VEGAS: THE CITY THE MOB MADE - DVD review

"When was the last time you were in Vegas?"
--George Clooney as Danny Ocean, "Ocean's Eleven."

Well, Mr. Ocean, it was April, 2009, my second visit. I'd been once before in 2002 for a basketball tournament and was consistently told I needed to return at age 21. I brought a longtime friend from college along who hadn't yet experienced Sin City. We ate well (buffet after buffet after buffet), walked everywhere (we stayed at New York-New York, so everything pretty much required a trek north up the Strip), saw high quality entertainment (Cirque de Soleil's "Zumanity," the spectacular rock-and-roll drama "Jersey Boys," and the Broadway classic "The Phantom of the Opera"), and had a great time during our three nights (if you've never been to Vegas, three nights is just about right for a first visit). After generously contributing to the local economy in southern Nevada, we returned home rich with memories and a desire to do it all over again.

Unsurprisingly, Vegas hasn't always been this way. In fact, during its history and "Golden Age," Vegas was about as typical as you might expect from a town in the developing American Southwest. This desert paradise has gone through significant changes over time, thanks to influence from mobsters, city planners, gangsters, local citizens, organized crime and organized communities. "Vegas: The City the Mob Made" opens a window into the past and unlocks a door with a key to the present. This isn't the best documentary on an American city you'll ever see, and although it takes an episode or two to warm up, my guess is you'll be somewhat interested or entertained (perhaps both, if you're lucky).

The series is broken into ten episodes and spread over two discs. It isn't uncommon to see the filmmakers duplicate or reuse materials you saw in an earlier episode, meaning they sought continuity and consistency or were underfunded (again, perhaps it's both). Each episode has the same opening two-minute sequence with a nighttime Strip flyover and narration, and the same experts tout their unique personal experiences and knowledge throughout. There is a solid blend of personal stories and hard facts, which gives a different degree of credibility to this work. It lacks not in content, but in presentation. The first four episodes feel like traditional documentaries, and in a series about not just Vegas, but the Mob's significant influence therein, I had different expectations. When I think "Vegas," certain images and perceptions drift into my brain. The same happens when I think "Mob," and I was excited about how this feature might play with a viewer's perceptions and present a unique product. Instead, this series feels quite conventional, while "Vegas" and "Mob" scream unconventional. Although it didn't mesh for me, the content and structure are on point. As I stated, the issue is with presentation.

Here's an episode breakdown and quick synopsis (some of the titles are pretty self-explanatory):

Episode 1 – The Mob Before Las Vegas (they spent most of their time in New York)

Episode 2 – Las Vegas Before the Mob (yeah, there wasn't much out there)

Episode 3 – The Mob Comes to Las Vegas (they really started in the 1920s and 1930s)

Episode 4 – Las Vegas' Golden Age (that'd be between the end of World War II to 1960)

Episode 5 – On Top of the World (bigger acts, more tourists and higher revenues)

Episode 6 – Las Vegas Becomes a Modern City (extravagance and technology start creeping in)

Episode 7 – Vegas Reinvents Itself (the old Mob fades, but the new Mob expands)

Episode 8 – The End of Mob Rule in Las Vegas (the 1980s)

Episode 9 – Corporate Vegas (the beginning of Vegas as we know it today)

Episode 10 – Las Vegas – America's Third City (the twenty-first century)

Early on, we learn it was ironically the Mormons who first settled in Vegas (aside from Natives who had a presence, a Mexican trader named Rafael Rivera who called the area "Vegas" ["the springs"] and traders, fur trappers and explores travelling between New Mexico and California), attracted to the natural spring water sources nearby. Early efforts to harness these water resources were coupled with some work on the converting the Natives, but all changed in 1864 when the southern tip of Nevada was formally linked with the rest of the state and removed from Arizona territory. Vegas developed slowly after this (in 1900, the city's population was a whopping 20 persons), but more or less remained in the "old west" persona. There weren't a ton of hotels, but the gambling and alcohol were plentiful as the city retained a mining town feel. Vegas was formally founded on May 15, 1905.

As the railroads grew throughout the west, Vegas expanded its downtown into the Fremont Street district and increased its production of alcohol throughout the prohibition years (according to the disc, no one in 1920s Vegas really thought getting rid of alcohol made sense, including the police chief, mayor and city officials). By now, the population had grown to 2,304 and the Great Depression had sunk in. In another ironic twist, the Depression helped Vegas out. Folks seemed to want a place that wasn't horribly impacted and provided cheap fun and entertainment, plus it brought an appropriation from President Herbert Hoover to build the Boulder (later changed to Hoover) Dam. All those workingmen needed three things that Vegas provided: booze, sex and gambling. Once the state legalized gambling in 1931, the population soared to 25,000. Four years later the dam was finished, and soon the city entered its Golden Age. With the 1950s came some of the big casinos and hotels you may recognize: the Sahara, the Sands, the Showboat, the Last/New Frontier, the Riviera and the Tropicana.

