Las Vegas: An Unconventional History

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1 General Information
2 Cover
3 Information
- 3.1 Sin City
- 3.2 American Mecca
4 Screenshots
5 Technical Specs
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[edit] General Information

History Documentary hosted by Michael Murphy, published by PBS in 2005 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Las Vegas: An Unconventional History From film-maker Stephen Ives and Emmy Award-winning writer Michelle Ferrari, this fascinating two-part documentary, chronicles the history of the city that has become synonymous with unbridled excess. From a dusty railroad town in the middle of nowhere, Las Vegas has grown into one of the world's premier tourist destinations. Once considered beyond the pale of respectable society, Las Vegas is now a cornerstone of mainstream leisure, attracting more visitors than the holy city of Mecca. Peopled with unlikely heroes and villains, the film looks at the figures that shaped the Las Vegas we know today, from gangsters such as Bugsy Siegel to top entertainers such as the Rat Pack, not forgetting the less well-known characters that have been drawn to this desert fantasyland in search of the American dream. The film also explores the forces that have kept the city a few paces ahead of mainstream America. Las Vegas was the first city to legalise gambling, one of the first to abolish racial segregation, the first city to make atomic testing a tourist attraction, and is perhaps the only city whose dazzling main street can be seen from outer space. Las Vegas has adapted its image to reflect the changing attitudes of the nation, consistently anticipating and fulfilling the needs and desires of Americans

[edit] Sin City

Well-heeled mobsters, glamorous showgirls, fantastical mega-casinos, dazzling neon displays -- it's the world's most famous monument to reckless abandon and unbridled excess. From a dusty railroad town in the middle of nowhere, Las Vegas has grown into one of the world's premier tourist destinations. Once shunned as "Sin City" and considered beyond the pale of respectable society, it is now the epicenter of mainstream leisure, attracting more visitors than the holy city of Mecca.American Experience steps into the world of bright lights and back-room deals to illuminate what makes Las Vegas perhaps the most American city in the country

[edit] American Mecca

At mid-century, Las Vegas was by far the strangest city in America -- a city built in the middle of the desert, where the main commercial district was comprised not of offices or banks, but hotels, where businesses operated 24 hours a day, raking in enormous profits from gambling -- an activity outlawed everywhere else in the nation and where many of the leading citizens were neither politicians nor priests but convicted criminals and professional racketeers -- men with longstanding ties to the mob. Founded as a railroad town back in 1905, Las Vegas had made its mark as a place of illicit desire, a refuge from the laws and values that held sway in the rest of the country. But now, as social revolution swept the old rules aside, the forbidden allure of Sin City would begin to fade -- and Las Vegas would lose its way. Amazingly, when it rose again, the city would no longer be at the fringes of American life, but at its very heart.