and Mrs Tom Collins. This was strictly my shakedown and kidnapping money.
(ACE and GINGER struggle to push the crammed box into a slot in the wall.)
And, since I'd either be in jail or locked in a closet when I needed the money the most . . .
(The BANK PRESIDENT joins them, and he and ACE simultaneously double-lock the outer safe box door with two separate keys, after which, ACE gives GINGER his key.)
. . . I gave Ginger the only key to the cash that could get me back alive.

BANKER: Now this is just a signature card.
ACE: So, once she signs those papers, she'll be the only person to have total access to the box? No one else, including myself?
BANKER: That's right.
(We see GINGER looking at ACE.)
That's the way you wanted it, right?
(ACE nods)
(Quietly.) Sam, let me ask you a question. You must really trust your wife.
ACE: (Quietly) Yeah, sure I do. Why?
BANKER: No, tha-that's good. It's just unusual. To tell you the truth, so many of my clients don't.
ACE: Well . . .
(ACE looks over to GINGER, smiles and winks. She looks back at him.)

ACE: (Voice-over) With Ginger and the money in place, I felt covered, and to play it safe I switched job titles again and made myself, um, Food and Beverage Director. This way nobody would bother me about a license. I mean, Vegas was like a dream for me. Trouble was . . .
(NICKY is seated at another table with MARINO, peeling off money and giving it to MIKE, a crooked dealer.)
. . . Nicky was dreamin' his own kind of Vegas.

NICKY: (Voice-over) To begin, I put money out on the streets, chargin' three points a week. You know - juice to the fuckin' dealers.

MARINO: (To MIKE) Don't make us come lookin' for you.
MIKE: Oh, you won't have to look for me. I appreciate it. Thanks, Nicky.
NICKY: All right, Mike.
(MIKE gets up from the table.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) They were degenerate gamblers, coke freaks. In no time, I had half the dealers in the Tangiers in my pocket. Then . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . the next thing I did, I started bustin' out high-stakes poker players.

ACE: (Voice-over) It was so obvious. I mean, all of Nicky's half-assed mechanics, they were real signal happy.

MOOSH: (Scratching his arm) I'm gonna open for five hundred.
ROCKY: Moosh, you open? (Taps his fingers on some chips before picking them up.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Signalling back and forth.

CARD SHARK: I bet thirty-five hundred.
(NICKY wiggles a toothpick back and forth in his mouth.)
DOCTOR DAN: I've been losing for three days straight, non-stop.
(Another shark pulls on his ear.)
ROCKY: Oh, why're you crying, with three loaves of bread under your arm?
(ACE watches their signals with concern.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Nicky thought nobody was watching him. But he was wrong.
(We see two undercover gaming agents, looking like tourists, sneaking looks at NICKY's table.)
And I didn't want any of those agents near my place.

NICKY: Four aces, Doc. (His hands spread five cards on the table, showing four aces.) What do you got?
DOCTOR DAN: (Getting up in disgust) Jesus Christ. I can't believe it.
(COWBOY, the card shark with the cowboy hat, rakes in a large pot toward his side of the table.)
If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck. I'm out of here, you understand?

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, I wished to God Nicky and his whole crew would just get lost.
(He walks towards NICKY's table.)
What am I gonna do? Go back home and start a war?
(ACE leans down to talk to NICKY.)
I mean, Nicky's a made guy and I'm not. I can't do that.

ACE: (Whispering in NICKY's ear) Be careful. Gaming agents are all over the place.
NICKY: So, I'm lucky. I'm not allowed to get lucky in this place?
ACE: You been lucky all week. They're lookin' to nail ya.
(ACE walks away. NICKY looks over at the gaming agents.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Ace was so fuckin' worried about his casino, he forgot what we were doin' out here in the first place.

NICKY: (Voice-over) A million times I wanted to yell in his fuckin' ear: 'This is Las Vegas! We're supposed to be out here robbin', you dumb fuckin' Heeb.'

ACE: (To SHERBERT, referring to COWBOY) I don't give a shit who he's connected to. Tell him to take his fuckin' feet off the table. What's he think this is, a goddamn sawdust joint?
(SHERBERT approaches COWBOY.)
SHERBERT: Sir, would you mind taking your feet off the table and putting your shoes on, please?
COWBOY: (Sighs) Yeah, I would mind. I'm havin' a bad night.
(COWBOY remains the same with his feet on the table.)
SHERBERT: (Returning to ACE) Fuckin' asshole won't budge.
ACE: Call security.
(ACE approaches COWBOY.)
How are you?
COWBOY: Good. How are you?
ACE: Good. You want to do me a favor? You want to take your feet off the table and put your shoes back on?
COWBOY: Fuck you.
(ACE walks to nearby SECURITY GUARDS.)
ACE: (To GUARDS) I want you to exit this guy off the premises, and I want you to exit him off his feet and use his head to open the fuckin' door.
(Three SECURITY GUARDS approach COWBOY.)
SECURITY GUARD #1: Sir, you're gonna have to leave. You mind accompanying us outside?
COWBOY: Bullshit, I ain't goin' anywhere with you!
SECURITY GUARD #1: Bullshit, you're out of here, cowboy!
(SECURITY GUARD #1 knocks his feet off the table, as GUARDS #2 and #3 lift him off his seat.)
COWBOY: Fuck you! Fuck you!
SECURITY GUARD #1: Yeah?
COWBOY: You know who you're fuckin' with?! Huh? Do you?!
SECURITY GUARD #1: Now move along.
COWBOY: (Screaming at ACE who follows him) You fuckin' faggot! Do you know who you're fuckin' with?
(The GUARDS carry him out and forcefully shove him towards a side exit.)
Leave me alone!
SECURITY GUARD #1: Here we go!
COWBOY: (Grunting) You've gotta be kidding me! (Groans.)
(The GUARDS lift him off his feet and, holding him like a battering ram, smash his head into the door.)

ACE: (Voice-over as COWBOY is thrown out the door) Sure enough, an hour later, I get the call.

NICKY: (Into telephone) Ace, what happened over there? I mean, did you know that guy you threw out was with me?

ACE: (Into telephone) No, I didn't know that. But you know what he did?
NICKY: (Over telephone) No.

ACE: (Over telephone) He insulted Billy. And then I walked over to him politely . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . and he tells me to go fuck myself.
NICKY: (Over telephone) What?
ACE: (Into telephone) Then he called me a faggot.

ACE: (Over telephone) So what do you think I do? I threw that cocksucker out.
NICKY: (Into telephone) What? Ho-
(He puts down the phone; to COWBOY:)
Hey, come here.
(COWBOY walks up to him.)
You called my friend a faggot? You tell him to go fuck himself?
COWBOY: Nicky, I did -
NICKY: Is that what you did?
COWBOY: I did - I didn't -
NICKY: Tell him to go fuck himself? You fuckin' hick! Fuckin' . . .
(NICKY hits him on the head with the phone. COWBOY falls back, groaning.)

NICKY: (Over telephone) . . . you big fuckin' hick, you. Come here. Come here. Get him up. Come here.
(ACE looks at SHERBERT.)
MARINO: (Over telephone) Get up.

NICKY: (To COWBOY) Come here, come here.
MARINO: Get up.
NICKY: You go over there right now and you apologize. You better hope he lets you back in.

NICKY: (Over telephone) If you ever get out of line over there again, I'll smash your fuckin' head so hard . . .

NICKY: (To COWBOY) . . . you won't be able to get that cowboy hat on. You hear me? Fuckin' hick. (Into telephone) Sammy, listen . . .

NICKY: (Over telephone) . . . this guy obviously doesn't know who he was talkin' to, you understand? He doesn't . . .

NICKY: (Into telephone) . . . know that, uh, we're dear friends. I mean, he's already very sorry. But, uh, if you could do me a favor to let him back in, I swear to you he'll never get out of line again. I promise you that.

ACE: (Into telephone) If he does it again, he's out for good. I don't care what it is, Nick, I'm gonna ha- I'll - I'll never let him in the place again.
NICKY: (Over telephone) I'm sorry about this. Really.

NICKY: (Into telephone) All right, Ace?
ACE: (Over telephone) Okay.
NICKY: (Into telephone) Thanks, pal.
(NICKY hangs up the phone and turns to COWBOY.)
You took your boots off? You put your feet on the table . . . you shit-kicking, stinky, horse-manure-smellin' motherfucker you! You fuck me up over there, I'll stick you in a hole in the fuckin' desert! You understand? (Slapping him.) Go over there and apologize. (Kicking the chastened COWBOY away.) Go! Get the fuck out of -
COWBOY: Nicky, I'm sorry.

NICKY: (Voice-over) You know, Ace could be a very touchy guy, especially when he got bigger and bigger in town. Like when he hired that Jonathon and David and their tigers away from the Palace by buildin' them a new stage and then givin' them a silver Rolls Royce.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But I'll tell you, he knew how to bring in the crowds. He knew all the fuckin' angles. He brought over the whole 'Femme Fatale' show from Paris. But he forgot how lazy them European dancin' broads can get. I mean, he had to weigh 'em in once a week to make sure they didn't blow up like fuckin' balloons.

ACE: (To SHOWGIRL) You're still eight pounds over. (To MANAGER.) What's the reason for this?
STAGE MANAGER: Mr Rothstein, sir, let me put her on suspension.
ACE: Never mind the 'sir'. Never mind the 'sir'.
STAGE MANAGER: Well, sir, I was just . . .
ACE: Why is she eight pounds over?
STAGE MANAGER: . . . trying to offer you the respect that your . . .
ACE: I . . .
STAGE MANAGER: . . . position . . .
ACE: 'Mr Rothstein' is good enough.
STAGE MANAGER: Mr Rothstein . . . well, sometimes, when you reach that pressure point, when you put that pressure point on them, you know, it shows . . .
ACE: She could at least lose half a pound or a quarter. Listen . . .
STAGE MANAGER: . . . and she doesn't always -
ACE: . . . all you do is give me answers. Just - just give me the right answer.
STAGE MANAGER: But, sir. Well, I don't know why. I guess, maybe, because she's frightened that if she doesn't lose the weight she may even get fired.
ACE: That's right. She will get fired. In fact, I want you to send her back to Paris.
STAGE MANAGER: It's always been our policy -
ACE: No. Just stop everything.
(SHERBERT and ACE walk away across a huge stage.)
SHERBERT: (To ACE) This woman's an institution.
ACE: I don't care what she is. She's an institution, that's the problem. She's lazy.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Hey, I gotta give the guy credit. He does the most obvious thing. This is the only town in the country where a bookie joint is legit, so, why not take advantage, right? So . . . he took bookie joints off the street and then opened them up inside the casino. Well, within a few years, by doin' all of this, he had every casino on the Strip trying to copy off him.

ACE (Voice-over) Between . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . my innovations . . .
(The man falls to the ground.)
. . . and Nicky's dedication to his job . . .
(NICKY starts kicking him.)
. . . I soon had the best operation on the Strip.
(NICKY lifts an empty trash can and shatters the car's windshield.)

ACE: You better watch yourself. There's a lot of heat on you already.
NICKY: Why, somebody's complaining?
ACE: I'm - I'm hearin' things from security. They're all ex-cops. The Sheriff's lookin' to bust your balls. They want to put you in the Black Book.
NICKY: That Black Book is a bunch of bullshit. They got two names in there for the whole country and one of them is still Al Capone.
ACE: Bullshit or no bullshit, they put you in that book, you're gonna be in a lot of trouble. You will not be able to walk into the casino. I'm tellin' you.
NICKY: What am I doin' out here? I'm tryin' to make a livin', that's all.
ACE: I'm just tellin' you. Don't say I didn't warn you.
NICKY: All right.

PHOTOGRAPHER #1: Mrs Rothstein, look straight ahead. Very nice. Thank you.
PHOTOGRAPHER #2: Thank you.
PHOTOGRAPHER #1: Yes, nice smile.
PHOTOGRAPHER #3: Just look right at the camera. Hold that pose.
(We hear GREEN making a speech over flashing cameras and freeze frames of himself, SHERBERT, ACE and GINGER.)
GREEN: (Off-screen) Considering all of his hard work and dedication and the new lifeblood he has instilled in Las Vegas . . .
(We now see GREEN at a mike speaking in front of the seated club members.)
Sam has established himself as an indispensable member of the gaming community. As the head of the Tangiers Gaming Corporation, it's my pleasure to welcome Sam Rothstein to the Vegas Valley Country Club.
(Members cheer and applaud as GREEN hands ACE a framed citation. It reads: 'This Certificate of Appreciation. Sam Rothstein. Charitable Foundations of Greater Las Vegas'. They shake hands for the photgraphers.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Back home, they would have put me in jail for what I'm doing. But out here, they're givin' me awards.

ACE: (Into the microphone) It's with great pleasure that I accet this certificate of appreciation from the . . .
(Camera tilts up to a mounted plaque on the wall, reading: 'Charitable Foundations of Greater Las Vegas'.)

COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #1: Congratulations, sweetheart.
GINGER: Thank you.
COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #2: Sam raised more than we've ever raised before.
GINGER: He worked so hard.

ACE: (Voice-over) But my greatest pleasure was watchin' my wife, Ginger, work the room.

COUNRY-CLUB MAN #1: Thank you for everything.

ACE: (Voice-over) They all loved her. How could you not live her?

GINGER: (To COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #3) Hi. Nice to see you.

ACE: (Voice-over) She could be the most charming woman you ever saw. People loved to be around her.

COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #3: Listen, you've got to bring Amy to Sasha's birthday party because he'd love to have her there.
GINGER: Thanks.
COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #3: We'll see you three o'clock Saturday.
GINGER: Thanks. Yes, all right.
COUNTRY-CLUB WOMAN #3: Great.

ACE: (Voice-over) She made everybody feel good.

(GINGER joins ACE. He smiles proudly.)

EXECUTIVE: Congratulations, Sam.
ACE: (Shaking his hand) Oh, thanks.
(The flirting EXECUTIVE looks at GINGER.)
EXECUTIVE: Hello, Mrs Rothstein.
GINGER: Hi.
EXECUTIVE: How are you?
GINGER: Oh.
(GINGER gives the flirting EXECUTIVE her hand, he kisses it.)
EXECUTIVE: You're one of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen. You're a lucky man Mr Rothstein.
(ACE watches as GINGER flashes one of her dazzling smiles, but he's not sure whether she's flirting. He looks at the young man and back at his wife.)
ACE: Thank you. Thanks for that compliment.

