George’s Men’s Store

A sleepy block of downtown Coachella was transformed into 1940s Las Vegas for the filming of the 1991 gangster classic Bugsy. This stepped-roof storefront portrayed George’s, the “canker sore” of a casino that sparks Benjamin Siegel’s (Warren Beatty) ambition to build the Flamingo Hotel. The site originally housed George’s Men’s Store, a longtime Coachella Valley staple that first opened in 1946 and served the community for more than four decades. Fun fact: the movie signage remained in place until just a few years ago—and is still visible today via Google Street View. Elsewhere in the desert, the film’s Flamingo Hotel set was constructed on a dusty patch in nearby Ocotillo Wells, while the cast and crew made La Quinta Resort their home base during the two-week shoot.