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Scarface (1932 film)

 
Scarface (1932 Film)

 
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Scarface (1932 film)
 
 
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Scarface (also known as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932
1932 in film

Events*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*The Walt Disney Company released Flowers and Trees their first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film....
 American
Cinema of the United States

United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, Classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period ....
 gangster film, directed by Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 and starring Paul Muni
Paul Muni

Paul Muni was an United States Academy Awards-winning and Tony Award-winning Stage and film actor.BiographyEarly life and career...
, Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak was an United Statesn film actor.The only child of two vaudevillians, young Anna was raised in the business that would later make her a star ....
, Karen Morley
Karen Morley

Karen Morley was an American film actor.Born Mildred Linton in Ottumwa, Iowa, Morley lived there until she was thirteen years old. When she came to Hollywood, she attended Hollywood High School, and she later graduated from UCLA....
, Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins

Osgood Perkins was an United States actor.Perkins was born James Osgood Ripley Perkins in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins....
, C. Henry Gordon
C. Henry Gordon

C. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 in film and 1940 in film. He was a mellifluous-voiced Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
, George Raft
George Raft

George Raft was an American film actor identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s....
, Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett

Vince Barnett , was an American film actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1930 in film and 1975 in film.He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Encino, California....
, Edwin Maxwell
Edwin Maxwell

Edwin Maxwell was an Ireland character actor in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, frequently cast as shady businessmen and shysters, though often ones with a dignified bearing....
, and Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
. Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, industrialist, film producer and director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world....
 produced the film. Produced in the Pre-Code
Pre-Code

Pre-Code films were created before the United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 or Hays Code - censorship guidelines - took effect on 1 July 1934 in the United States of America....
 era, the film centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city.

movie was adapted by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht , , was an United States screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays or p...
, Seton I. Miller
Seton I. Miller

Seton I. Miller was a Hollywood screenwriter and Film producer. During his career, he worked with many notable American film directors, such as Howard Hawks and Michael Curtiz....
, John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin

John Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter and Film producer.He worked from the 1930s to the 1970s. He worked on such films as Scarface and The Wizard of Oz , but his name does not appear on the credits to the latter film....
, and W.






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Scarface (also known as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932
1932 in film

Events*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*The Walt Disney Company released Flowers and Trees their first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film....
 American
Cinema of the United States

United States cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, Classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period ....
 gangster film, directed by Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, Film producer and writer of the Classical Hollywood cinema. He died in Palm Springs, California, California, after a fall....
 and starring Paul Muni
Paul Muni

Paul Muni was an United States Academy Awards-winning and Tony Award-winning Stage and film actor.BiographyEarly life and career...
, Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak

Ann Dvorak was an United Statesn film actor.The only child of two vaudevillians, young Anna was raised in the business that would later make her a star ....
, Karen Morley
Karen Morley

Karen Morley was an American film actor.Born Mildred Linton in Ottumwa, Iowa, Morley lived there until she was thirteen years old. When she came to Hollywood, she attended Hollywood High School, and she later graduated from UCLA....
, Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins

Osgood Perkins was an United States actor.Perkins was born James Osgood Ripley Perkins in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins....
, C. Henry Gordon
C. Henry Gordon

C. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 in film and 1940 in film. He was a mellifluous-voiced Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
, George Raft
George Raft

George Raft was an American film actor identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s....
, Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett

Vince Barnett , was an American film actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1930 in film and 1975 in film.He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Encino, California....
, Edwin Maxwell
Edwin Maxwell

Edwin Maxwell was an Ireland character actor in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, frequently cast as shady businessmen and shysters, though often ones with a dignified bearing....
, and Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
. Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American aviator, industrialist, film producer and director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world....
 produced the film. Produced in the Pre-Code
Pre-Code

Pre-Code films were created before the United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 or Hays Code - censorship guidelines - took effect on 1 July 1934 in the United States of America....
 era, the film centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city.

Production

The movie was adapted by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht , , was an United States screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays or p...
, Seton I. Miller
Seton I. Miller

Seton I. Miller was a Hollywood screenwriter and Film producer. During his career, he worked with many notable American film directors, such as Howard Hawks and Michael Curtiz....
, John Lee Mahin
John Lee Mahin

John Lee Mahin was a prolific screenwriter and Film producer.He worked from the 1930s to the 1970s. He worked on such films as Scarface and The Wizard of Oz , but his name does not appear on the credits to the latter film....
, and W. R. Burnett from the novel Scarface by Armitage Trail.