ACE: (Voice-over) He was a young kid from the casino . . . nice kid . . . bright boy. What balls on this fuckin' kid! The next day I fired him.

(Freeze frame on ACE smiling at GINGER.)

GINGER: (To AMY) Hey, do you want to see this one? Daddy gave me all this jewelry because he loves me so much. (She places a gold bracelet on AMY's hand.) Put your arm in there.

ACE: (Voice-over) But as much as they loved her . . .

GINGER: (To AMY, wearing the bracelet) Oh, fabulous.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . they didn't know what really moved her.

(She holds up a necklace to the light.)
GINGER: Look at this. Look at this.
(Camera pulls away from the door leading to the viewing room revealing a bank manager seated at a desk. We hear GINGER and AMY behind the door.)
(Off-screen, from the viewing room) Daddy gave me this pin when we were dating.

ACE: (Voice-over)And with Ginger happy, I was able to concentrate on what I knew best.

WARD: Loose machines are right back over there.
ACE: What are they doin' way back there? Bring 'em up here where they belong. You can't even see 'em over there.
WARD: Okay, I'll -
ACE: What about the progressives with the high jackpots? Where are they? These machines are hidden.
WARD: Well . . .
ACE: These are our best machines. They bring all the action. No wonder the drop is off.
WARD: Yeah, okay.
ACE: The action is in the front, not in the back. Bring 'em up front.
WARD: All right, I will, I will.
ACE: Listen to me very carefully. There are three ways of doing things around here. The right way, the wrong way, and the way I do it. You understand?
WARD: I do understand that. I'll get right on it. And thank you.
ACE: Don't thank me, just do it. You're the Slots Manager. I shouldn't have to tell you this.
WARD: Dang, you are right, Mr Rothstein, I am so sorry.

ACE: (Voice-over) So, I ended up workin' what? Eighteen-hour days? Ginger was the one who wound up enjoying the best of Vegas.

MAITRE D': (To JENNIFER) Come with me, please. I have a better table for you. Sorry.
(He shows the two of them to the best table in the place.)
JENNIFER: (Sitting down next to GINGER) So, what'd you say to that fuckin' jerk anyway?
GINGER: (Smiling) I told him I was Mrs Sam Rothstein.
JENNIFER: (Chuckles) Well, you might as well get somethin' out of it.
(GINGER lights a cigarette.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Well, it wasn't long before what I was afraid was gonna happen, happened. Nicky managed to get himself banned from every casino in Las Vegas, and from then on, I couldn't be seen talkin' to him anywhere in Vegas, or even near it.

NICKY: (From inside the diner) What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

NICKY: (Reading from a document) '. . . detrimental to gaming. And he will be ejected from any casino in Las Vegas . . . and the casinos can be fined as much as a hundred thousand every time he shows up.' (He waves the document.) Do you believe this shit?
ACE: (Smoking a cigarette) Yeah, I believe it. You got banned.
(NICKY hisses.)
NICKY: (Reading) 'Who is of notorious and unsavory reputation . . .' (He angrily wads the document and tosses it across the table.) Motherfucker. Unsavory fuckin' . . . Is there any way around this?
ACE: Nope, there's no way.
NICKY: Let's say . . . for instance . . . I want to go in the restaurant which happens to be in the casino . . . to get one of those sandwiches I like?
ACE: Forget it. You can't even set foot in the parking lot. That's how serious it is.
NICKY: In other words, I'm fucked.
ACE: In so many words, yes.

ACE: (Voice-over) It just didn't sink into his head about the Black Book and what it meant. Not being able to go into a casino is just one thing, but being in this book etched your name into the brains of every cop and FBI agent in the state. I mean, you're listed in there with Al Capone. But Nicky didn't care.

NICKY: I gotta do somethin'. I gotta do somethin'. They ain't gettin' rid of me. They're not gettin' rid of me. I'm staying here. Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em.

NICKY: (Voice-over) So, once they pulled that shit, I started doin' my own things in Vegas nobody ever thought of doin'. To keep an eye on things, I brought in my kid brother Dominick . . . and some desperados from back home and started knockin' over high rollers, casino bosses, bookmakers, anybody, right here in town. I had a good fuckin' crew goin' for me, I'll tell you that.
(SAL FUSCO, JACK HARDY and BERNIE BLUE are getting out of a car and walking into the jewelry store which is designed to replicate an old-fashioned Western town with peaked roofs, wooden planked sidewalks and hitching posts. The camera tracks by each man as they're introduced.)
I had Sal Fusco, a great second-story guy. Jack Hardy, he worked for a safe company after he did a six-year bit. And then there was Bernie Blue. This guy could bypass any alarm for me. And I opened up my own jewelry store, too: 'The Gold Rush'.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Sometimes I used to go along on a heist just for the fun of it. But I didn't like the people I was rippin' off lookin' at me, so I used to turn their fuckin' pictures around.

NICKY: (To MARINO and HARDY) What's takin' so long over there?
MARINO: This peter's a motherfucker.
HARDY: (Grunting) It's workin'. Just keep workin' it. It's comin'.
NICKY: Gotta learn how to open these fuckin' things so you won't have to take 'em.

NICKY: Frankie, some of these stones got a lot of niggers in 'em.
(Zoom in tight on a diamond.)
Tell that fuckin' Pepe if he's switching stones on us, he'd better take a fuckin' camel -
(Phone rings.)
- back to (picking up phone) Nigeeria. (Into telephone) Yeah.
HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: (Over telephone) Listen . . .

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: (Talking quietly into telephone) . . . they're in Penthouse K.

NICKY: (Into telephone) They check in alone?

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: (Into telephone) They checked in alone.

NICKY: (Into telephone) Are they out now?

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: (Into telephone) Yes, don't worry.
NICKY: (Over telephone) All right.

NICKY: (Into telephone) Thanks. (He hangs up.)

ACE: (Voice-over) He had tipsters . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . all over town. Bellmen.

BELLMAN: (Into telephone) This one looks good. But you got to hurry.
MARINO: (Over telephone) Yeah . . .

MARINO: (Into telephone) . . . yeah, okay. (He hangs up.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Valet parkers.

VALET PARKER: (Into telephone) They're just checking in now.

FUSCO: (Into telephone, seated on a couch) Okay, I'll tell him.

ACE: (Voice-over) Pit bosses.

PIT BOSS: (Into telephone) Yeah, room twelve-thirty, at the Sirocco.

MARINO: (Into telephone) Twelve-thirty, right.

ACE: (Voice-over) Secretaries.

SECRETARY: (Into telephone) It's all in mint condition coins.

HARDY: (Into telephone) Mint condition. All right.

ACE: (Voice-over) And they all . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . got a piece of the score.

HARDY: (From inside the van, into a walkie-talkie) Car's comin'.
(We move past the van to a larger truck parked in an alley. Unseen, the truck has an open side door abutting the jewelry store's wall. SAL FUSCO and BERNIE BLUE are inside the truck drilling into the wall using a heavy-duty battery-powered drill. The drill is muffled with sheets of insulation material.)

ACE: (Voice-over) They were always very careful. And they always bypassed the alarms, or else . . . if not, they'd drill enough holes to knock through the walls with a sledgehammer..

(BLUE widens the hole with a hammer muffled with insulation.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Nobody out there was expecting a guy like him.

ACE: (Voice-over) For Nicky, Las Vegas was the fuckin' Wild West.

STORE OWNER: (Leading a detective to his showroom) I just got a shipment of diamonds from Israel . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) But what the fuck they expect from me? I had to earn, didn't I?

IRANIAN #1: You know, this diamond has flaws in it.
MARINO:No, no, there's no flaws in it.
IRANIAN #2: Don't tell me. I'm doing this for twenty-five years.
MARINO: You better clean your fuckin' loupe. 'Cause there's no flaws in these diamonds.
(The two IRANIANS speak to each other in Farsi.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Whenever we got local merch, we'd usually send it to Palm Spring or Arizona . . . LA. I had a couple of sand niggers out there. You know, Arabs.

MARINO: What, are you gonna have a fuckin' meeting here, or are you gonna buy some diamonds?
IRANIAN #2: (Chuckling) No, no. I know his language. I'm talking with him.
MARINO: Forty thousand dollars, you can buy the whole package.
IRANIAN #1: Twenty thousand, and that's my final offer and . . .
MARINO: (To IRANIAN #2) All of a sudden he talks English, now. (To IRANIAN #1.) Let's talk turkey here, how 'bout twenty-five thousand?
(IRANIAN #1 laughs.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) I actually turned my bedroom into a bank vault where I kept the choice stuff.

MARINO: (Referring to JENNIFER as they pass the kitchen) She asleep?
NICKY: Every night, on the couch.

NICKY: (Voice-over) I couldn't leave it at the Gold Rush in case we got raided by the cops . . . or if my crew got cute.
(Opening the metal door to his bedroom.) I had the only key.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Jennifer didn't give a fuck. She used to fall asleep on the couch watchin' television every night. This stuff was all mine. I didn't send any of this back home.
(NICKY opens the closet door. He and MARINO walk in and bend down to lift up a small square of carpet to reveal a floor safe.)
Actually, I couldn't because I wasn't even supposed to be doin' it. The bosses were makin' so much fuckin' money with the casinos (unlocking the safe) that they didn't want anybody makin' any waves for them.

(In the floor safe, there are several handguns and silencers.
FRANK hands NICKY a roll of money.)
NICKY: Give all the guys in your crew a piece of that?
MARINO: I took care of everybody.
NICKY: Yeah? (He searches MARINO's jacket.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) That's why there was no real organized street stuff in Vegas before I came here.

(NICKY throws the cash in the safe and closes the lid.)

CHARLIE CLARK: Yeah, that works out.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But how much cash could I bury in my closet, right?

CHARLIE CLARK: You need to understand, and I - I'm sure you do . . . that in a venture of this kind, you have to be prepared to take some kind of loss.
NICKY: Oh, listen, I understand that there's always a risk . . . you know, I might have to take a loss somewhere.

NICKY: (Voice-over) So I put some of the money into legitimate deals with Charlie Clark. He was Ace's banker.

NICKY: I mean, you will try to push it through, won't you, Mr Clark?
CHARLIE CLARK: Yes.
NICKY: Well, you gotta understand, I'm giving you fifty thousand cash.
(CHARLIE CLARK chuckles)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Then I put some more of the money . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . in some legitimate places, like my restaurant.

DOMINICK: (To COOK preparing sandwich) Is that the last one?
COOK: Yeah.
(He hands the sandwich to DOMINICK who spits in it.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) I had my kid brother, Dominick, run it for me.

DOMINICK: (Spits) Fuckers!
(DOMINICK wraps it in plastic and puts it into a brown paper bag.)

DOMINICK: Here you go, guys.
COP #1: All right. Thanks, a lot.
DOMINICK: Yeah . . . yeah, enjoy.
COP #2: Yeah.
(He shakes COP #2's hand before heading back into the restaurant.)
DOMINICK: Have a good time. (Muttering to himself.) Choke on it, ya motherfucker!
MAN #1: (Passing DOMINICK on his way out) Hey, Dom.
DOMINICK: Hey, how you doin'?
(DOMINICK walks over to some patrons in the bar area. NICKY enters, kissing his brother.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Yeah, Nicky loved restaurants. He was a real restaurant buff. And over the years, he always made money with them.

NICKY: (Looking at one of the patrons) Hey, Rich.
(The camera follows NICKY around the restaurant past Las Vegas types - dealers, lounge acts, showgirls, TV and movie celebrities, waitresses and barmen - who use the jammed place as their hangout.)

ACE: (Voice-over) In Vegas, he had The Leaning Tower. It was a very popular spot. He had politicians, showgirls and movies stars hangin' out all over the place.

(NICKY walks up to STEVE ALLEN and JAYNE MEADOWS seated at a table, he whistles their theme tune as he approaches from behind.)
NICKY: Listen, that show over at the Flamingo gets better and better.
STEVE ALLEN: By the way, Sammy said whenever you have a minute, give him a call.
NICKY: Made a messenger out of you too, huh?
STEVE ALLEN: (Laughs) I'll do anything for a buck.
NICKY: He does it. He does it to everybody. Enjoy your dinner.
JAYNE MEADOWS: (Chuckles) Thanks.
STEVE ALLEN: Okay, thanks.

ACE: (Voice-over) But I gotta tell you, the thing Nicky liked the most was the showgirls, naturally. I mean, to them, Nicky was the movie star.

(NICKY walks across the room to MARINO and two showgirls, SHELLY and STACY.)
NICKY: (To MARINO) You walk past me?
MARINO: Hey. This is Shelly.
NICKY: Hey, Shelly. (Kisses her hand.)
SHELLY: Hi.
NICKY: How are you? Nice to meet you.
MARINO: (Pointing to STACY) And this is Stacy.
NICKY: Stacy. (Kisses her hand.)
MARINO: (To the SHOWGIRLS) This is Nick.
NICKY: Pleasure.
STACY: Hi, Nick.
MARINO: We're gonna have dinner. Come on.
NICKY: All right, uh, (To SHELLY) let's just check the kitchen first. Excuse us one second. Come on, I'll show you.
(He takes SHELLY's hand and leads her out.)
(Voice-over from following scene) 'Cause I fly stuff in fresh every day.

NICKY: I get bread from back home. I get fish from California. And you can always tell a great kitchen like ours because of the milk-fed veal. That's the secret.
(Opening the car door from the passenger's side, she gets in.)
See, milk-fed veal is pure white. Out here, they got that pink veal. Slide over, honey.
(She slides over, he gets into the passenger's seat and closes the door.)
Now, pink veal, you can pound that shit for two days and it'll never get tender, you know what I mean?
(SHELLY's head disappears into NICKY's lap.)

