Trivia / Bugsy

• California Doubling: Las Vegas is doubled by Palm Desert and La Quinta, California, since the real Las Vegas is far too developed.
• Casting Gag: Joe Mantegna, who is best known for his gangster roles in films, plays George Raft, an Hollywood actor who was himself typecast as a gangster in the 1930s and 40s.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Siegel was in his mid-30's when he went out to Vegas and was 41 when he died, played by Warren Beatty who was well into his 50's.
  • The real Harry Greenberg died at age 30. Elliott Gould was 53 at the time of filming.
• Referenced by...: Gunnerkrigg Court has a character named Bugsy. In-universe, she got her name from someone looking at a Bugsy DVD.
• Romance on the Set: Warren Beatty married Annette Bening just after they finished the film.
• Saved from Development Hell: Jean-Luc Godard had first conceived of the project in The '70s, intending to cast Robert De Niro as Siegel and Diane Franklin as Hill. Before that, Tony Curtis was lined up to play the role.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Screenwriter James Toback's original script, which totaled over 400 pages, disappeared after he'd worked on it for over six years. He had to rewrite a new one from scratch.
  • Michelle Pfeiffer was originally cast as Virginia Hill, but dropped out. Ellen Barkin was also offered the role.
  • Warren Beatty originally played the role with a thick New York accent, but Levinson told him to drop it.

---