The film is loosely based upon the life of Al Capone
Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone , commonly nicknamed "Scarface", was an Italian-American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and Rum-running of alcoholic beverage and other illegal activities during the Prohibition in the United States Era of the 1920s and 1930s....
 (whose nickname was "Scarface"). Capone was rumored to have liked the film so much that he owned a print of it.

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 the strict censors.

Two other gangster films produced at about the same time were Little Caesar
Little Caesar (film)

Little Caesar is a 1931 in film crime film made during the Pre-Code era which tells the story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights....
 and The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy

The Public Enemy is a pre-Code Cinema of the United States crime film drama film film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman....
 (both of which were Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's largest film producer of film and television.It is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California and New York City....
/First National
First National

First National was an association of independent theater owners in the United States that expanded from exhibiting movies to distributing them, and eventually to producing them as a movie studio....
 films released in 1931).

Cast

  • Paul Muni
    Paul Muni

    Paul Muni was an United States Academy Awards-winning and Tony Award-winning Stage and film actor.BiographyEarly life and career...
     as Antonio "Tony" Camonte
    Tony Camonte (character)

    Antonio "Tony" Camonte is a fictional character and the central character of the 1932 film Scarface , played by Paul Muni. Tony Camonte is loosely based on real-life gangster Al Capone whose nickname was in fact Scarface....
  • Ann Dvorak
    Ann Dvorak

    Ann Dvorak was an United Statesn film actor.The only child of two vaudevillians, young Anna was raised in the business that would later make her a star ....
     as Francesca "Cesca" Camonte
  • Karen Morley
    Karen Morley

    Karen Morley was an American film actor.Born Mildred Linton in Ottumwa, Iowa, Morley lived there until she was thirteen years old. When she came to Hollywood, she attended Hollywood High School, and she later graduated from UCLA....
     as Poppy
  • Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff

    Boris Karloff was an Cinema of the United Kingdom who emigrated to Canada in the 1910s. He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film Frankenstein , 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and 1939 film Son of Frankenstein....
     as Gaffney
  • Osgood Perkins
    Osgood Perkins

    Osgood Perkins was an United States actor.Perkins was born James Osgood Ripley Perkins in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins....
     as John "Johnny" Lovo
  • C. Henry Gordon
    C. Henry Gordon

    C. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 in film and 1940 in film. He was a mellifluous-voiced Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
     as Inspector Ben Guarino
  • George Raft
    George Raft

    George Raft was an American film actor identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s....
     as Guido Rinaldo
  • Vince Barnett
    Vince Barnett

    Vince Barnett , was an American film actor. He appeared in over 180 films between 1930 in film and 1975 in film.He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died in Encino, California....
     as Angelo
  • Edwin Maxwell
    Edwin Maxwell

    Edwin Maxwell was an Ireland character actor in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, frequently cast as shady businessmen and shysters, though often ones with a dignified bearing....
     as Chief of Detectives
  • Inez Palange
    Inez Palange

    Inez Palange was an Italians-born actress who was best known for her role as Mrs. Camonte in the 1932 film Scarface .External links...
     as Mama Camonte


Release


Alternate ending

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 is not different from the original ending (Version A), except for a certain sequence of events. 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 and restored the film to its original ending and screened the film in states where the censors have not affected them, 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
National Film Registry

The National Film Registry is the registry of films selected by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the Library of Congress....
 by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is the de facto national library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and holds the largest number of books....
 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The character of Tony Camonte
Tony Camonte (character)

Antonio "Tony" Camonte is a fictional character and the central character of the 1932 film Scarface , played by Paul Muni. Tony Camonte is loosely based on real-life gangster Al Capone whose nickname was in fact Scarface....
 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
Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard is a French and Swiss filmmaker and one of the founding members of the Nouvelle Vague, or "French New Wave".Godard was born to French people-Swiss parents in Paris....
 in Cahiers du Cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma

Cahiers du cin?ma is an influential France film magazine founded in 1951 by Andr? Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cin?ma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and Cin?-Club du Quartier Latin ....
. Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma is an US film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box office successes as Carrie , Dressed to Kill , Scarface , The Untouchables , and Mission: Impossible ....
 directed a 1983 remake
Scarface (1983 film)

Scarface is a 1983 in film epic film crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana....
 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
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 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.

External links

  • by Stephen Jacobs at Creativescreenwriting.com