Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein in Casino (1995)
Vitals
Robert De Niro as Sam “Ace” Rothstein, Vegas casino executive and mob associate
Las Vegas, Fall 1980
Film: Casino
Release Date: November 22, 1995
Director: Martin Scorsese
Costume Design: Rita Ryack & John A. Dunn
Background
Today’s Mafia Monday post is the final in a two-week streak where, for no reason at all, I chose only to feature movies and TV shows beginning with the letter “C”.
This scene in Casino finds Sam “Ace” Rothstein anxious waiting for his daughter’s return from the airport after she was kidnapped by her drug-addicted mother Ginger (Sharon Stone) and Ginger’s boyfriend and former pimp Lester (James Woods). After happily picking up his daughter and reluctantly greeting Ginger, the “happy” couple heads to Oscar’s Steakhouse at the Plaza Hotel for an attempted reconciliation dinner.
What’d He Wear?
Ace Rothstein’s plaid suit for his “reunion” with Ginger after she absconded with their daughter is one of the most vibrant of his many outfits in the whole movie, and it is sadly underfeatured given its uniqueness.
The silk suiting is a blue and muted hunter green large-scale plaid, boldly worn over a dark red silk monochromatic shirt and tie combo with a touch of red popping from the matching display kerchief. You know Ace is very proud of his suit, as he mocks Lester for his taste in clothing while driving Ginger to the restaurant:
First of all, he’s not gonna wear thousand dollar suits. But let’s say he did, which he won’t. How you gonna get fitted for twenty-five suits in three days? I mean, how could you get fitted that fast? I can’t get fitted that fast, and I pay twice as much.
Ace’s suit jacket, which evidently is part of his $2,000 suit, is single-breasted with the distinctive cran Necker-style fishmouth lapels seen on some of his other jackets earlier in the film such as his salmon pink jacket and his burnt orange jacket. The shoulders are wide and padded with roped sleeveheads. The two-button jacket has a welted breast pocket and hip pockets with pointed flaps. It appears to have a single button on each cuff and long double vents, similar to Ace’s other suit jackets.
The suit trousers have a darted or flat front with frogmouth pockets, a fitted waistband, and slightly flared plain-hemmed bottoms.
I’d hate to be the server that had to deal with their table that night.
Anto Beverly Hills designed all of De Niro’s beautiful silk shirts and ties in Casino, often based on the fabrics and designs specified by Ace’s real life counterpart, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal. The shirt and tie in this scene were made from the same dark red silk with the shinier satin side used for the tie and the duller side used for the shirting. The shirt is very ’70s-inspired with its long point collar and distinctive single-button extended-tab cuffs developed by Ted Lapidus.
Earlier in the film, Ace wore this same red shirt and tie combination with an ivory Western-themed suit when confronting Ginger and Lester in a Vegas diner. In a post describing that suit, I suggested that perhaps Ace chose to wear that outfit again here to subtly remind Ginger about Lester’s violent treatment that afternoon…
“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him last time… lucky he’s fucking living. And if you had stayed with him, and you would have run away, you would have been dead, both of you. Dead! Dead!”
Ace isn’t one for polite dinner conversation.
Ace’s footwear is likely black leather loafers with dark socks, possibly black although Ace isn’t above popping some complementary colors into his hosiery. (Ibraheem Youssef’s distinctive poster illustrating all of Ace’s suits and odd jackets represents his shoes as burgundy, possibly to match the shirt.)
This is one of the few cold-weather outfits in the film as Ace sports the same black wool overcoat for the airport pickup as he does later over his red silk sportcoat. If it is the same jacket, it’s single-breasted with notch lapels, three buttons, a single vent, and wide, padded shoulders.
Ace goes from relief to rage.
But even if you bought him a watch, a really nice watch, one that he thought was nice – and he doesn’t know what the fuck a good watch is – so, you go, five, ten, twelve grand?
Ace can’t resist insulting Lester at every opportunity (and, given the circumstances, why should he resist?), and part of his cross-examination of Ginger includes trying to figure out how much the sleazy hustler would have spent on a watch. Ace’s own watch in this scene is likely one of the vintage Bueche Girod pieces sourced for the production, a flat yellow gold watch with a plain red square dial and gold link bracelet.
The colors of the wristwatch are nicely called out by his pinky ring, a 14-carat yellow gold ring with a ruby stone. Ace wears both the watch and ring on his right hand.
How to Get the Look
Ace livens up a somber dinner out with his bold blue, green, and red outfit… the perfect ensemble for a restaurant that prides itself on its “Beef, Booze, and Broads.”
- Blue-and-green plaid silk suit, consisting of:
- Single-breasted 2-button jacket with fishmouth lapels, welted breast pocket, pointed-flap hip pockets, 1-button cuffs, and long double vents
- Darted front trousers with fitted waistband, frogmouth front pockets, and slightly flared plain-hemmed bottoms
- Dark red dull silk dress shirt with large point collar, front placket, and 1-button “Lapidus” tab squared cuffs
- Dark red satin silk necktie
- Black leather apron-toe slip-on loafers with high vamps and raised heels
- Black dress socks
- Black wool single-breasted 3-button overcoat with notch lapels, welted breast pocket, hip pockets, single back vent
- Yellow gold wristwatch with a rectangular case, red dial, and flat link bracelet
- Yellow gold 14-carat pinky ring with ruby stone
For an added touch of bold luxury, Ace wears a dark red silk display kerchief to match his shirt and tie.
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Buy the movie.
The Quote
You’re lookin’ at me a certain way. You – you’re teary-eyed, huh? You’re upset. You’re a good actress, you know that? Good fuckin’ actress.