Vegas continually grew in population and star power. Names like Frank Sinatra, Wayne Newton, Liberace, Zsa Zsa Gabor and more made an appearance or two in casino theaters to perform and be seen. All the while, the Mob is working in the background to make money and keep its own unique version of peace. The masterminds were Meyer Lansky (he had a major role in the "skimming" part of things, as the Mob collected its share of daily take from the casinos it ran and distributed funds however it wanted), Bugsy Siegel (instrumental in constructing the first real Strip casino, the Flamingo, which brought in major Mob paydays) and Charles "Lucky" Luciano (he really got going in New York during prohibition, and brought his passion for breaking the law but doing it with dignity out west). These three men were practically all of the Vegas Mob, yet the series portrays them as family men who cared about their businesses and families before anything else. In fact, if you spent any money in a Vegas casino between 1945 and 1969, it's very possible some of these fine gents got their hands on it.

Fast forward to the 1980s, where Lansky, Siegel and Luciano had dwindled, and a new, more violent era of organized crime surfaced. Men like Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro were the new fellows running the show, and as the documentary points out, Vegas was nowhere near the same. In fact, violent crime went up, citizens felt less safe, and tourist numbers dropped. The MGM Grand had a fire that killed 87 people, while death threats, body parts and car bombs weren't uncommon. But per city, county and state government, rules soon changed allowing public corporations to have Vegas casino and hotel ownership, which is essentially where we stand in Vegas today. Except for Steve Wynn (he owns the Wynn and Encore), the bulk of entertainment is corporate owned and operated.

Mobsters, "skimming," and business aside, I'd argue the Vegas story is a quick one by history's standards. This series tells it in a pretty direct manner, and there isn't a ton of fluff attached. Pretty surprising considering the city profiled is often over the top and extra indulgent. Throughout the episodes, the message of how different (and, some argue, better) Vegas was under Mob control is conveyed early and often. Things were simple, locals were happy and all had a stake in keeping things in the family. The documentary conveys the message that the change over time in Vegas has slid in a different direction, and perhaps when putting this set together the filmmakers wanted to keep it simple to pay homage to those who made Vegas what it was decades ago. They'd have been more successful if the narration didn't read like a book on tape and expert interviews didn't sound so rehearsed that I could practically predict what facial expression or hand gesture the interviewee was making with my eyes closed.

Alas, the ultimate irony of this set (aside from the Mormons settling Sin City and the Great Depression being beneficial) is that it over simplifies the complexities of a city where extravagance is king, queen, prince, princess and the entire Royal Family. The package is the product in any Strip hotel or casino you walk into, but the packaging for "Vegas: The City the Mob Made" simply doesn't support what had the potential to be a higher quality product.

Video:
The episodes are presented in a full-screen format, about what you'd expect. Throughout, the picture quality is average, but what's most frustrating is that the Vegas life doesn't pop out at you. Neon lights, water fountains and extravagant interiors don't shine to their true potential in any episode. Most of the black and white photos and video we see isn't all that bad, and it does give a historic feel to the piece. The lighting is consistent in the interviews held with Vegas experts (after all, Vegas gets over 350 days of sun annually), and although it's all pretty clear, I felt something was missing.

Audio:
While the narration is crisp and clear throughout, some of the interviews required me to grab my remote and go up a few notches. Much of the archival footage this documentary includes either lacked its own sound or had very poor quality, and that's too bad. I tend to think hearing it from the horse's mouth is the best way to go, especially if you're talking about a place that works all five senses to the bone. Like the video, something is missing here.

Extras:
None are advertised on the case, but there are a few on disc two. You'll find a time line of Vegas as a city and the Mob's involvement (it's surprisingly detailed), a photo slide show of some famous mobsters and casinos, plus two trailers for other Mill Creek Entertainment documentaries. Still, I expected more in a series this rich with content.

A Final Word:
You'll find plenty of opinions, facts, legends and history throughout this set. It isn't presented in the best possible way, but it does tell a story you likely wouldn't hear unless you sought it out yourself. The set tends to imply that the Mob was the biggest influence in Vegas development, but that's probably debatable. At any rate, I suggest you watch this set on an airplane or car en route to Vegas itself. After a few episodes, you'll want to experience it yourself for the first time. Or second. Or third. Or…?