拉斯维加斯（2005）（上）

‘里维埃拉’‘沙丘’
and the Riviera and the Dunes,
还有‘康纳’ 和‘星尘’
then the Tropicana and the Stardust.
有时 盛装开幕只相隔几个星期
At times,the gala openings were just weeks apart.
在那十年末期
And by the end of the decade,
那一带的高速公路被霓虹灯照得通亮
the swath of highway would be so lit up with neon
在50英里外都看得到
that it was visible from 50 miles away.
结果是黑帮很快就意识到
THOMSON: What happens is the mob quickly realized
那是个有大赚头的事情
that it's an enormously lucrative thing,
会出现好多的赌场
that there could be many casinos.
他们也意识到游客们
And they also realized that tourists,
将听说到拉斯维加斯
they're going to hear about Las Vegas
这里将是吸引人的 浪漫迷人的
and it's going to be exotic and romantic and glamorous.
WOMAN: ?Well,all right...okay...you win...?
在谋求游客掏腰包时
NARRATOR: In the quest for tourist dollars,
没有噱头太奇怪了
no gimmick was too bizarre.
?Okay... you win... ?
在‘金沙’
NARRATOR: At the Sands,
有一年一度的原♥子♥弹♥小姐选美大赛
there was an annual Miss Atomic Bomb beauty contest.
‘新边疆’则在游泳池底安装玻璃房♥
The New Frontier installed a glass-enclosed chamber at the bottom of its swimming pool,
让游客能够边用鸡尾酒
so that guests could enjoy their cocktails
边兴赏水下秀
with an underwater view.
?It's just got to be that way. ?
一位公♥关♥甚至摆弄起在酒店的泳池里
NARRATOR: One publicist even toyed with the idea
填满果冻
of filling a hotel pool with Jell-O,
但随后绝望的维修工程师制止了把戏
before a desperate maintenance engineer put a stop to the stunt.
度假村的业主们吹捧长街是好莱坞的娱乐场
Resort owners touted the Strip as Hollywood's playground
让自己的旅馆走进新闻
and kept their hotels in the news
通过让新闻界定期接触他们的明星
by offering the press regular access to their stars.
?Well, all right ?
?Okay ?
?You win. ?
( 歌♥曲结束 )
不同于弗里蒙特街上生意清淡的赌场
NARRATOR: And unlike the barebones casinos on Fremont Street,
长街度假村吸引顾客上赌桌
the Strip resorts lured patrons to the tables
用的是奢侈和娱乐的手段：
with an irresistible concoction of luxury and diversion:
豪华住宿
posh accommodations,
常绿的高尔夫球场
eternally green golf courses,
奢华午夜自助餐
lavish midnight buffets.
然而最吊胃口的是表演
But the biggest draw was the shows.
灵感来自金沙 它最先聘请了
Inspired by the Sands,which had been the first to hire
顶级的娱乐总监
a top-flight entertainment director,
新度假地从东西海岸最热门的夜♥总♥会♥
the new resorts poached managers
挖来经理人 委托他们预订全国最耀眼的明星
from the hottest nightclubs on both coasts and charged them with booking the brightest stars in the country.
在50年代中期 长街的舞台向一位记者
By the mid-'50s,the Strip marquees boasted
吹嘘道:
what one reporter called
大老板挑人的范围
"a wider choice of top-banana talent
甚至要比百老汇还宽
than could be found even on Broadway."
突然间 化上一杯咖啡的钱
Suddenly,for the price of a cup of coffee,
来拉斯维加斯的游客可以看上
visitors to Las Vegas could catch the kind of act
以前只有在屏幕上才能看到的表演
they had only seen on the silver screen.
诺埃尔.科沃德被雇佣来这里
THOMSON: Noel Coward is hired to come here,
这个想法 这个新地方
and the idea that,boy,that place,this new place,
这个爆发之地可以让诺埃尔.科沃德...
this upstart place can get Noel Coward...
迪特里希过来...
And Dietrich came...
还有朱迪.加兰
and Judy Garland,
演艺圈的传奇人物
and,you know,people who were major showbiz legends came
成功地赚了很多钱
and had smash hits for a lot of money.
美国其它地方 甚至纽约
NARRATOR: Nowhere else in America,not even New York,
演出者的收入没这么好
were performers paid so well--
每周多达5万美元
as much as $50,000 for a one-week stand.
明星们轮流大做自己在拉斯维加斯的演出广♥告♥
The stars,in turn,plugged their Vegas gigs
他们一直都出现在电视上
every time they appeared on TV.
安排非常地互惠互利 事实上
The arrangement was so mutually beneficial,in fact,
在50年代中期
that by the mid-1950s,
娱乐业的报纸 各种各样的
the entertainment industry's newspaper,Variety,
发现有必要
found it necessary
在拉斯维加斯设立专职的记者站了
to station a full-time correspondent in Las Vegas.
