Main Cast: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, George Raft, Boris Karloff
Release Year: 1932
Country: US
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
Completed in mid-1930, Scarface, based on Armitage Trail's novel of the same name, might have been the first of the great talkie gangster flicks, but it was held up for release until after that honor was jointly usurped by Little Caesar and Public Enemy. Paul Muni stars as prohibition-era mobster Tony Camonte, a character obviously patterned on Al Capone (whose nickname was "Scarface"). The homicidal Camonte ruthlessly wrests control of the bootlegging racket from his boss, Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins), and claims Lovo's mistress, Poppy (Karen Morley), in the bargain. But while Poppy satisfies him sexually, Tony has a soft spot in his heart only for his sister Cesca (Ann Dvorak). The film's finale is one of the longest and bloodiest of the 1930s, maintaining suspense and concern for the characters involved even though Muni has deliberately done nothing to make Tony likeable to audience. The grimness of Scarface is leavened by a few choice moments of black humor. Forced to leave a stage production of Rain in order to commit a murder, Tony returns to his theater seat and anxiously asks his buddies how the play came out. Some of the film's funniest moments belong to Vince Barnett as the mentally deficient, illiterate gangster secretary, who at one juncture gets so mad at a caller on the phone that he shoots the receiver. Scarface features a famous "'X' Marks The Spot" logo, inspired by news photos of gangland murders: whenever a character is killed, the letter "X" appears on screen in one form or another. Example: When a rival gangster (played by Boris Karloff) is killed at a bowling alley, the camera cuts to his bowling ball knocking down all the pins -- a strike, denoted, of course, by an "X." Producer Howard R. Hughes couldn't release Scarface until he toned down some of the violence, reshot certain scenes to avoid libel suits, added the subtitle "The Shame of the Nation" to the opening credits, and shoehorned in new scenes showing upright Italian-Americans banding together to wipe out gangsterism. After its first run, Scarface was completely withdrawn from distribution on Hughes' orders; the film would not be seen again on a widespread basis until it was reissued by Universal in 1979, shorn of 8 of its original 99 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Scarface is a potent, uncompromising portrait of the gangster life. While journalists often romanticized them, and many in the public made mobsters into folk heroes, director Howard Hawks' portrayal of the brutish and ambitious Capone-inspired titular character, played with terrific ferocity by Paul Muni (this movie made him a star, and it is easy to see why) is brutal and stark. The pre-noir gangster genre was in many ways defined by the innovative approaches taken by Hawks in Scarface. Tracking and dolly shots, relatively unknown at the time, contribute to the film's kinetic energy and excellent pacing. The expressionistic black-and-white cinematography by Lee Garmes is married to a screenplay (written by a team led by Ben Hecht) packed with symbolism as well as a rare combination of humor, sex, and violence. This extremely violent film (28 murders are recorded onscreen) also grafts a racy incest theme (Muni's character has Caligula-like feelings for his sister, played with remarkable sexual confidence by Ann Dvorak) onto the story line, resulting in considerable pressure from censors (the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America) coming to bear on the filmmakers (in this pre-Hays Production Code era). However, after considerable squabbling, producer Howard Hughes finally released Scarface in two formats: one with censor approval and one without, leading to confusion among Scarface audiences at the time. Ironically, though the movie indicts the violence of the mob figures it portrays, it became very popular largely because of this: in the end, the mobsters lead a very exciting lifestyle and seem to be having a lot of fun wreaking havoc on the world. And, of course, the movie is grand entertainment itself. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
The film is loosely based upon the life of Al Capone (whose nickname was "Scarface"). Capone was rumored to have liked the film so much that he owned a print of it.[1] Ben Hecht also said that Capone's men came to visit him to make sure that the film was not based on Capone's life.[2]
After repeated demands for a script rewrite from the Hays Office, Howard Hughes ordered Hawks to shoot the film and "make it as realistic, as grisly as possible." Hawks shot the film at three different locations: Metropolitan Studios, Harold Lloyd Studios and the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles. Shooting took three months with the cast and crew working seven days a week. Hawks decided to include an X symbol above each of Camonte's victims and offered each crew member a hundred dollars to think of a different way to depict the X for every murder. Several accidents happened on the set. Comedian Harold Lloyd's brother Gaylord Lloyd lost an eye when he visited the set and was accidentally shot with live ammunition. George Raft also received a head injury during the death scene of his character when he accidentally hit the door frame while he was slumping to the floor.[3]
The first version of the film (Version A) was completed on September 8, 1931, but censors would not allow its release until 1932, because of concerns that it glorified the gangster lifestyle and showed too much violence. Several scenes had to be edited, the subtitle "The Shame of the Nation" as well as a text introduction had to be added, and the ending had to be modified. However, this version still did not pass some censors, so Howard Hughes disowned this version and released the original in the states that lacked strict censors.
With the disapproval of several censors regarding the film, producer Howard Hughes, being wealthy enough to spend as much money as needed on the picture, willingly brought the film back to production by re-shooting an alternate ending.
The alternate ending differs from the original ending (Version A), in the manner that Tony is caught and in which he dies. Unlike the original ending where Tony Camonte escapes the police and dies getting shot several times, the alternate ending begins with Tony reluctantly handing himself over to the police. After the encounter, there is a scene where a judge is addressing Tony (who is offscreen, probably because Paul Muni was not involved in production anymore) during sentencing. The next scene is the finale where Tony (seen from a bird's eye view, probably played by a stand-in) is brought to the gallows where he is finally put to an end by being hanged as soon as the policemen cut the ropes.
After such effort, the censors still rejected this version. Afterwards, Hughes discarded Version B, restored the film to its original ending and screened the film in states where there was little censorship of films, thus leading to bona-fide box office status and positive critical reviews.
Legacy
In 1994, Scarface was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The character of Tony Camonte ranked at number 47 on "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains" list.
The film was named the best American sound film by critic/director Jean-Luc Godard in Cahiers du Cinéma. Brian De Palma directed a 1983 remake which has become a cult favorite in its own right. A 2005 DVD special edition release of the 1983 version included a copy of its 1932 counterpart.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Scarface was acknowledged as the sixth best in the gangster film genre.[4]
On Rotten Tomatoes, Scarface has a 100% fresh rating with all 22 reviews being positive.[5]
References
^ Mcadams, William. Ben Hecht: The man behind the legend. Scribner. (1990). p. 128. ISBN 0684189801.
^ Hecht, Ben. A Child of the Century. Simon and Schuster. (1954). p. 487.
^ McCarthy, Todd. Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood. Grove Press. (2000). pp 122-56. ISBN 0802137407.
