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Alan Yentob visits this dream city, the demon city, the mirage in the desert. A city that has starred in many movies and looks like a film-set in its own right, Las Vegas is living theatre; it's pop art.

Alan looks at the history of the neon lights and fantastical buildings, at the mythology and the reality of this strange and fascinating place that has always been a byword for bad taste.

The city was founded by the mob, and flourished on gambling, sex – and music. Alan talks to the producers and performers who remember the "golden days" when Sinatra and Dino held the stage. Hollywood mogul Jerry Weintraub was on the set of their original version of Ocean's 11 and tells of swapping the Rat Pack for the Brat Pack in his own Oceans 11 to 13.

Art critic Dave Hickey loves his home town: "People come here and look at the pyramid and say, it's a joke. And I say, 'Well, do you get it?' Las Vegas – the honest fake."