随着竞争的展开
As the competition in town mounted
明星云集的作品的价格飙升
and the price of star-studded productions soared,
一些度假村用包装来制♥造♥关键的吸引力
some resorts made skin their headline attraction.
每过一个月
With each passing month,
当地演出的服装越来越露
costumes in local revues grew skimpier,
最后 在1957年
until finally,in 1957,
沙丘舞台上的演出干脆袒胸了
the dancers at the Dunes appeared onstage topless.
‘漂亮女孩出♥售♥’一位拉斯维加斯的出资人解释道
"Pretty girls sell," one Las Vegas promoter explained.
‘你要有办法吸引人的眼球’
"You need to do something to get people's attention."
但是表演永远不会超过花絮
But the entertainment was never more than a sidelight--
‘聪明的商业炒作’生活杂♥志♥写到
"a smart business hype," noted LIFE magazine,
‘那是招揽生意’
"that brings gambling patrons in."
女演员塔卢拉赫.班克海德把问题说得更透：
Actress Tallulah Bankhead put the matter more baldly:
‘亲爱的’她曾经对一位记者说
"Darling," she once said to a reporter,
‘我们只是历史上薪酬最高的托’
"we're just the highest-paid shills in history."
对于赌场老板来说 这个投资非常值得
To the casino owners,it was an investment well worth making.
由于增加了丽人 压倒性地博得观众欢心
With the odds stacked overwhelmingly in favor of the house,
他们稳赚大钱了
they stood to make a fortune.
他们要做的一切就是开门迎客
All they had to do was get people in the door.
至少有些美国人 被证明是不请自来
Some Americans,at least,proved more than willing to be taken.
TONY BENNETT: ?I know I'd go from rags to riches ?
?If you would only say you care. ?
你到这里来
COOPER: You came here,
就是通过来这里表达一下
and just by coming here you were making a statement.
有点点勇敢 有点点前卫
You were a little bit gamy,you were a little bit on the edge.
那就是美国通俗文化真正的新概念
And that was a real novel concept in American popular culture.
那是国家第一次承认你作为成人
It was the first national permission granted to you
去做你平常不做但想做的事情
to be an adult and to do things that you might not ordinarily do but you wanted to do,
我认为那就是驱动拉斯维加斯的
and I think that was really kind of the intoxicant
真正醉人之处
that drove Las Vegas.
到1955年 拉斯维加斯一年
NARRATOR: By 1955,Las Vegas was reeling in
吸引的游客估计达到700万人
an estimated seven million visitors a year--
超过了华盛顿纪念碑 总统山
more than the Washington Monument,Mount Rushmore,
黄石国家公园和科罗拉多大峡谷的总和
Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon combined.
很少有人敢于拒绝长街
Few if any of them ever ventured off the Strip,
疯狂的成人游乐场
the frenetic adult playground
现在已经给拉斯维加斯冠上了‘罪恶之城’的名字
that had now given Las Vegas the moniker "Sin City."
BENNETT: ?My fate is up to you...?
我认为那个拉斯维加斯是美国精神阴暗面的概念
MAN: I think this notion that Vegas is a place where the underside of the American psyche
可以自我表述更加多一点
could express itself a little more,
可以摆脱困境 因为
could come out from under the rock,as it were,
已经存在了很长时间了
has been there for a long time.
拉斯维加斯已经打造成
Las Vegas was created
这个地方的好人里有人可能会有变坏
as this place in which sort of good people could be bad
但是不可能变样的
and yet not lose any points for doing so.
这里所发生的一切是不会计较的
That whatever happens here doesn't count.
我上班途中赌
MAN: I'd gamble on the way to work
下班后赌
and I'd gamble after work.
在上班途中 想钱的话
On my way to work,if I wanted some money,
就不去上班了
I wouldn't go to work.
我回家时
Then I'd go home
骗我的女友 我在加班
and lie to my girlfriend that I'd worked overtime
或者车子抛锚了 或其他什么事
or my car had broke down or something.
我生活在谎言里 知道吗
I was living quite a lie,you know.
我叫兰迪
MAN: My name's Randy.
我是个嗜赌如命
I'm a compulsive gambler.
我最后一把是在6月9日
My last bet was June 9...
有名的一天
the famous day.
我叫鲍勃 是个上瘾的赌徒
I'm Bob,and I'm a compulsive gambler.
我叫克莉丝 是个上瘾的赌徒
My name is Chris,I'm a compulsive gambler.
我以上赌场 就着迷了
WOMAN: When I was out there gambling,I was just crazy.
我是说 我会把我刚出生的儿子扔在家里不管
I mean,I would leave my newborn son
...那时12岁...
at home with my 12-year-old at the time
关心着回家
t caring about going home,
其它什么都不管
not caring about anything.
你不会走进 7-11便利店 或 安宾超商
RANDY: You can't walk into a 7-Eleven
或其它什么地方 因为那里没有老虎机
or ampm or anyplace else without there being slots.
杂货铺里有老虎机
The grocery stores have slots.