They had to use fronts to get their men in to run everything. But while they ran the casinos, they didn't run the town. Until the early 1980s, The Mafia had a huge stake in Las Vegas. Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone, who earned a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for her role as Ginger.