AL: When I left here with the money . . .
NICKY: Mm.
AL: . . . I got muscled on the street.
NICKY: Mm.
AL: A couple of guys, I owe them. So, that's what I did. I gave 'em the money. That's what I did.
NICKY: Yeah?
AL: Yeah.
NICKY: You call yourself a man? You know you're a lyin', low-life, motherfuckin' gambling degenerate prick? You know that's what you are? Two small kids at home. I gave you money to pay the fuckin' rent and buy groceries, put the heat on. You know your wife called Frankie and told him the fuckin' heat's off?
(AL glances over to MARINO.)
Huh? And you didn't gamble that fuckin' money? You're gonna stand here and tell me that?
(He shakes his head 'no'.)
No, no? You didn't?
AL: I didn't give 'em the m-
NICKY: Don't fuck with me, Al! Don't make a fuck out of me! You want to embarrass me and make a fool out of me?! You didn't gamble?! Tell me you gambled the fuckin' money, I'll give you the fuckin' money to put the fuckin' heat on! Did you gamble?! Huh?!
(The chastised gambler nods 'yes', bowing his head in shame.)
Fuckin' degenerate, you.
(NICKY takes some money from his coat pocket and starts counting out some bills.)
Fuckin' kids at home! Here. (Giving him the money.) Get the fuck out of here.
AL: Thanks, Nick.
NICKY: Yeah, thanks.
(AL walks out.)
Let me find out you fucked up, I'll leave you wherever I find you.

NICKY: (To LITTLE NICKY) How many of these you gonna eat, huh?
LITTLE NICKY: Two.
NICKY: Two?

ACE: (Voice-over) But around six-thirty in the morning when he finished his day -
(NICKY hugs and kisses his son.)
- no matter where he was or what he was doing, he always went home to make breakfast for his son, Nicky-Boy.

NICKY: (Pouring some syrup on his son's pancakes) Here, let's put a little of this on for you. I know you like this. A little butter, right, not a lot?
LITTLE NICKY: Mm-hm.
NICKY: You know why, right?
LITTLE NICKY: Yeah.
NICKY: Why?
LITTLE NICKY: 'Cause it clogs up your heart.
NICKY: What a smart kid you are! (Kisses him.) Okay, eat.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Every couple of weeks I used to send Marino back to the bosses with a piece of what I made.

TITLE IN: 'BACK HOME'

(MARINO walks out of the office and through the garage.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) Not a big piece, but fuck them, what did they know? They were fifteen hundred miles away . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . and I don't know anybody who can see that far. Their drop was a truck stop/garage where . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . Remo and the guys used to hang out and count their millions.

MARINO: Remo (He bends down and kisses him.)
GAGGI: Hey, Frankie.
MARINO: How are you?
GAGGI: Fine, fine.

NICKY: (Voice-over) I mean, the cops knew, but they didn't give a fuck. I mean, you know, they all worked it out together.

MARINO: Nicky sends his warmest regards.
(MARINO unzips a small sack and hands GAGGI a thick stack of cash. GAGGI inspects it before handing it over to one of his men.)
GAGGI: Uh-huh. Good.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But I knew how to keep the bosses happy. Whenever they gave me little jobs to do, you know, to send a message, I would carry things out . . .

GAGGI: And how are things going down there?
MARINO: Fine. Everything's goin' good.

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . to a tee. Like the time Tony Dogs . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . who was supposed to be the new maniac tough guy in town, shot up one of Remo's bars. Here's a fuckin' guy, kills two of Remo's guys and a poor fuckin' waitress, who was just workin' on her night off, of all things.
(Slow motion on TONY DOGS.)
I mean, this guy's just beggin' to be made an example of.

(The men and the waitress lie dead on the floor. The bar is left in shambles.)
GAGGI: (Voice-over, from his office) Frankie . . .

GAGGI: . . . I want all the names of all the other people he had with him. And I don't care what you have to do to him to get 'em. You understand?
MARINO: I'll take care of it, Remo.
GAGGI: E mo va! [Italian-American slang for 'Now, go!']

NICKY: (Voice-over) To be truthful with you, I had to admire this fuckin' guy. He was one of the toughest Irishmen I ever met.

NICKY: This fuckin' guy, he got some stamina, don't he?

NICKY: (Voice-over) This son-of-a-bitch was tough.

NICKY: Personally, I don't give a fuck who was with him anyway. As long as he gives me a name I could give to them.

NICKY: (Voice-over) For two days and two fuckin' nights, we beat the shit out of this guy. I mean, we even stuck ice-picks in his balls.

NICKY: You better hope he gives me a fuckin' name soon, or I'm gonna give him yours, Frank.
(MARINO and BLUE lay DOGS on the table and put his head in a vise. They're exhausted from beating him.)
MARINO: (To NICKY) Yeah, thanks a lot.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But he never talked.

NICKY: (To MARINO) I know you would have ratted by now.

NICKY: (Voice-over) In the end, I had to put his fuckin' head in a vise.

NICKY: Dogs. Dogs, can your hear me, Dogs?
(DOGS gasps and mumbles.)
Listen to me, Anthony. I got your head in a fuckin' vise. I'm gonna squash your fuckin' head like a grapefruit if you don't give me a name. Don't make me have to do this, please. Come on. Don't make me be a bad guy. Come on.
TONY DOGS: (With what strength he as left) Fuck you!
NICKY: (To MARINO and BLUE) This motherfucker, do you believe this? Two fuckin' days and nights! (To DOGS.) Fuck me?
(NICKY begins to tighten the vise.)
Fuck me, you motherfucker? (Turning the vise.) Fuck my mother? That's what you fuckin' tell me?
(NICKY angrily keeps spinning the vise handle until suddenly one of DOGS's eyes bulges out of the socket.)
Huh? You motherfucker, you, huh?
(MARINO and BLUE are horrified by the sight. Everybody freezes.)
Oh, God! Give me the fuckin' name!
TONY DOGS: Ch-Charlie M!
NICKY: Charlie M?
TONY DOGS: (Blood streaming out of his mouth) Charlie M.
NICKY: (Screaming) Charlie M? You make me pop your fuckin' eye out of your head to protect that piece of shit? Charlie M? You dumb motherfucker!
TONY DOGS: (Pleading) Kill me, you fuck, kill me.
NICKY: Kill you, (unwinds the crank) you motherfucker you! (To MARINO.) Frankie, do him a fuckin' favor.

ACE: (Voice-over) The word got around that finally . . .
(MARINO places a knife against DOGS's neck.)
. . . there was a real gangster in town. Nicky was the new boss of Las Vegas.

(We hear DOGS gasp as the knife slices his throat.)
NICKY: Charlie M!

ACE: Four reels, sevens across, three fifteen-thousand-dollar jackpots? Do you have any idea what the odds are?
WARD: Shoot, it's gotta be in the millions, maybe more.
ACE: Three fuckin' jackpots in twenty minutes? Why didn't you pull the machines? Why didn't you call me?
WARD: Well, it happened so quick. Three guys won. I didn't have a chance to call you.
ACE: You didn't see the scam? You didn't see what was goin' on?
WARD: Well, there's no way to determine that, Sam.
ACE: Yes, there is. An infallible way! They won!
WARD: Well, it's a casino. People gotta win sometimes.
ACE: Hey . . . Ward, you're pissin' me off. Now, you're insulting my intelligence. What do you think, I'm a fuckin' idiot? You know goddamn well somebody had to get into those machines and set those fuckin' reels.
(SHERBERT enters, stands next to ACE.)
The probability on one-four-reel machine is a million and a half to one. On three machines in a row, it's in the billions. It cannot happen . . . would not happen, you fuckin' momo! What's the matter with you! Didn't you see you were bein' set up on the second win?
WARD: I really think you're -
ACE: (Interrupts) You - Wait! You didn't see that you were being set up on the second win?
WARD: I really think you're overreacting in this whole -
ACE: (Interrupts) Listen, you fuckin' yokel, I've had it with you. I've been carryin' your ass in this place ever since I got here. Get your ass and get your things and get out of here.
WARD: You're firin' me?
ACE: I'm firin' you? No, I'm not firin' (mocking WARD), I'm firin' you, you - (Gives SHERBERT a look.)
WARD: You might regret this, Mr Rothstein.
ACE: I'll regret it even more if I keep you on.
WARD: This is not the way to treat people.
ACE: Listen, if you didn't know you're bein' scammed, you're too fuckin' dumb to keep this job. If you did know, you were in on it. Either way, you're out! Get out! Go on. (To SHERBERT.) Let's go.
(ACE and SHERBERT walk off, WARD turns to leave.)

ACE: I mean, the guy is history as far as I'm concerned. History.
GREEN: But you can't just fire him. Webb's his brother-in-law. He's County Commissioner.
ACE: So what? Everybody out here with cowboy boots is a fuckin' county commissioner or related to a county commissioner. I'm fuckin' sick of it.
GREEN: This is his state. His uncle's Chief Judge. His brother-in-law runs the County Commission. I don't know how many other relatives he's got in town. There's gotta be a way to work him back in.
ACE: Phil, I can understand. You're in the finances, you're upstairs, but you are not on the floor. I got thousands of players. I got five hundred dealers. They're all lookin' to rob me blind, twenty-four hours a day. I have to let them know I'm watching all the details, all the time; that there is not one single thing I will not catch as I am over here.
(Breaks open his blueberry muffin, puts it down and points to Green's.) Look at yours.
GREEN: What?
ACE: Look at that. Look at this. There's nothin' . . . look how many blueberries your muffin has and how many mine has. Yours is falling apart. I have nothing.
GREEN: What are you talking about?
ACE: It's like everything else in this place. You don't do it yourself, it never gets done.
(GREEN follows ACE to the kitchen.)
GREEN: Where you goin'?

ACE: (Handing the BAKER the two muffins) From now on I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin. An equal amount of blueberries in each muffin.
BAKER: You know how long that's going to take?
ACE: I don't care how long it takes. Put an equal amount in each muffin.
(ACE leaves, GREEN looks on in amazement as the BAKER holds the muffins. GREEN follows ACE out.)

ACE: Come on, honey, just a little. That a girl, that a girl. Oh, boy, look.
(GINGER enters and goes to the sink.)
(To AMY, who is sobbing and mumbling) Okay, want to go with Mommy?
GINGER: (Picking her up) Hey there. Want to come to Mommy? It's all right, sweetheart. (To ACE) I need to talk to you. I need some money.
ACE: What do you need?
GINGER: (Giving AMY to the NANNY) You get her? Okay. (To ACE.) Well, I need a lot. I need more than usual.
ACE: Well, why don't you take it out of your account? There's a lot there.
GINGER: Well, I would, you know, Sam. It's just that . . . well, I need more than that. I need twenty-five thousand.
(She sits down at the table next to him.)
ACE: Twenty-five thousand? For yourself?
GINGER: (Picking up an empty carton of milk) Yeah.
ACE: Why do you need that much?
GINGER: Well, what's the difference? I just need it.
ACE: Well, I mean . . . you know, I gotta ask you. That's a lot of money. You're not asking for a box of popcorn, you know. I mean . . .
GINGER: I'm aware of that. We don't have to turn this into a big deal. (Getting up to the refrigerator.) Okay? We don't have to have a fight. It was important to me. But forget it. Just something I wanted to do for myself.
ACE: Who's fighting? I mean, I'm, you know, tell me what it's for.
(GINGER, annoyed, closes the refrigerator door.)
Why can't you tell me what it's for?
(She stirs her coffee.)
Huh? (Pause) Well, you know what? Now, I want you to tell me. I mean, my wife comes to me and asks me for twenty-five thousand. I mean, what do you want? Do you want a coat?
GINGER: No.
ACE: Well, if you want a coat, you got it. You know that. It's not the money, it's just why do you want it? That's all I'm askin'. Am I not entitled to that?
GINGER: Look - Sam, I've been independent my whole life. I never had to ask anybody for anything. Now you're making me beg you for this.
ACE: What are you talkin' a- ?
GINGER: (Interrupting) Okay? And you're embarrassing me. Why do want to make me feel so bad?
ACE: You're askin' me for twenty-five thousand. I'm not out to make you feel bad. I want to just be able to trust you. You now, it's about trust. I have to be able to trust you with my life. Do you understand? Can I trust you? (She doesn't answer.) Can I trust you? . . . Can I trust you? . . . Answer me. Can I trust you?
GINGER: (Quietly) You can trust me.
ACE: Good, so then you could tell me what the money is for.
(GINGER gives him a look and leaves.)

NICKY: (Into telephone) Yeah, she's leavin' the bank now. All right, I'm gonna follow her. (He hangs up.)

LESTER: What does that mean? No, I know that look. What does that mean?
GINGER: It means I got the money.
LESTER: You got money. That's a - That's a good look.
(Swish pan to ACE entering, followed by a HOOD. He sits down at the booth with LESTER and GINGER.)
ACE: How you doin', Les? It's Lester, right? Sam.
(Extends his hand to LESTER, who shakes it.)
From my recollection, aren't you the card shark . . . the golf hustler . . . the pimp from Beverly Hills?
(LESTER gives GINGER a 'how did you fuck this up?' look.)
If I'm wrong, please correct me, 'cause I never knew you to be a heist man.
(LESTER sighs.)
But if you are, you know what . . . here, take mine too.
(ACE takes some money out of his coat and puts the thick wad of bills on the table.)
Go ahead, take it. 'Cause you already have hers.
(LESTER turns and sees two HOODS standing by the front and back doors of the diner.)
She's my wife. (To LESTER.) Look at me. You did know that, didn't you? You knew that she's my wife? Huh? Hey, look at me.
LESTER: Yesh, yeah. I know that.
ACE: You do? Yeah? Well, if you ever come back again . . . ever . . . to take her money . . . next time bring a pistol. That way you got a chance. Be a man, don't be a fuckin' pimp. Now, you want to do me a favor? Get out of here. I want to be alone with my wife. Get the fuck up and get out of here.
(After stammering for a moment, LESTER gets up and begins to move towards the back door.)
LESTER: (Quietly) Okay.
ACE: You fuckin' piece of shit.
LESTER: Hey, that's just fuckin' - That's bullshit. You know, you know, what the fuck?
(The thugs follow him out of the back door. GINGER freezes.)
ACE: You remember when you called him that night? When you said goodbye to him? He didn't say, 'Don't get married, I'll be right down, we'll get married.' He didn't say that to you, did he?
GINGER: (Whispering) No, he didn't.
ACE: (Picks up the money) Didn't. No, instead, what did he say? 'Fuck him. Take him for everything he's got.'
(ACE takes GINGER by the arm to the rear of the diner where they can see the parking area through a glass door.)
Come here, I want to show you somethin'.

