Some popular casino scenes in movies

There have been popular casino film scenes throughout much of cinema history, with a notable one from the Hollywood golden age coming in the 1942 Michael Curtiz classic Casablanca. Roulette is the game but, beyond the money, it is the destiny of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) that is at stake. When he decided to fix the game at his own club to help the young couple attempting to escape from Casablanca, he overcomes his own cynicism – which ultimately leads him to join the fight against the Nazis.

Moving forward to the 1960s and the first movie in the James Bond franchise – Dr No (1962) uses a casino scene to introduce the character of 007 to us. The setting is the baccarat tables at Le Cercle, and Bond (Sean Connery) announces himself to Miss Trench – and the audience – with the legendary line: “my name is Bond – James Bond.” As a scene it also serves to introduce us to the whole Bond world of high roller casino glamour, making it the perfect piece of scene setting. The 1980s saw Rain Man hit cinemas, and added another very famous casino scene to celluloid history. When Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and Charlie (Tom Cruise) hit Vegas to play blackjack, we get an insight into Raymond autism (through his card counting skills and hatred of the noise and flashing lights) and Charlie’s greed and selfishness.

Movies released in more recent times have also produced their fair share of popular casino scenes, such as the famous blackjack scene from the remake of Ocean’s Eleven by Stephen Soderbergh released in 2001. Featuring Matt Damon pretending to be a casino regulator and Bernie Mac as a furious blackjack dealer accused of rigging the game, Mac delivers the line: “might as well call it whitejack”, which is one of the most memorable lines in the sharp script of the film. If you want to play the games seen in these films, visit an online casino and play now.

Guest article by: Tom Shannon

Coming from Sheffield, Tom’s hobbies include writing and recording music, and creating video games. He also runs events to do with video games where people come to watch tournaments. Tom is currently studying in his final year at university.