The Real Las Vegas (DVD, 2001)

I bought this originally because I'm an Elvis fan - and I was happy to see some brief but extremely rare footage of Elvis (offstage) in Las Vegas in the 50's. I was also happy to see some good coverage of Elvis's triumphant return to Vegas in 1969, and his marked impact on the city through his last engagement there in '76. I would have liked to seen another two to three minutes on this subject, with more specifics on his economic, entertainment, and demographic impact on the city - but what was there was good and at least got the main point across.
Regarding all the non-Elvis content - I thought the documentary was interesting throughout, never really dragged, and was quite watchable as documentaries go. I was somewhat aware already that Las Vegas's sheer size and growth were highly improbable, and that its' path to success and notoriety was often troubled and uncertain - but I came away from watching it almost surprised that it ever became what it has become. It's kind of hard to believe, especially given that it's out in the desert, that they were able to harvest a sufficient water supply to feed the insatiable demand. You wonder when they will reach a point were they have grown too much and have to throttle back. Really kind of fascinating, with its seedy, often corrupt past, and it's often decadent present - the role that Mormons played in the business management end of things. It's all there, from the original Indian settlers, to the Hoover Dam project, the first and latter visionaries, early prostitution, easy marriages and divorces, the mob and organized crime, the corporate interests that came in later, the first entertainers who defined its culture, the later stars, the evolution of gambling..really interesting.