HOOD #1: You fuckin' shit.
GINGER: No! No! No! Don't!
(ACE restrains her.
The HOODS punch LESTER in the face and stomach.)
Make them stop it! (Sobbing.) No! No! No! It's not his fault! It's my fault!
(NICKY watches from a car in a parking lot across the street, out of GINGER's sight.
ACE forces GINGER into the car as the HOODS finish the beating.)
GINGER: (Sobbing) No! No!
(The HOODS toss LESTER into his car.)
LESTER: (Falling into the front seat on his back) Fuck!
(NICKY watches as the HOODS walk away from LESTER's car.)
LESTER: Fuck you!
HOOD #2: You piece of shit.
(ACE pulls out of the parking lot with a wailing GINGER.
LESTER groans, trying to sit up.)
LESTER: (As ACE and GINGER drive off down the street) Couldn't do it yourself, you chickenshit cocksucker!

GINGER: (Throwing the iron on the counter) He's such a prick. He had some guy from the hotel beat him up. He didn't want to do it himself. Oh, no, he didn't want to get his own hands dirty. (She takes a pill with a drink.) So, why'd he have to do that, huh? (She walks towards NICKY, who is sitting on a couch across the room.) Tell me.
NICKY: I know it wasn't a nice thing to do but -
GINGER: (Interrupts) Yeah, no shit. (She sits down next to NICKY.)
NICKY: Well, you gotta understand it. He doesn't know if this guy is shaking you down or taking advantage of you.
GINGER: No! No! I told him all about the guy before we ever got married. This is no fuckin' surprise.
NICKY: Oh, you did? I didn't know that.
GINGER: Yeah. He's just a friend of mine I was trying to help, so . . . so what?
NICKY: You know . . . the first time I ever saw your guys together . . . I never saw him so happy. I mean, I know he's a crazy Jew fuck and everything, but . . .
(She smiles.)
I never see - You know, I never seen him act like that with anybody else. I think he's crazy about you. I mean, he really loves you. He does.
GINGER: Oh, come on. I went into this with my eyes open, you know. I knew the bottom could drop out at any time. I'm a working girl, right? You don't think I'm gonna go into a situation like this if I don't think I'm gonna get covered on the back end.
NICKY: Sure.
GINGER: Am I right?
NICKY: I can see that. Sure.
GINGER: So, he put aside some jewelry for me. A lot of jewelry.
NICKY:You mean, like a lot of expensive jewelry? About how much?
GINGER: Mm, you want to steal it? (Cracking a smile.)
NICKY: No. I - I'm just curious, you know. I was wonderin' how much he would put into a thing like that. That's all.
GINGER: I'm told it's worth about a million dollars, maybe more. (Sniffs.)
NICKY: Well, there you go. But what does that tell ya? A million dollars in jewelry. Does that tell you the guy is crazy about you, or what?
GINGER: I should have never married him. He's a Gemini. A triple Gemini . . . Duality. (Breaking down.) Gemini's the snake. You know you can't trust the snake. (Sniffs.) I mean it.
NICKY: I know what you mean.
(He moves closer to her.)
Listen, Ginger . . . you know, this is probably not . . . I don't have the answers anyway . . . and this is probably not what you want to hear right now, because you're a little upset with Ace.
GINGER: I do.
NICKY: I understand that. But, you know, I think you should try to make the best of it now. Go slow, you know. See what happens.
GINGER: He could have killed him! Okay? He could have killed him. (She gets up and walks to the counter by the mirror.) He didn't have to hit him. It's not exactly like I'm sleepin' with the guy! And he makes me sneak around to see my own friends! What the fuck is that all about?
NICKY: Well, I guess it's 'cause he loves you so much. He's jealous and worried.
GINGER: (Sighs, her voice starts to crack) He gives a fuck what I do?
NICKY: (Getting up) Look, I'll try to find out what the hell's goin' on. When I see him I'll talk to him.
GINGER: Okay.
NICKY: All right?
GINGER: Yeah. (Walking over to him, smiling.) Thanks.
(Towering over NICKY, holding a drink in one hand and his shoulder in the other, she leans down and kisses him.)
Thanks for puttin' up with me.
(NICKY takes the drink out of her hand.)
NICKY: And take it easy with this shit, will you? I mean, this can only make matters worse.
GINGER: Oh, come on.
NICKY: You're a beautiful girl. You don't want to ruin your looks. I've seen a lot of girls get shot to hell from this stuff.
GINGER: (Fidgeting with his jacket, then holding his face in her hands, smiling.) You're so nice. (She begins to cry.)
NICKY: Come on, now, I don't want to see you unhappy.
(She kisses him.)
GINGER: (Tenderly strokes his head) Thanks.
NICKY: Yeah.
(She embraces NICKY, wrapping her arms around him.)
GINGER: (Through tears) Thank you.
NICKY: (Feeling a little awkward with the hug) It's all right.
(She kisses him again. NICKY doesn't move, holding back.)

SECRETARY: (Into telephone) Mr Rothstein? County Commissioner Pat Webb is here to see you.
ACE: (Over telephone) Okay . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . give me a minute.
SECRETARY: (Over telephone) Okay.
(ACE hangs up the phone.)

SECRETARY: (To WEBB) It'll just be a minute.

SECRETARY: Mr Webb . . . can I get you anything?
WEBB: Oh, no. (Cordially tipping his hat.) No, thank you, little lady.

ACE: (Into telephone) Okay, send him in and call me four minutes after.
(WEBB walks in. He is big, tough and western, wearing a Stetson, tooled boots, jeans, an elbow-patched jacket and a turquoise bear claw string-tie. His headband contains a rattlesnake head. Ace's SECRETARY shuts the door on her way out.)
WEBB: Mr Rothstein . . . (With hand outstretched to ACE.) I'm Pat Webb.
ACE: How do you do?
(They shake hands.)
WEBB: Hey, it is my pleasure.
ACE: Yeah, I heard a lot about you.
WEBB: Oh, thank you, sir. (Looking out Ace's office picture window overlooking the sportsbook.) Hey, house is doin' well. (Chuckling.) Hey, all that money is rollin' in. I appreciate you takin' the time to see a poor ol' civil servant.
ACE: No, that's quite all right.
(Tilt up from WEBB's snakeskin cowboy boots and ACE's blue shoes as they continue talking.)
. . . Why don't you have a seat?
WEBB: Hm? Oh. Thank you, sir. (WEBB sits down in a chair in front of ACE's desk.)
Uh, I come here personally to kind of smooth over a fracas about a certain matter. See, uh, maybe you didn't know it, but, uh, Don Ward is a very well-liked man in this town. He's got lots of friends here. Now, his family and their money go back many, many years. Now, friends vote . . . family and money votes. That's important to me . . . and you. And if you'll think about our little problem along them lines . . . and you forgive me for sayin' it, maybe he did not deserve to be fired.
ACE: I'm sorry, but he knew about our gettin' hit on three big machines in a row and he did nothing about it. That means either he was in on it or, forgive me for saying this, he was too dumb to see what was going on. Either way, I cannot have a man like that workin' here.
WEBB: Before we point the dirty end of the stick at 'ol Don, uh, we better be sure we can prove them charges.
ACE: Believe me, if I could prove it, he would be under arrest.
WEBB: Are, uh - (Clears throat.) - are we certain that you want the Gamin' Control Board eyeballin' your record and your gangster pals like Nicky Santoro?
ACE: I think you're way out of line talkin' to me like that. What you're sayin' is libelous, and you're in no position to challenge my expertise. I went way out of my way to be very helpful and courteous to that kid. He's weak, he's incompetent. He jeopardizes the whole place. There's not much more I can do for him.
WEBB: (Chuckling) You have got me there. Old Don is as useless as tits on a boar. (Chuckles.) But, he is my brother-in-law, and I would look on it as a personal favor if you'd think some more on hirin' him back.
ACE: I can't do that. And I appreciate the fact that he's your brother-in-law, and I do want to help you and I like to do favors, and I know who you are, but I cannot do that.
WEBB: Well, could there be any position . . . further down the trough?
ACE: (Pause) I'm sorry, I can't do anything. He's too incompetent. And the bottom line is, he cannot be trusted.
(The telephone rings. ACE picks it up.)
(Into telephone) Okay, thanks. (To WEBB.) Um . . . you know, that's it. I'm sorry.
WEBB: Mr Rothstein. Your people never will understand the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you somethin', partner . . . you ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the Governor. (Pause.) Thank you for your time.
ACE: No problem.
(Getting up and shaking hands.)
Sorry.
WEBB: (Smiles slightly) You bet.

ACE: What happened to my pills?
(He leaves the bathroom and walks into the bedroom where GINGER is stretched out on their imperial bed.)
GINGER: Huh?
ACE: (Waving the pill bottle) Isn't it bad enough you're drinkin' too much, you're takin' all my pills too?
GINGER: I didn't take your pills.
ACE: Look - for my ulcer, I take a half a one of these, a half a one of these. And that's when I have extreme pain. I had a three-month supply. What'd you do with 'em?
GINGER: (Sobbing) You didn't have to beat him up!
ACE: (Walking back to the bathroom) What?
(ACE puts the bottle into the medicine cabinet.)
GINGER: (Sobbing) I was just tryin' to help him. It's not like I'm sleeping with the guy!
ACE: Yeah, how do I know?
GINGER: (Sobbing) You can't make me stop caring . . .
ACE: What? What?!
GINGER: I said, you can't make me stop caring about people.
(She starts to cry.)
ACE: (Trying to calm her) Listen. (Stepping up to the bed.) Ginger. I'm tryin' to make the best of everything here, you know? I mean, you're my wife, for chrissakes. Uh, I mean . . . people look up to you in this town. I don't know what to think -
GINGER: (Interrupts) You know what, Ace? I don't give a shit! I'm gettin' out of here. (Crying.) I am. (She sits up woozy, and tries to pull on her trousers.)
ACE: (Walking around the bed to her) It's okay. Look . . . (holding her face, gently) . . . you gotta get a hold of yourself.
GINGER: Okay.
ACE: If not for me, at least for Amy.
GINGER: (Sobbing) Okay, okay.
ACE: (Gently) You understand? Your drinking's gettin' way out of hand. I'm gonna get you into a program. They got plenty of good ones.
GINGER: I don't need one.
ACE: Yes, you do. It's very discreet. There's no names in the papers. You don't have to worry about any of that stuff.
GINGER: That's all you care about. (Collapsing on the edge of the bed.) You don't care about me at all.
ACE: (Bending down to her) Yes, I - yes, I do.
GINGER: No, you don't.
ACE: How could you say that? You're a beautiful woman. You're destroying yourself. You don't need that stuff. You don't need that fuckin' leech livin' off you. I know you better than you know yourself. You're a tiger, you're stronger than I am. And when you set your mind on doing something, you do it better than anybody. (Strokes her hair. Then, quietly:) You can do it. (Kissing her.) You can do it.
GINGER: (Sobbing) Oh, God. Oh, God. Okay. Okay . . . I'll try. I'll try.
(She sits up and puts her arms around ACE's waist. He strokes her head.)
I'll try. I will. Don't be mad at me, okay . . . I will.

NICKY: (Voice-over, quietly) No matter what the problems were outside the count room, it was all worth it. The cash kept rollin' in. And the . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . suitcases kept comin' and goin'. And let me tell ya, the fuckin' bottom line here is . . . cash.

(The trunk lid is shut.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) The only problem was that, after a while, the bosses noticed that the suitcases were gettin' a little light.

(Freeze frame on the counter pocketing a $100 bill.)

BORELLI: Aspett'. [Italian-American slang for 'Wait'] Wait a minute. You mean to tell me that the money we're robbing is bein' robbed? That somebody's robbing from us? We go through all this fuckin' trouble, and somebody's robbin' us?
GAGGI: (To NANCE) Eh?
NANCE: Like I said, you know, i-it's part of the business. I-it's considered leakage.
BORELLI: Leakage, my balls. I want the guy who's robbin' us.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Even John Nance, that's the guy who ran the skim, he knew there wasn't much you could do about it. You gotta know that a guy who helps you steal, even if you take care of him real well, I mean, he's gonna steal a little bit extra for himself. Makes sense, don't it? Right? Well, you go try and make these hard-headed old greaseballs understand that.

BORELLI: What's the point of skimming if we're being skimmed? Defeats the whole purpose of what we're doin' out there.
GAGGI: (To NANCE) Huh?
NANCE: You know, they take this money because they're my guys. So you gotta give 'em some leeway.

NICKY: (Voice-over) But the bosses never believed in leeway, so listen to what they do: they . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . put Artie Piscano, the underboss of KC, in charge of making sure nobody skimmed the skim.

BORELLI: What the hell have you been doin' out there?
PISCANO: I was out there with my cumma [Italian-American slang for 'girlfriend'.]
BORELLI: Your cumma? What are you doin' with your cumma?
PISCANO: What else? I gave her a schaff [Italian-American slang for 'tap'.]

NICKY: (Voice-over) The only trouble was, Piscano was a disaster. This guy could fuck up a cup of coffee.

BORELLI: Artie, what the hell have you been doin' out there, Artie?
PISCANO: I'm out there more than I'm here.

NICKY: (Voice-over) And little did anybody know where this would all lead. If they did, they would have been better off makin' fuckin' novenas.

BORELLI: You gotta go back there and talk to that guy.
PISCANO: Come on, go back there? I never got paid my expenses for the last trip.
BORELLI: What expenses?
PISCANO: Well, I'm goin' all over, layin' money out of my own pocket, and I never get anything back. What the hell's goin' on?
BORELLI: You gotta go back out there.
PISCANO: Well, then, from now on, I'm gonna start keepin' records.
BORELLI: Artie, no records, Artie. What are you gonna do with records? Pay taxes?
PISCANO: Well, I keep layin' out my own fuckin' dough for these trips and nothin' ever comes back. I mean, what hell's goin' on? What are we doin' over here?
BORELLI: You're goin' out to Las Vegas, you're havin' a good time at my expense. What the fuck? I mean, after all, you're the one having a good time, not me.

ACE: (Voice-over) No matter how many novenas you could make, nothin' . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . was gonna stop what came up next at the casino.

GREEN: I can't believe you're doing this.
SCOTT: We made a deal. You came to me, remember?
GREEN: Yes, I appreciated your advice . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) It turned out Phil Green, Mr Integrity, had a partner nobody knew about . . . and when she showed up and started demanding some money from the Tangiers . . .

SCOTT: Why are you doing this to me?
GREEN: Because you're wrong.
GREEN: I'm not wrong.
GREEN: Yes, you are.
SCOTT: No, I am not wrong.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . Green tried to stonewall her.

SCOTT: And you're not going to get away with this! I will see to it that you do not get away with this! (She walks out.)

ACE: (Voice-over) So . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . she sued him in court.

