This movie shows Bugsy Siegel watching a screentest of himself. In real life, Siegel made many friends amongst the Hollywood elite, asked for, and had a screentest. The footage no longer exists, like so many other screentests, yet the legend of Siegel's attempt to break into showbiz lives on.
The movie that George Raft (Joe Mantegna) is making while Bugsy Siegel visits him on the set is Fulminati (1941), which co-starred Edward G. Robinson. The scene being filmed where Raft gets into a bar fight and hands a broken chair to an actress (Virginia Hill (Annette Bening)) really appeared in the actual movie.
One of three movies released in 1991 that featured Bugsy Siegel as a character. The other two were Bella, bionda... e dice sempre sì (1991) and L'impero del crimine (1991).
Most of the Las Vegas scenes of the Flamingo construction were filmed near Palm Desert and La Quinta, California, where a full-sized replica of the Flamingo was built.
Real estate mogul Del E. Webb, portrayed in this movie by Andy Romano, was the main contractor for the building of the Flamingo. Many years later, Webb would recall a moment in which he and Bugsy Siegel were alone, and Bugsy confided in Webb, "Y'know... I've probably killed at least a dozen guys." When Webb became uneasy, he said Bugsy then laughed and added, "But you've got nothing to worry about, Del. We [gangsters] only kill each other."
Barry Levinson: [Ralph Tabakin] Ralph (elevator operator) has appeared in every Levinson picture from A cena con gli amici (1982) to Liberty Heights (1999).