American Mafia: The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in Las Vegas

This documentary shows the deep, comprehensive history of Las Vegas and the criminal underbelly that helped shape the city. Narrated by director Mark Curran and including interviews with various experts, this subject makes for a great documentary!

This documentary repeats itself so many times it's really laughable. How many people do we need to tell us how the "Hole in the wall" gang got its name? Well evidently it's three times by three different people back to back. This thing feels like it's on loop. If it has one good fact, it has every interviewee repeat it over and over again. It feels like when my high school teacher said I needed to write a 1500 word essay and I've only got 500 words of content. Also, for a documentary that beats a dead horse over and over again, we really don't need to hear the name of every single person's first and last name that committed every single crime and made every single purchase. I feel like the interviewees are just showing off the fact that they know all these name, even though that have absolutely no relevance to the main stories. The only more infuriating documentary that got me to write a review like this was "The Spirit of the Pony Express."

This documentary does not receive a passing grade from a high school film editor.

This gem of a documentary looks into the genesis of Las Vegas from desert land to a place of glamour where celebrities rubbed shoulders with mobsters. It follows events in a chronological order highlighting the 2 masterminds behind Sin City. The interviews and cool footage work a chronic of times when men not corporations ran the world of high stake gambling. If you are a fan of Vegas and Gangster stories this documentary will not disappoint.

For what it covered it was interesting. It didn't cover organized crime in Las Vegas during prohibition. Totally skipped that for some reason. I also didn't like that they sometimes jumped around chronologically but failed to give a reference. It was only because I was already familiar with Vegas history that I knew when they were covering.

The second half seemed like they started running out of material to meet the total time for the show. They repeated things like explaining the Hole in the Wall Gang it seemed like many times.

They did cover some things more in depth which made most of this show interesting. Could have been better but worth a watch if really interested in Vegas history. There is also the Vegas history the local PBS station has been posting on YouTube that is excellent and covers some of the same.

Anyone who is a fan of Bugsy, Casino, and The Godfather I and II would love this documentary. It mines all that Mafia lore those films touch on, but goes much deeper. Though the film is anything but a glorification of organized crime, it's nonetheless a fascinating history. Especially fun to see all the famous people who, even if tangentially, connected to the mob through shows in Vegas. A very smart and entertaining look at a really interesting subject.