JUDGE: The court will now hear the matter of the plaintiff, Anna Scott, against Tangiers Corporation and its president, Philip Green.
LAWYER #1: Good morning, your Honor. John Momet on behalf of Mr Green.
LAWYER #2: Mitchell Logan on behalf of Anna Scott, your Honor.
JUDGE: Mr Logan, you may proceed.
LAWYER #2: Thank you, Judge.
(As the JUDGE pounds his gavel, we see ANNA SCOTT and a grim GREEN.)

SCOTT: I believe he was absolutely fair and I'm delighted with the decision.
(NANCE is talking at a pay phone, SCOTT and the reporters are in the background.)
NANCE: (Into telephone) We got a problem.

NANCE: (Over telephone) It didn't go too well.

NANCE: (As GREEN and his lawyers walk past him, exiting the court-house) Green has to open up the books . . . has to show how he got the financing. And, hey, that's - that's not good.

GAGGI: Shit.
(CURLY takes the phone away.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) She was doin' pretty good with her lawsuit, but before she could start countin' her money, the boys back home decided to settle the case out of court instead.

NICKY: (Voice-over) So, they send me.

(NICKY swiftly enters the room, grabs SCOTT around the neck, and fires three shots into her head.
He leans SCOTT back against the chair, then gently, while stroking her hair, sets her head to the side. Blood flows from her mouth on to her pink robe. NICKY grabs his gun and leaves.
Reporters are heard shouting 'Mr Green'.)

REPORTER #1: Can you comment on the murder of Anna Scott?
GREEN: What are you talking about?
REPORTER #1: (Off-screen) She was found last night, shot in the head.
REPORTER #2: (Off-screen) Was this just a real-estate partnership?
REPORTER #3: (Off-screen) Her lawyer said you were partners.
GREEN: We were - We were involved in minor real estate deals many years ago. It was never a partnership.
(Reporters chase CHASE as he walks down the ramp and across the tarmac to his white limousine.)
REPORTER #1: Police are calling this a mob-style killing.
REPORTER #2: Did you ever hear of the twenty-two-caliber killer?
GREEN: I'm a little in shock, quite frankly . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) Now, instead of the cops only lookin' at Nicky, they started looking at Green too. And he was supposed to be our squeaky . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . clean front man. So, I had to start giving interviews to make sure everybody knew the casino was on the up and up.

REPORTER: So, actually, how often do you really fill in for him?
(ACE looks at SHERBERT.)
SHERBERT: (to REPORTER, who looks his way.) Green's here about two or three times a month, and he's busy -
(REPORTER glances back at ACE.)
- with other real-estate deals and - andd things, you know.
REPORTER: (To ACE) So, in Green's absence, then, you're the boss.
ACE: I serve at the pleasure of the chairman of the board and . . . my, uh, reponsibilities are to run the day-to-day operations.
REPORTER: So, day-to-day, then, you're the boss?
ACE: Well, in a sense, you could say that . . . I am the boss, when Mr Green is away. You could say that.

WEBB: (Off-screen) Hm. Have you read this?
(The magazine shows a photograph of ACE. A caption reads: 'Rothstein asserts authority at Tangiers Casino'.)
WEBB: (Off-screen) Hm? It's 'bout Mr Rothstein.
(We see WEBB holding up a copy of Business Week in the gaming board office of investigators RONNIE DUPREY and MATT AUSTIN.)
It says (reading): 'The Midwest bookmaker with mob ties says that he is the real boss of the new hundred-million-dollar Tangiers Casino empire.' (To DUPREY and AUSTIN)
You believe that?
DUPREY: Did he really say that?
WEBB: Why, of course, he really said that. It's right here. Has that man even filed for his license yet?
AUSTIN: I don't know. We'll have to check the files.
WEBB: Well, without gettin' your shorts in a knot, would you do that? And kinda check closely, 'cause we may have to kick a kike's ass out of town. Thank you. (He exits.)

NEWSCASTER: (On television) A Gaming Control Board investigation of Tangiers executive Sam Rothstein's application for a (photo of ACE) gaming license is underway. Rothstein, who heads the Tangiers Casino operation and is a boyhood friend of Las Vegas mob boss Nicky Santoro (photo of NICKY), could lose his ability to work in the casino.
(The phone rings. It's NICKY.)
ACE: (Into telephone) Hello.
NICKY: (Over telephone) Listen . . .

NICKY: (Into telephone) . . . I gotta meet Clean Face right away. What about the Chez Paree?
SUPER SUBTITLE: 'I gotta meet Charlie the Banker right away at your house, okay?'
ACE: (Into telephone) No, you, you can't. You gotta make a reservation.

ACE: (Into telephone) It's all booked up.
SUPER SUBTITLE: 'I don't want a meeting at my house.'
NICKY: (Over telephone) No, no it's okay.
ACE: (Into telephone) It's impossible. It's booked up, and you gotta make a reservation. It's . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . very difficult to get in.
NICKY: (Into telephone) Well, it's okay. I'll use the service entrance. I'll see you at nine.
SUPER SUBTITLE: 'I'll come in from the golf course side. See you at six.'
ACE: (Over telephone) Uh . . .

ACE: (Over telephone) . . . all right. (He hangs up and takes a drag off his cigarette.)
NEWSCASTER: (On television, from following scene) The battle between . . .

NEWSCASTER: (On television) . . . state gaming officials and Tangiers Casino boss Sam 'Ace' Rothstein is heating up. Tonight, an up-to-the-minute look at Ace Rothstein's attempt to get state licensing despite law enforcement allegations of Rothstein's organized crime connections. Will Sam Rothstein's friendship with alleged organized crime figure Nicky Santoro keep Rothstein from running the Tangiers Casino? And can the integrity of state gaming laws be jeopardized by a boyhood friendship?
(ACE walks over to GINGER at the bar.)
ACE: (Quietly) Why don't you take it easy with that stuff? Huh? Come on. Let me help you. Come on. We're talkin' about some stuff.
NEWSCASTER: (On television) State officials say 'yes' when that relationship and those connections are with anyone as notorious as Nicky Santoro.
(ACE takes GINGER's arm and leads her out of the room toward the stairs.)
Tonight at six: 'Will a boyhood friendship unseat Rothstein as the Tangiers' Casino boss?' Exclusive on the KVVO Special News Report. (Reading commercial.) . . . Promise to keep my money fears away?
ACE: (To GINGER) Just go downstairs. Just . . . go downst- (She struggles to break away from his firm grip, gives him a look and starts to walk down the stairs.)
NEWSCASTER: (On television, continuing commercial) Promise to be financially secure? Money Time can help you keep those promises.
(ACE looks down on GINGER as she slips on the stairs.)
CHARLIE CLARK: You can't let this concern you, Ace. Don't worry about that stuff.
(Outside the glass door NICKY arrives via the stairs from the golf course.)
(Off-screen) It's just a political witch hunt.
(ACE opens the sliding glass door and NICKY enters.)
NICKY: Hey, Ace.
ACE: Hey. (NICKY walks over to CHARLIE CLARK.)
Want something to drink? Charlie you want a refill?
CHARLIE CLARK: Yeah, refill'd be great.
NICKY: (Approaching CHARLIE) No, I don't want one. (Smiling, extends his hand.) Hey, Mr Clark, how you doin'?
CHARLIE CLARK: (Shaking hands) Hi. Good.
NICKY: (Sitting down with him on a couch) I've been trying to reach you. You're tougher to get than the President.
CHARLIE CLARK: Well, I've been busy. (Chuckles.)
NICKY: Yeah, least you could do is return my phone calls, though.
CHARLIE CLARK: Listen . . . Nicky . . . we talked about this . . . and, uh, I explained to you that there was the possibility you might have to take some kind of loss.
NICKY: Yeah. (Pause.) I think I want my money back.
CHARLIE CLARK: (Chuckling) what're you gonna do? Strong-arm me?
NICKY: You know . . . I think that you've gotten the wrong impression about me. I think in all fairness, I should explain to you what it is that I do. For instance, tomorrow morning I'll get up nice and early, take a walk down over to the bank and walk in and see you, and, uh . . . if you don't have my money for me, I'll crack your fuckin' head wide open in front of everybody in the the bank. And just about the time that I'm comin' out of jail - hopefully - you'll be comin' out of your coma. And guess what? I'll split your fuckin' head open again. Because I'm fuckin' stupid. I don't give a fuck about jail. That's my business. That's what I do. And we know what you do, don't we, Charlie? You fuck people out of money and get away with it.
CHARLIE CLARK: (As he puts a notepad in his briefcase) You can't talk to me like -
NICKY: (Grabbing CHARLIE by his jacket) Hey, you fat Irish prick. You put my fuckin' money to sleep. You go get my money, or I'll put your fuckin' brain to sleep.
CHARLIE CLARK: (To ACE, panting) Sam?
NICKY: Never mind fuckin' Sam. This is personal. (Walking with CHARLIE to the stairs.) I'll be there in the morning. You can fuckin' try me, fatso.
(A frightened CHARLIE hurries down the stairs.)
You fuckin' try me.
(He turns to ACE who's behind the bar.)
You think he got the point?
ACE: (Walking to NICKY) What're you doin'? He's a square guy, for chrissakes. You can't treat him like that. He's gonna run to the FBI.
NICKY: Fuck the FBI! That prick's been dodging me for three weeks. And what is it with you? All of a sudden, you're tryin' to tell me what to do all the time.
ACE: I'm not tryin' to tell you what to do. But you were way out of line, Nick. What're you doin'? Where's your head?
NICKY: Where's my head? Where's your fuckin' balls? Huh? You know I'm tryin' to put somethin' really big together out here. You know what I'm talkin' about, huh? You know! If you're actin' like this now, how can I depend on you? There's a lot of things gonna change out here. And if you wanna be there with me, Sammy, you're gonna have to go my fuckin' way.
ACE: Listen, Nick, you gotta understand my situation. I'm responsible for thousands of people. I got a hundred million a year goin' through the place. It's all over, I'm gonna tell you, it's all over, if I don't get that license. And believe me, if it goes bad for me, it's gonna go bad for a lot of people, you understand?
NICKY: Yeah, forget about your fuckin' license. I plant my own flag out here, you ain't gonna need a fuckin' license. (Pause.) You know, I don't know what it is, Sammy, but the more I talk to you, the more I feel like you just don't wanna go along with me, is that it?
ACE: No, I don't wanna come -
NICKY: You should say so.
ACE: I don't wanna come along with you.
NICKY: Just say so.
ACE: I'll be honest with you.
NICKY: All right, fine.
ACE: I don't wanna be involved in anything you're talkin' about . . .
NICKY: Fine. (NICKY walks to a table and flips through Business Week magazine.)
ACE: . . . okay? I just wanna run a square joint. That's it. I just want my license. I want everything nice and quiet. That's it.
NICKY: (Holding up the magazine) You mean, quiet like this: 'I'm the boss.' That's quiet?
ACE: That's all taken out of context. Okay.
NICKY: Yeah, that's out of context. Okay.
ACE: I have no control over that. Ronnie and Billy were right there. They'll tell you exactly what happened.
NICKY: Well, back home they don't know about fuckin' control. That looks bad.
ACE: Looks bad? I'm gonna tell you what looks bad.
NICKY: Yeah?
ACE: Every time you're on television I get mentioned. That looks bad. That looks bad.
NICKY: What the fuck happened to you? Will you tell me?
ACE: What happened to me? What happened to you?
NICKY: Yeah.
ACE: You lost your control.
NICKY: I lost control?
ACE: Yes, you lost your control.
NICKY: Look at you. You're fuckin' walkin' around like John Barrymore.
ACE: All right.
NICKY: A fuckin' pink robe and a fuckin' . . .
ACE: All right.
NICKY: . . . uh, uh, cigarette holder. I'm - I lost control?!
ACE: Yeah.
NICKY: You know, I didn't want to bring this up, but you have treating a lot of people with a lot of disrespect. Even your own wife.
ACE: My wife?
NICKY: Yeah.
ACE: Now, what does she have to do with all this?
NICKY: Well, she comes to see me. She was upset about a lot of things, especially that whole fuckin' Diamond - that Lester Diamond incident.
ACE: All of a sudden, you're the shoulder to cry on? Did you at least tell her about your little role in that whole situation?
NICKY: No, I didn't. What good would that do? That's not the fuckin' point.
ACE: Listen, I would -
NICKY: (Interrupting) The point is that she's upset. She's - and you got a fuckin' problem.
ACE: I - I would appreciate it if you'd stay out of my personal life, okay? You wouldn't like it if I did it to you.
NICKY: Hey, she came to talk . . .
ACE: Please . . .
NICKY: . . . to me.
ACE: . . . don't do it to me . . .
NICKY: She came to talk to me . . .
ACE: Okay?
NICKY: And I - what was I supposed to do, throw her out?
ACE: Ju-just stay away from her. It's none of your business, okay? There are certain things you don't do, and you know that.
NICKY: It's none of my business?
ACE: That's right, yeah.
NICKY: A week ago it was my business, now it's none of my business. In other words, when you need me to take care of somethin' for you, then you need me.
ACE: Yeah, that's right, the way you need me to vouch for you as a citizen and get you out of one of your jams. I'm gonna have to straighten out what you just did with this guy.
(NICKY starts to walk out.)
This guy is gonna run to the FBI.
NICKY: Your fuckin' head is getting' bigger than your casino. That's your problem, pal.

ACE: (Voice-over) I knew what he wanted, and I didn't want any part of it.

NICKY: (Walking to the glass doors leaving ACE standing there)
Fuckin' walking around with a big head. You better check yourself . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) Nicky wanted to take over. He wanted to go after Gaggi, go after the skim, go after everything and everybody.
(NICKY shuts the door behind him and walks down the stairs to the golf course.)
Plus, he had stopped askin' permission from back home for every little thing.

ACE: (Voice-over) A casino bos and his wife were killed. The bulls questioned Nicky.

ACE: (Voice-over) A dealer from the Sirocco . . . they questioned Nicky.

ACE: (Voice-over) A bunch of stool pigeons wound in the trunks of their cars . . . they questioned Nicky.

ACE: (Voice-over) A lawyer . . . they questioned Nicky.

ACE: (Voice-over) And when some guys who didn't pay their Shylocks began disappearing, Nicky's name was in every one of those newspapers.

ACE: (Voice-over) Nicky was questioned in two dozen murders, but they always had to let him go. There were never any witnesses.

NICKY: (Voice-over) The coppers blamed me for everything that went wrong out here, and I mean every little fuckin' thing too.

NICKY: (To photographer) Watch yourself. You're gonna get runned over there.

NICKY: (Voice-over) If a guy fuckin' tripped over a fuckin' banana peel, they'd bring me in for it.

NICKY: (To reporters) Come on, huh. That's enough now. Be nice, huh? Be nice.

NICKY: (Voice-over) And the bosses were no better. I mean, they complained day and night because things don't run smooth. Well, in my line of work, things don't run so smooth, I'm sorry. I mean, I'm dealing with degenerate animals out here. But the bosses, what do they give a fuck? They're sittin' on their asses, drinkin' anisette. Meanwhile, I'm the guy in the trenches. Fuckin' bosses, they think it's a fuckin' free lunch out here.

(MARINO hands a brown-paper bag filled with $100 bills to GAGGI.)
GAGGI: (Ignoring the money) Frankie . . . they found a guy's head in the desert. Do you know about that?
MARINO: Yeah, I heard, yeah.
GAGGI: Yeah. Everybody's talkin' about it. They're makin' a big deal out of it.
MARINO: I know.
GAGGI: It's in all the papers.
MARINO: What're you gonna do?
GAGGI: And I mean . . . that's no good.
MARINO: I know.
GAGGI: You gotta tell him . . . to take care of things a little better.
MARINO: I'll tell him, Remo.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Fuckin' . . .

NICKY: (Voice-over) . . . bosses. I mean, they're smokin' their Di Nobilis and they're eatin' a trippa [Italian-American slang for 'tripe'.] and fuckin' suffritt', you know, fried pigs guts? While, if I wanna talk private, I gotta go to a fuckin' bus stop.

NICKY: (To MARINO) But, hey, what do they care, as long as I keep sendin' money back.
MARINO: Yeah, but they're complaining.
NICKY: Let 'em complain. I'm the one who's here.
(The bus arrives, obscuring our view of them.)
I do all the work. Somebody don't like it, fuck him.
MARINO: It's up to you.
NICKY: They want a fuckin' war, I'm ready.
(When the bus departs it reveals NICKY and MARINO alone on the bench, talking.)
I know one thing. All I gotta do is take care of four or five of those fuckin' guys, the rest will fall right into place. Believe me.

NICKY: (Voice-over) Peekaboo, you fucks, you.

NICKY: I see you, you motherfuckers.

ACE: (Voice-over) The problem was, Nicky was not only bringin' heat on himself, but on me too. The FBI watched every move he made. But he didn't care. He just didn't care.
(The camera moves past NICKY to reveal MARINO, seated in front of TV security monitors on the parking area in front and behind the Gold Rush.)

NICKY: (Voice-over) If they're gonna watch me, fuck 'em, I'm gonna watch 'em right back. I spent a few dollars. Top dollar, who gives a shit?
(HARDY, seated next to MARINO, is adjusting a knob on one of the may police radio scanners. There are a couple of cameras on the table next to him.
A debugging expert is going over the walls with a metal detector.)
I got the latest anti-buggin' equipment from the same places that sell to the fuckin' CIA. I had all the special police frequency radios, FBI descramblers, cameras that see in the dark, and because of that, the miserable sons-of-bitches that they are, they never once caught me doin' anything I couldn't handle.

(DOMINICK and FUSCO are at a table arguing.)

ACE: (Voice-over) I got my job . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . on the line and this guy's out havin' the time of his life. He has every cop in the state watchin' him, and he's out playin' golf.

NICKY: Practice enough this week, you prick?

ACE: (Voice-over) And at the . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . worst possible time for me.

AUSTIN: A record of the arrests . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) I had my license hearing coming up and I didn't wanna leave anything to chance.

ACE: That was nineteen years ago, and they were simple gambling pinches.

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, if I can't work in Vegas, where am I gonna go?

AUSTIN: You've been very open with us. I mean, uh, your books and papers and . . . that - that's gonna mean something when you go before the Commission.
ACE: Well, that's all I ask, gentlemen, a fair hearing.
DUPREY: Well, this kind of honesty will guarantee that fair hearing.
ACE: Good.
AUSTIN: All right, well, we'll move on to -
(Suddenly a sputtering airplane flies right over Ace's house.)
(Off-screen, as he looks at the plane) I wanted to hear something about . . . Kansas City.

NICKY: (Looking at the airplane) What the fuck is this? Where's this fuckin' guy gonna land, on the fairway?

NICKY: (To MARINO) They're fuckin' agents, Frankie. Look at this.

ACE: (Voice-over) The Feds were watchin' Nicky play golf for so long, they ran out of gas. Just what I needed. Right in front on the Control Board.
(The agents run behind the hedges by ACE's pool. AUSTIN and DUPREY stare at ACE as if he had something to do with it.)

NICKY: A hundred dollars, whoever hits the plane.
(NICKY, MARINO, and the other men swing their clubs.)

ACE: (Voice-over, putting his sunglasses back on) And, as if things weren't bad enough . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . in comes Piscano, the Kansas City underboss. He ran that little grocery store in Kansas City where they brought the suitcases.

PISCANO: They're fightin' over those suitcases again. You know what that means, right? You know what that means, right? That means I gotta take another trip out to Vegas, and it's gonna cost me another couple of grand.

ACE: (Voice-over) He ran it with his brother-in-law, but mostly what he did was complain, complain about his trips to Vegas, to his brother-in-law and to his mother, all the time.

BROTHER-IN-LAW: (Seated) You gotta law down the law. Otherwise they're gonna make a fool out of you.
PISCANO: They're not gonna make a fool out of me. I write it all down in this book (holding up a notepad), every fuckin' nickel that goes down. Right here, receipts . . .
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (Chastising her son) Hey! Oh!
PISCANO: Oh, sorry -
PISCANO'S MOTHER: What's the matter with you?
PISCANO: Receipts and bills and . . . everything's here.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: Since when do you talk like that?
PISCANO: I'm sorry.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: There's a lot of people here.
PISCANO: Nance gives me trouble and I'll tell him . . . screw around with those suitcases and I'll take the eyes out of his frickin' head.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: Again!
PISCANO: I didn't curse. I said 'frickin' head'.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: That's enough.
PISCANO: I'm sorry.

ACE: (Voice-over) And what happens next?
(The camera tilts up to the ceiling air vent to a tiny microphone and transmitter at its base.)
You can't believe it. I mean, who the hell would believe that the FBI had a wire in the place lookin' for some information about some old homicide about some guy who was whacked-out, God knows when, over God knows what?

PISCANO: Plus, what's to prevent him with the suitcases, that he can take what he wants? Fuckin' Nance, he brings us back two suitcases from the Tangiers, and what about three or four?

PISCANO: We got nobody in the room to watch. That's the law. You know, we can't even go into the count room to watch our money? Could you believe this cowboy bullshit?
(His MOTHER shakes her head.)
And sure he's got his people in there. But how do you know? They could all be in on it together, those miserable fucks.
(His MOTHER reacts to his language.)
I'll find out and, if it's Green himself, I'll bury that bastard.

PISCANO: (Over transmitter) I've never trusted him. And you know I got eyes . . .

PISCANO: . . . behind my head. They trust that scumbag, I don't. Right now, the way I feel, I'll hit the two of them in the head with a fuckin' shovel.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: All right, take it easy now, take it easy.
PISCANO: Mom, I'm sorry, they're beatin' me left and right.
(Knocking down some bottles of olive oil.) Ma, I'm sorry. I'm all upset.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (Tapping the counter) I know, but that's enough.
PISCANO: You know - You know - You know what they're doin' to me?
PISCANO'S MOTHER: I know it, I know it.
PISCANO: I can't take this no more. Back and forth, back and forth.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: Take it easy, though.
PISCANO: All right, all right. But I - I -
PISCANO'S MOTHER: You'll get a heart attack like that.
PISCANO: You know, I - I'm too upset right now. And - An end has to be put to this.

ACE: (Voice-over) And the damn . . .
(Camera pans off the listening device in the vent to a window and the post office across the street.)
. . . thing is, they go and hear all this stuff about Las Vegas and the casinos and the suitcases, and that's it.

PISCANO: (Off-screen) If I have to start handlin' things the way I . . .

PISCANO: (Over transmitter) . . . did years ago, start kickin' ass, I - I'll do it, and I'll use the goddamn shovel! I mean, I . . .
(We see an agent looking out of the window with a pair of binoculars.)
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (Over transmitter) You are right.
(The other agent, with headphones, is seated at a desk by a tape recorder, writing)
PISCANO: (Over transmitter) . . . everything's comin' out of my pocket. I gotta pay for all these trips back and forth, back and forth.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (Over transmitter) You are right. What can I . . .

PISCANO'S MOTHER: (On tape recorder) . . . tell you.

TITLE IN: 'WASHINGTON, D.C.'

(The camera tilts down an American flag to reveal the tape now being transcribed by an FBI stenographer.)

ACE:) (Voice-over) Would you believe that such a thing could happen?

PISCANO: (On tape recorder) I'm in this to make money, not to lose money. And I - I -

ACE: (Voice-over) Every FBI man across the country had their ears open now.

PISCANO: (On tape recorder) Because . . .
(The stenographer's pen writes: 'BORELLI' on a piece of paper.)
. . . if you want somethin' . . .
(Stenographer writes: 'TANGIERS'.)
. . . done right, you gotta do it yourself.
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (On tape recorder) Then do it the way you want.
(Pen writes: 'VEGAS'.)
What can I tell you?

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean . . .
(Pen writes: 'SANTORO'.)
. . . Piscano, this guy basically . . .
(The stenographer's pen taps twice on the word 'SANTORO'.)
. . . sunk the whole world.

(Focus on stenographer, listening.)
PISCANO'S MOTHER: (On tape recorder) That's the way people are. There are some that are good and some that are bad.

OSCAR: Mr Chairman and members of the Commission. Mr Rothstein is pleased to be here today.

ACE: (Voice-over) And when the day finally came, I was ready. I felt so confident that all I had to do was present my case.

OSCAR: . . . evidence . . . and we have documents, one of which is a report by retired FBI agents, which completely absolves (holding up a large file folder) Mr Rothstein from any wrongdoing. I'd like this marked, please, Mr Chairman.
SENATOR: (Into microphone) Pardon me, counselor. Before you continue . . .
OSCAR: No, I want to have this marked, Mr -
SENATOR: (Into microphone) . . . this, uh, this Commission is prepared to act on a motion denying the Rothstein application.
OSCAR: Denying?
SENATOR: (Into microphone) Do I hear a motion seconded?
OSCAR: Mr Chairman -
CONTROL BOARD MEMBER #1: (Into microphone) Mr Chairman, I second the motion.
SENATOR: (Into microphone) Do I have a vote on the motion?
OSCAR: Mr Chairman -
(The COMMISSIONERS quickly repeat:)
CONTROL BOARD MEMBER #2: (Into microphone) Aye.
CONTROL BOARD MEMBER #3: (Into microphone) Aye.
CONTROL BOARD MEMBER #4: (Into microphone) Aye.
SENATOR: (Into microphone) The ayes have it. This hearing is adjourned.
(The CHAIRMAN bangs his gavel and prepares to leave. The COMMISSIONERS hurriedly pack up their papers. An enraged ACE rises and approaches the SENATOR.
TV cameras roll.)
ACE: (Getting up) You guys have to be kidding.
(The SENATOR picks up his briefcase.)
Adjourned! What do you mean, adjourned?
OSCAR: Mr Chairman, please.
ACE: Mr Chairman . . .
(The SENATOR picks up his folder.)
Senator, you promised me a hearing.
(We see WEBB seated in the first row, watching.
You won't allow me a hearing? You didn't even look at the FBI reports.
(A reporter holds a microphone up to the SENATOR.)
When you were my guest, Mr Chairman, Senator, at the Tangiers Hotel, did you not promise me that I would have a fair hearing -
(The SENATOR bends down to a microphone.)
SENATOR: (Interrupting, into microphone) I was never - I was never your guest at the Tangiers.
ACE: You were never my guest?!
SENATOR: (Into microphone) That's right.
ACE: I never comped you?! I don't comp you at least two or three times a month at the Tangiers?!
SENATOR: (Into microphone) Uh, I - I'd . . . I'd like to answer - answer that at this time.
ACE: Liar.
SENATOR: (Into microphone) Mr Rothstein is being very typical to this point. He's lying.
(WEBB starts to leave.)
The only time I was at the Tangiers was when I had dinner with Barney Greenstein.
ACE: Was I at that dinner? Just tell me -
SENATOR: You were wandering around.
ACE: Was I at that dinner?
SENATOR: You were wandering around.
ACE: Was I at that dinner?
SENATOR: You were wandering around.
ACE: Was I at that dinner?
SENATOR: You were in the m- You were in the building.
ACE: I was in the building!
(GREEN, embarrassed by ACE's behaviour, starts to get up.)
You know damn well I was at that dinner, and you swore to me that I would have a fair hearing at that dinner! Did you not?! Did you not?!
(Pause, ACE looks at OSCAR.)
Well, tell me I was at least at the dinner! A-allow me that much.
(Pause.) Give me that much at least!
SENATOR: (Hesitates) Yes, you were. (The SENATOR starts to walk out.)
ACE: Yeah, thanks for not callin' me a liar. You son-of-a-bitch. You son-of-a -

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over) Good evening, everyone, I'm Paige Novodor. (On television.) What should have been a routine licensing hearing turned into bedlam yesterday when the flamboyant Tangiers Casino executive, Sam . . .
(ACE spots COMMISSIONER CARTER slipping out the door.)
(Voice-over, overlapping) . . . 'Ace' Rothstein, accused the state's top gaming officials of corruption.

ACE: (Overlaping) What are you running for, Bob? What are you running for?

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over, overlapping) . . . and hypocrisy.

ACE: (Into two reporters' microphones) Don't you remember? You promised me a fair hearing when you were gettin' comped at my hotel and you were asking me for copies of your bills so -
(SHERBERT and GINGER look on.)
- you could put 'em on your expense accoount?

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over) In a (on television) wild and unprecedented outburst that followed his gaming license (voice-over, overlapping) denial, Rothstein followed several . . .

ACE: (With several reporters, overlapping) Bullshit! Bullshit!

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over) . . . stunned commissioners into the hallway, where he continued his harangue until his own lawyers and friends urged him to leave.

ACE: (To COMMISSIONERS standing in the hallway, speaking into a TV news microphone) We all have a past. You have a past, I have a past. And my past is no worse than yours. But you guys think you have the right to pass judgement on me.

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over, overlapping) Long suspected of running the Tangiers without . . .

ACE: (Overlapping) . . . twenty years in order to find nothin' on me -
(OSCAR pulls him away, ACE looks back at the COMMISSIONERS.)
- unsubstantiated truths on me. And if yyou look at your own lives you'd all be in jail.
(OSCAR ushers ACE out, past WEBB and Gaming Investigator AUSTIN.)

FEMALE NEWSCASTER: (Voice-over, overlapping) . . . a gaming license, yesterday's hearing was to determine whether someone with Rothstein's checkered personal history was qualified to officially hold the top gaming post.

ACE: (Voice-over, from previous scene continued) Fuckin' hypocrites!

(STONE stands beside GAGGI's car door. GAGGI is in the back seat with his window down.)
GAGGI: What the hell's he gonna do now?
STONE: I don't know (Sighs.)
GAGGI: What's he doin'? He knows all those guys he yelled at are friends of ours. What's the matter with him, making all this mess?
STONE: Maybe he could run things with another job title. Wouldn't be the best, but, uh, what are we gonna do?
GAGGI: However he runs things, it's gotta be quiet. Let him hide upstairs in the office. Say he's the janitor, I don't give a shit. But, please, whatever job he takes, make sure it's something quiet.
(STONE walks back to his car. Both cars pull out in opposite directions.)

TRUDY: (Off-screen) Ladies and gentlemen, the Tangiers Hotel proudly presents the all-new Sam Rothstein Show, Aces High.

TITLE CARD: 'ACES HIGH'

(The monitor shows a neon sign reading, 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada', then shows several gamblers at a craps table.)
TRUDY: (Off-screen) Tonight, taped live from the all-new sportsbook, we present the premiere showing of Aces High. With the . . .
(The video monitor shows a neon sign: 'Stardust', then another: 'Tangiers'.
We see TRUDY on a stage.)
(Into microphone) . . . Sasha Semenoff Orchestra . . .
(The camera pans to Sasha Semenoff conducting his band.)
. . . and the Sam Rothstein Dancers.
(The camera pans to a group of dancers on the other side of the stage.
We see ACE greeting various guests in the audience as he moves towards the stage.)
Mr Rothstein is a professional gambler and the best football handicapper . . .
(A video monitor shows a montage featuring showgirls, a chef carving beef and three women wearing bathing suits.)
. . . in American, a man who will take you inside the real Las Vegas as no one has ever done before. And now, ladies and gentlemen, the new . . .
(ACE joins TRUDY on the stage.)
. . . Entertainment Director of the Tangiers Hotel Casino: Mr Sam Rothstein.
(ACE approaches his desk as TRUDY sits on a long sofa. The audience applauds. The band plays and the dancers complete their number.)
ACE: (Seated at a desk a la Johnny Carson) Welcome to the Sam Rothstein Show. We're very happy to have you here this evening. The young lady to my left is Trudy, who is a lead new dancer in our fabulous show from Paris.
(Audience applauds, she waves hello.)
Our first guest this evening . . . is Frankie Avalon.
(FRANKIE AVALON walks to the stage, embracing TRUDY and shaking ACE's hand. Audience applauds.
WEBB stands in the rear of the sportsbook/theater with AUSTIN and DUPREY, watching ACE.)
WEBB: Keep an eye on him. (He exits.)
FRANKIE AVALON: (Off-screen) . . . Well, I've got a large family.
ACE: (Into microphone) How many kids do you have?
FRANKIE AVALON: (Into microphone) Uh, I'm very proud to say that we have eight children.
ACE: (Into microphone) Eight children! (He encourages the audience to applaud.)
FRANKIE AVALON: (Into microphone) No, no, no, no, please, please, please, please, no, please.
ACE: (Into microphone, to audience) That's amazing.
FRANKIE AVALON: (Into microphone) There was nothing to it. (Chuckles) It was my pleasure.

GREEN: Ace, don't do it.
(ACE begins to juggle.)
Oh, no, no. No, no. Oh, Jesus . . . he's juggling!
(The audience cheers him on.)
ACE: (Off-screen, from next scene) Let's not take County Commissioner Pat Webb too seriously.

ACE: (Into microphone) I recently challenged him to a debate on this program and he declined. What are you worried about, Pat? You don't have to send me any questions. You can ask me anything you want.

STONE: (Off-screen, from next scene) What the hell is he doin' on television, anyway?

STONE: He's on all night, screamin' about how he's gonna take his damn lawsuit all the way to the Supreme Court. He really must be crazy. He's gonna go to Washington with this? (Chuckles.) He's out of his fuckin' mind.
ACE: (Off-screen, from next scene) It's a pity in this . . .

ACE: (Into microphone) . . . state that we have such hypocrisy. Some people can do whatever they want. Other people have to pay through the nose.

ACE: (Off-screen, from previous scene) But such is life.
GAGGI: Andy, go see him. Tell him maybe it's time he should quit.

ACE: First of all, what they did was totally unconstitutional. We're already on the list to be heard before the Supreme Court of the United States later this year.
STONE: These guys back home don't give a fuck about the Supreme Court and any of this bullshit! They want things to quiet down. They want you to walk away from -
ACE: Walk away? Andy, you can't be serious. How can I walk away? Don't you see what's goin' on here? Don't you see what's at stake?
STONE: The old man said, 'Maybe your friend should give in.' And when the old man says 'maybe', that's like a papal bull. Not only should you quit, you should run!
ACE: Know what my problem is? Every time they mention my name in the papers, these cocksuckers, they mention Nicky, too. How the fuck does that help? I mean, the heat he brought down is murder! We had a police department who was cooperative. He's pissed them off so much now that nobody can make a move anymore. I mean, what do you do about that?
STONE: What do you propose?
ACE: I don't know, he doesn't listen to me. Maybe he should . . . get lost for a while. Take a vacation. Would that be so bad?
STONE: They ain't sendin' Nicky nowhere.
ACE: All right, look, if he took a break, it would just give everybody some time to maneuver. That's all I'm saying. It's all that I'm saying.
STONE: I would forget about the maneuver. I would just get out.
ACE: (Sighs) I can't do that.

ACE: (Voice-over) Of course . . .

JENNIFER: (Into telephone) You know, I don't feel like playin' tennis.

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . as soon as Andy got back home, Nicky heard about our talk in the car.

JENNIFER: (Into telephone) Let's go to lunch. Do you want to go to the Riviera?

ACE: (Voice-over) Next morning bright and early, I get the call.

GINGER: (Over telephone) One o'clock?

JENNIFER: (Over telephone) Great.
GINGER: (Into telephone) You know, I've got to do some shopping afterwards. Do you want to go?

JENNIFER: (Into telephone) Well, you know . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) But just getting a call from Nicky wasn't easy anymore. Even the codes didn't work. So, we figured out another act.

ACE: (Voice-over) You see, if a phone's tapped, the Feds can only listen in . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . on the stuff involving crimes. So on . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . routine calls, they have to click off after a few minutes.

GINGER: (Over telephone) Yeah, and I get a sprained fuckin' elbow.
(The FBI man clicks off the tape recorder.)

ACE: (Into telephone) Yeah.

NICKY: (Into telephone) Meet me at three.

ACE: (Into telephone) What - what, Caesar's?
NICKY: (Over telephone) No, a . . .

NICKY: (Into telephone) . . . hundred yards further down the road.

ACE: (Into telephone) Why?

NICKY: (Into telephone) Don't ask questions. Just be there.
(NICKY gives the phone back to JENNIFER.)

NICKY: (To himself) Always asking questions. (He exits.)
JENNIFER: (Into telephone) Suzy Creamcheese has the exact . . .

JENNIFER: (Over telephone) . . . same outfit.
GINGER: (Chuckles, over telephone) But I saw something . . .

GINGER: (Into telephone) . . . something very . . . cute.
(ACE sits down on the couch behind her and lights a cigarette.)

FBI AGENT: (Off-screen, into a radio) Okay, he, uh, he's out. It's the ant, uh, Brown unit. And he's with, uh, bogie. I think it's Frankie.

ACE: (Voice-over) Nicky started out before me because it wasn't that easy . . .
(Swish pan to the FBI AGENT looking out the window talking into a radio.)
. . . for him to get around anymore.

FBI AGENT: (Into radio) Okay, pulled out . . .
(Swish pan to NICKY and MARINO driving down the street.)
(Off-screen, into radio) . . . pretty fast. He's headed upstream.

ACE: (Voice-over) Nicky couldn't even go for a ride without changing . . .
(Swish pan to FBI car trailing behind.)
. . . cars at least six times before he could shake all his tails.

ACE: (Voice-over) And because of all the planes, he had to use underground garages.

(MARINO drives off.)

ACE: (Voice-over) Meeting in the middle of the desert alway made me nervous. It's a scary place. I knew about the holes in the desert, of course, and everywhere I looked, there could have been a hole.

ACE: (Voice-over) Normally, my prospects of comin' back alive from a meeting with Nicky were ninety-nine out of a hundred. But this time, when I heard him say, 'A couple a hundred yards down the road', I gave myself fifty-fifty.

NICKY: Where the fuck you get off talkin' to people about me behind my back? Goin' over my head?
ACE: What people?
NICKY: What people! What'd you think, I wasn't gonna find out?
ACE: I don't even know what you're talkin' about, Nick.
NICKY: No? You said I'm bringin' heat on you?! I gotta listen to people because of your fuckin' shit?! You're ordering me out?! You better get your own fuckin' army, pal!
ACE: I didn't do anything. I mean, I didn't order you or anybody . . . I only told Andy Stone that you had a lot of heat on you, and that was a problem.
NICKY: You want me to get out of my own fuckin' town?!
ACE: Yeah, I said I - let the bullshit blow over for a while so I can run the casino. Anything goes wrong with the casino, it's my ass. It's not yours, it's my ass.
NICKY: Oh, I don't know whether you know this or not, but you only have your fuckin' casino because I made that possible!
ACE: I -
NICKY: (Interrupting) I'm what counts out here! Not your fuckin' country clubs or your fuckin' TV shows! And what the fuck are you doin' on TV anyhow?!
ACE: What are you -
NICKY: (Interrupting) You know I get calls from back home every fuckin' day?! They think you went batshit!
ACE: I'm only on TV because I gotta be able to hang around the casino. You understand that. You know that. Come on.
NICKY: Your fuckin' ass! You could have had the food and beverage job without goin' on television! You wanted to go on TV.
ACE: Yeah, I did want to go on TV. That way I have a forum. I can fight back. I'm known. People see me. They know they can't fuck around with me like they could if I was an unknown. That's right.
NICKY: You're makin' a big fuckin' spectacle of yourself.
ACE: Me?! I wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you. You brought down so much fuckin' heat on me. I mean, every time I meet somebody here, the big question is do I know you.
NICKY: Oh, sure. Now you want to blame your fuckin' license on me, is that it?
ACE: No, it - it - Nicky, when you asked me if you could come out here, what did I tell you? I mean, you asked me, and I knew you were going to come out no matter what I said, but what did I tell you? Do you remember what I told . . .
NICKY: (Interrupting) Back -
ACE: . . . you? Do you remember what I told you?
NICKY: Back - Back up, back up a fuckin' minute here. One minute. I asked you?! When the fuck did I ever ask you if I could come out here?! Get this through your head, you -
ACE: (Interrupting) You never - ?
NICKY: Get this through your head, you Jew motherfucker, you. You only exist out here because of me! That's the only reason! Without me, you, personally, every fuckin' wiseguy skell [Skell: the lowest form of wiseguy - a drunken bum] around'll take a piece of your fuckin' Jew ass! Then where you gonna go?! You're fuckin' warned! Don't ever go over my fuckin' head again! You motherfucker, you!
(NICKY drives off, leaving an angry and frustrated ACE to ponder the desert and the holes.)

MARINO: Well, we got company.
(ACE avoids looking at NICKY.)
NICKY: Do you see that? Dumb Jew motherfucker. Grew up together and he's actin' like he don't even know me. I know we're supposed to avoid each other, but, you know, there's ways to do things and there's ways not to.
DOMINICK: Yeah. Fuck him.
(SHERBERT and the others make a toast.)
SHERBERT: To Abraham Lincoln.
ACE: L'chaim. [Yiddish for 'to life']
SHERBERT: Here we go. Good luck.
(NICKY watches ACE's entourage.)
DOMINICK: Forget about it, Nick. Don't let it bother you.
NICKY: Why, does it look like it's bothering me? What do I give a fuck? Fuckin' Oscar too. All the fuckin' money I've given that prick, he don't even look over here. What's his problem?
MARINO: Mm.
NICKY: Fuckin' Jews stick together, don't they?
MARINO: They're havin' a good time too.
NICKY: So are we.
(NICKY, MARINO and DOMINICK are isolated and alone at their table.)

ACE: (Into telephone) Yeah?

SHERBERT: (Quietly into telephone) Sam, we got a problem.

ACE: (Into telephone) What is it?
SHERBERT: (Over telephone) The little guy. He's half in the bag, and nobody told him he was eighty-sixed from the joint, so we . . .

SHERBERT: (Into telephone) . . . all turned our heads and made out like we didn't know who he was. He's over at the twenty-one table with his . . .

SHERBERT (Off-screen) . . . nose wide open. He took the money out of his own kick. His nose is open for about ten thousand.
(SHERBERT and the pit boss look on.)
(Off-screen) Now, he's really pissed.

ACE: (Into telephone) Oh, no. (Sits up and throws off the bed covers.)

SHERBERT: (Into telephone) He wants a fifty-thousand marker.

ACE: (Into telephone) No, just - just give him, give him ten. That's it. Ten. I'll be right down.

SHERBERT: (To NICKY) He's gonna come up with ten thousand, just the way you wanted.
NICKY: Ten thou? No, no, no.
SHERBERT: . . . give you ten thousand -
NICKY: (Grabbing SHERBERT's lapel) Fifty! I said fifty!
SHERBERT: Look, take -
NICKY: (Pushing him away and walking back to the blackjack table) Fuckin' fifty thousand! Go get it. I don't give a fuck where you get it. (To FEMALE DEALER.) Fuckers! They take it, but they don't want to give it back.
(NICKY turns up another bad card and looks at the dealer. She smiles as she slides the house winnings over to her side of the table.)
How the fuck can you grin? How the fuck could you grin?
(The FEMALE DEALER looks to her PIT BOSS for help. He steps up to a MALE DEALER at a neighbouring table.)
You know how much I'm stuck? You give a fuck?
(The MALE DEALER walks up to the FEMALE DEALER and taps her on the shoulder.)
Do ya?!
(She lays down some cards, claps her hands to show the Eye-in-the-Sky that they are empty, and exits.)
(To departing FEMALE DEALER) Yeah. Give yourself a hand right across your fuckin' mouth.
(The MALE DEALER takes her place behind the table.)
Look at this fuckin' beaut they put in now. Sherbert send you in here to rob me now? Been fuckin' knockin' everybody's dick in all night? Huh? You been beatin' all the customers tonight, motherfucker?
(We see the PIT BOSS lock up the chip tray from the table the dealer has just left. NICKY has a diminished stack of chips and an upturned ten and a two.)
Huh, jag-off? Hit me.
(The card is a king or a 'paint', a picture card, meaning that NICKY has lost. Everyone freezes in fear. NICKY takes the paint and flicks it at the DEALER's chest where it sticks to his shirt.)
Take this stiff and pound it up your fuckin' ass! Hit me again.
(The DEALER looks to the PIT BOSS who nods 'okay'. He turns over a card. It's another paint, a queen. NICKY flicks the card to the DEALER's face.)
Take this one and stick it up your sister's ass! Hit me again.
(The DEALER looks to the PIT BOSS again.)
That's it, keep lookin' at him, you fuckin' dummy. If you had any fuckin' heart at all, you'd be out fuckin' stealin' for a livin'. (Tossing the car at the DEALER.) Hit me again.
(The DEALER looks at the PIT BOSS.)
What the fuck you keep lookin' at him for, huh, you fuckin' pu-
(The DEALER deals him another paint.) Look at this, twenty fuckin' paints in a row. Hit me again!
(ACE enters the casino with SHERBERT.)
MARINO: (To NICKY) He's here.
NICKY: (To the DEALER) You should pay as fast as you collect, you know.
(NICKY gets up to go over to ACE, glowering at SHERBERT as he walks past.
ACE and NICKY are partially hidden behind a pillar by the slot-machines.)
ACE: What are you doin'? You gotta get out of here!
NICKY: Hey, Sammy, tell this Jew motherfucker over here to pay that marker.
ACE: Nicky, Nicky, you're not listenin' to me. I'm here to help you. What's the matter with you? You're gonna bury us both.
NICKY: Just give me the money. Fuckin' give me the fuckin' money, Sammy.
ACE: I'm gonna okay you ten and get you even, and that's it. Then you got to get out of here before the cops and the newspapers are all over you.
(To the PIT BOSS, holding up ten fingers.)
Ten and that's it.
(He makes a throat cutting gesture with his hand. ACE leaves. NICKY turns to walk back to the table. He sees SHERBERT standing right behind him.)
NICKY: What are you starin' at, you bald-headed Jew prick?!
(Before SHERBERT can answer, NICKY grabs the receiver off a wall phone and hits him across the face and back. SHERBERT falls to the floor. NICKY pulls the cradle off the pillar and tosses it down on his back. He and MARINO walk back to the table, SHERBERT winces on the floor in shock.)
Sue me, you Jew fuck!
MARINO: Let's get out of here.
NICKY: What? Get out of here? I got a marker comin'.
(He puts some chips down on the table.)
(To DEALER) Deal.

OSCAR: I know, but everything's changed now. You're talking about a divorce. You're even asking for alimony payments and . . . child support . . . and now custody.
GINGER: I just want what any divorced woman would get.
ACE: I mean she's only sober about two hours a day. It's usually from eleven in the morning until one in the afternoon. And if I gave her her money and her jewels now, you know what she's gonna do? She's gonna piss it all away in about a year, and then where will she be? (To GINGER.) Where would you be then? Comin' right back to me, right back to me. (To OSCAR.) Or finding some other excuse to come and I - I -
GINGER: (To ACE) We had a deal. Remember that? (To OSCAR.) He said if it didn't work out between us, that I could get my things and I could leave.
ACE: (To GINGER, leaning closer to her) Look in my eyes. Look in my eyes.
(GINGER turns to him.)
You know me. Do you see anything in these eyes that makes you think I would ever let someone in your condition take my child away from me? (Pause.) Do you? You know that won't happen.

ACE: (Voice-over) And after all this time . . . and as hard as I tried, as much as I wanted . . .

ACE: (Voice-over) . . . I could never reach her. I could never make her love me. I always felt she should have gone for all that money . . . being somebody for the first time in her life, a home and a kid. But that's not what happened. It just didn't work out that way.

ACE: (To the showgirls) Everything all right?

ACE: (Voice-over) I mean, what could we do? After a while, we'd just take breathers from each other. You know, little separations. At that time, I remember Ginger took Amy and went to Beverly Hills. She was gonna spend a week or so shopping.

(ACE picks up the phone at a make-up table.)
OPERATOR: (Over telephone) Yes, Mr Rothstein.
ACE: (Into telephone) Operator, the Beverly Hotel in Beverly Hills, please.

HOTEL OPERATOR: (Off-screen) Hello, Beverly Hotel.
ACE: (Off-screen) Mrs Sam Rothstein, please.
HOTEL OPERATOR: (Off-screen) I'm sorry. Mr and Mrs Rothstein have checked out already.
(Track back, as GINGER smiles, to reveal LESTER DIAMOND.)
LESTER: Hey.
(GINGER kisses LESTER.)

ACE: (Into telephone) M- Uh, Mr and Mrs Rothstein?

LESTER: (To AMY) Hey, little Dale Evans.
(GINGER laughs)
HOTEL OPERATOR: (Off-screen) Yes, they both checked out.

ACE: (Into telephone) Thank you. (He hangs up.)

ACE: (Into telephone) Hello.
FORLANO: (Over telephone) Yeah.
ACE: (Into telephone, sighs) Uh, my wife is w-with an old friend of her i-in LA.

ACE: (Over telephone) Some low-life. A guy named Lester Diamond.

ACE: (Into telephone) My daughter's with 'em too and I think they're gonna try and kidnap her. Is there anybody you can send?

FORLANO: (Into telephone) We'll take care of it.
(FORLANO hangs up and walks over to GAGGI. We hear the doorbell from the following scene.)

COUNT ROOM EXEC: (To ACE) We got a number and an address.

ACE: (Into telephone) Hello.
LESTER: (Over telephone) Hello.
ACE: (Into telephone) Yeah, is this Lester? This is Sam . . .

ACE: . . . Rothstein. I want to talk to Ginger. Put her on the phone.
LESTER: (Into telephone) She's not here, Sam.
ACE: (Over telephone) Lester . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . listen to me very carefully. I want to talk to Ginger. I want my kid back. I want her put on a plane immediately.

ACE: (Over telephone) I know she's there. Don't fuck around with me.
LESTER: (Into telephone) Uh, I'm not. Sam, I wouldn't . . .
(He snaps his fingers to get GINGER's attention.)
. . . wouldn't do it. Yeah, no, I, I . . .
(We see GINGER on LESTER's living-room couch, cutting lines of cocaine with a razor blade in front of AMY.)
GINGER: (Whispering to AMY) You shouldn't do this.
(LESTER steps up to the living-room snapping his fingers to GINGER. She looks up.)
ACE: (Over telephone) You understand? Put her on the fuckin' phone.
LESTER: (Into telephone) Sam, I - I don't know where she is, okay?

LESTER: (Over telephone) So, l-l-l-listen, I te- I te- I tell you - can I call you back in a few minutes?

ACE: (Over telephone) 702 472 1862.
LESTER: Mm-hm. (Pretending to write it down.) 1862. Okay, good. I'll call you right b-
ACE: (Over telephone) Right away.
LESTER: (Into telephone) I'll call you right back.

ACE: (Over telephone) Right back.

LESTER: (Into telephone) You got it. (He hangs up; then to himself as he walks through a doorway to the living-room) Schmuck. (To GINGER.) All right. I just bought us a few minutes. Want to get back at this prick? (He sticks his finger in the coke and rubs it on his gums.) Hm? Okay, you got, what, two million dollars in that box?
(GINGER snorts some cocaine.)
Hey . . . you got a minute? Hey. He's got two million in the box, am I right? Okay, you let him keep your jewels. We take the cash and the only other thing he cares about. (He points to AMY.) Huh? Her majesty. We go to Europe. You dye your hair, get some pl-
AMY: (Interrupts) I don't want to go to Europe. I want to go to see The Elephant Man.
LESTER: We're not gonna go see any fuckin' elephants, okay?
GINGER: (To AMY) We'll go later.
LESTER: (To AMY) We're going to Europe. Let the adults talk. (To GINGER.) You dye your hair . . . you get plastic surgery, like we talked about. Right? You're the mother. How much do you think he's gonna pay to get this fuckin' kid back?
AMY: I don't want to go to Europe.
LESTER: (To AMY) Shut your mouth!
(GINGER puts her hand over AMY's mouth.)
You know where she gets this from!
AMY: You shut up.
LESTER: No, you - You want me to come over there? I'll smack your face.
(AMY sticks her tongue out at LESTER.)
Don't give me any of your shit! (To GINGER.) Okay, this has always been a dream, but we're going.
GINGER: Lester - he called you here.
LESTER: Right.
GINGER: Here.
LESTER: He was just on the phone.
GINGER: (Sniffs) He called you right here.
LESTER: I just talked to him.
GINGER: (Sighs) So, he knows where you are. That means he's sending some guys over here probably right now.
LESTER: Ginger . . . it means he's sitting by the phone like a dumb-bell, waiting for me to call him back. Now, I -
GINGER: (Interrupting and getting up) That's - Yeah, he's sitting by the phone like a dumb-bell, just waiting for you to call him back. That's what he's -
LESTER: (Interrupting) He's sittin' by the phone -
GINGER: (Yelling) What do you think we're gonna do? He's probably got guys outside the fuckin' house!
GINGER: (Gathering AMY, hysterical) Get your bag! Come on, get your bag! Get your things! Let's go!
LESTER: It's this bullshit. It's just bullshit right here. This is the fuckin' problem, you know.
GINGER: (Hysterical) Oh, what bullshit? What, do you want to fuckin' talk it over now?
LESTER: You're done yakkin', okay? You're done yakkin' now?
GINGER: (Grabbing her purse and rushing AMY out) Go! Go! Get in the car! Go!
LESTER: (Mimicking GINGER) 'Go! Go! Go!'

NICKY: (Into telephone) You just relax. Nobody's killin' anybody, do you hear?
GINGER: (Over telephone) No, I really do. I think he's gonna kill me.
NICKY: (Into telephone) You just relax, and call me back here in exactly an hour, on this phone, and I'll see what I can do.
GINGER: (Over telephone) Yeah, uh-huh . . . Okay.

GINGER: (Into telephone) So, I'm gonna call you back in an hour . . . at this number, and you're gonna be there, right?
NICKY: (Over telephone) I'll be there.

NICKY: (Into telephone) And listen, don't do anything else crazy, okay? You all right? Okay.

GINGER: (Into telephone) Bye.
(She hangs up and walks over to LESTER and AMY who are fighting.)
Just knock it off! Would you two knock it off? Get in the car.
LESTER: She started it. She started the whole thing. I'm just standin' here.
(GINGER opens the driver's side door.)
You're not gonna drive. Don't even think you're gonna drive.
GINGER: No, I'm gonna drive.
LESTER: (Stopping GINGER) No, I'm not gonna drive with some crazy -
GINGER: (Yelling) You're driving me nuts! (She walks around to the passenger door.)
LESTER: Get in the passenger's side! And I'm sendin' this kid to Bolivia in a fuckin' box.

NICKY: Ginger -
(He's cut off by ACE who points to the passenger's side of his Cadillac. NICKY walks around and gets in. ACE starts the engine to make it harder for anyone to listen in on their conversation.
ACE turns the volume down. He looks straight ahead, away from NICKY.)
(After an awkward moment) Ginger called me.
ACE: (Polite, careful, smoking a cigarette) Yeah.
NICKY: I just told you. She called me.
ACE: And what'd she want?
NICKY: She was afraid to call you.
ACE: Yeah, she's with that cocksucker again . . . and they got Amy.
GINGER: Well, that's why I'm here. She wants to come back, but she's afraid you're gonna whack her out.
ACE: Yeah, they're gonna kidnap my kid. What do you want?
NICKY: I know. Why didn't you come to me? I mean, this is family, it ain't business. Meanwhile, you make calls back home. Sammy, it makes us look bad out here, you know what I mean? Back and forth, this one and that one, and, in the meantime, she's gone anyway. Am I right?
ACE: (Sighing) I don't know. What am I gonna do with this woman? I don't know . . . (Pause.) She's drivin' me fuckin' crazy.
NICKY: I think if you, uh, okay it, you know, assure her that she's gonna be all right, she'll come back.
ACE: She's driving me fuckin' crazy.
NICKY: Well, once you get her here, you think about it, you know? But get the kid back here. She wants to come back. That's the, uh, that's the main thing here. You want your kid, don't you? Huh?

ACE: (Over telephone) Hello.
GINGER: (Sighs, into telephone) Hi, it's me. (Chuckling.) Just who you wanted to talk to, right?
ACE: (Over telephone) Listen . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . uh-uh-uh - I'm not gonna ask you where you are, just please, put Amy on a plane. Just put her on right away, any plane to get her here right away . . .

ACE: (Over telephone) . . . please. That's all I'm askin' you.
GINGER: (Into telephone) Do you . . . I mean . . . I don't think she should go by herself.

ACE: (Sighs, into telephone) What do you mean?

GINGER: (Into telephone, holding back tears) What I mean is, you think if, uh, do you think if I came back . . . do you think you could forgive me?

ACE: (Into telephone) Uh (sighs), I don't know. I gotta tell you, I don't know.
GINGER: (Over telephone) Right.

GINGER: (Into telephone) I under-understand that. I-I know I fucked up.

ACE: (Into telephone) What about the money? Uh, where's the box?
GINGER: (Over telephone) I gotta tell ya . . .

GINGER: (Into telephone) . . . I-I . . . made some mistakes and I spent some money.
ACE: (Over telephone) What's it . . .

ACE: (Into telephone) . . . under?
GINGER: (Over telephone) Pretty serious.

ACE: (Over telephone) How serious?
GINGER: It's, uh, it's under twenty-five.
ACE: (Over telephone) It's under . . .