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Scarface (1932 film)
Encyclopedia
Scarface is a 1932 American gangster film starring Paul Muni
and George Raft
, produced by Howard Hughes
, directed by Howard Hawks
and Richard Rosson
, and written by Ben Hecht
based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail
. The film also features Ann Dvorak
, Karen Morley
, Osgood Perkins
, C. Henry Gordon
, Vince Barnett
, Edwin Maxwell
, and Boris Karloff
. One of a number of pre-Code crime films
, the film centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city.
This film was the basis for the Brian De Palma
1983 film of the same name
starring Al Pacino
.
, is killed, apparently by Tony Camonte (Paul Muni
) acting on the orders of Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins
). Lovo then takes control of the South Side with Camonte as his key lieutenant, selling large amounts of illegal beer to speakeasies and muscling in on bars run by rival outfits. However, Lovo repeatedly warns Camonte not to mess with the Irish gangs led by O'Hara who run the North Side. Camonte soon begins to ignore these orders, shooting up bars belonging to O'Hara, and attracting the attention of the police and rival gangsters. Lovo begins to realize that Camonte is out of control and has ambitions to take his position. Meanwhile Camonte pursues Lovo's girlfriend, Poppy (Karen Morley
), with increasing confidence. At first she is dismissive of him, but pays him more attention as his reputation rises.
Camonte eventually decides to declare war and take over the North Side, and sends one of his best men and close friend, the coin flipping
Guino Rinaldo (George Raft
) to kill O'Hara in a florists that he uses as his base. This brings heavy retaliation from the North Side gangs now led by Gaffney (Boris Karloff
) and armed with Tommy gun
s, a weapon that instantly captures Camonte's dark imagination. Camonte leads his own forces to virtually destroy the North Side gangs and take over their market, using tactics such as those used on the Valentines Day Massacre. This proves too much for Lovo, whose organization has been effectively hijacked by his ambitious deputy, and he arranges for Camonte to be assassinated while driving in his car. Camonte manages to escape this attack, and he and Rinaldo kill Lovo in revenge leaving Camonte as the undisputed boss of the city.
Camonte's actions have provoked a public outcry and the forces of the law are slowly closing in. Camonte's problems increase when his sister Cesca (Ann Dvorak
), whom he is overprotective of, secretly marries his friend Guino Rinaldo. After discovering the two of them together Camonte kills his friend leaving his sister distraught. This provides the police the opportunity they'd been waiting for and they move to arrest Camonte for Rinaldo's murder. Camonte holes up in his house and prepares to shoot it out. His sister comes, planning to kill him, but ends up helping him to fight the police. When she is killed by a stray bullet, Camonte's confidence collapses. As the apartment fills with tear gas, he leaves down the stairs and is confronted by the police. He pleads in cowardly fashion for his life then seems to make a break for it, but is mowed down by police fire -- apparently suicide by cop
.
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 in which 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 in which 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, in which 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.
, Seton I. Miller
, John Lee Mahin
, and W. R. Burnett from Armitage Trail
's 1929 novel Scarface. Trail, whose real name was Maurice Coons, wrote for a number of detective-story magazines during the early 20s. At the age of 28, however, Trail, who struggled with morbid obesity throughout his life, died of a heart attack shortly before the release of the 1932 film.
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. 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. When he said the film was fictitious, the two men working for Capone left Hecht alone. The introduction for the film's screening on Turner Classic Movies even stated that Hecht convinced the men to work as consultants for him.
The original script had Tony's mother loving her son unconditionally, accepts his lifestyle, and even accepts money and gifts from him. The script ending had Tony staying in the building, unaffected by tear gas and a multitude of bullets fired at him. It is not until the building is on fire that Tony is forced to exit the building, guns blazing. He is sprayed with police gun fire but appears unfazed. Upon noticing the police officer who's been arresting him throughout the film, he fires at him, only to hear a single "click" noise implying that his gun is empty. He is then killed after being shot several times by said police officer. A repeated clicking noise is heard on the soundtrack implying that he was still attempting to fire while he was dying.
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.
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 the New York censors, so Howard Hughes disowned this version and released a version as close as possible to the original version in the states that lacked strict censors and attempted to take the New York censors to court. Hughes also made an attempt to release the film under the title "The Scar" when the original title was disallowed by the Hays office.
Two other gangster films produced at about the same time were Little Caesar
and The Public Enemy
,
both released in 1931.
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 movie launched George Raft's lengthy career as a leading man
. Raft, in the film's second lead, had learned to flip a nickel without looking at it, a trait of his character, and he made a strong impression in the comparatively sympathetic but colorful role. A reference is made in Raft's later role as gangster Spats Columbo in Some Like it Hot
, wherein he asks a fellow gangster (who is flipping a nickel) "Where did you pick up THAT cheap trick?"
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. The 2003 DVD "Anniversary Edition" limited edition box set of the 1983 film 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.
On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
, Scarface holds a 100% "Fresh" rating with all 27 reviews being positive.
Universal announced in 2011 that the studio is developing a new version of Scarface. The studio claims that the new film is neither a sequel or a remake, but will take elements from both this and the 1983 version, including the basic premise of a man who becomes a kingpin in his quest for the American Dream
. Martin Bregman, who produced the remake, will produce this version, and David Ayer
will pen the screenplay.
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
and George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
, produced by Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, directed by Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
and Richard Rosson
Richard Rosson (filmmaker)
Richard Rosson was an American film director and actor. As an actor, he was known for the nearly 100 films he was in during the silent era...
, and written by Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American 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...
based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail
Armitage Trail
Armitage Trail was an American crime writer best known for his 1929 novel Scarface, depicting the rise of gangster Al Capone, which was adapted into the 1932 film Scarface directed by Howard Hawks. Born as Maurice Coons he began writing at the age of sixteen, and wrote a number of detective...
. The film also features Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
, Karen Morley
Karen Morley
-Life and career: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 American actor.-Life and career:Perkins was born James Ripley Osgood Perkins in West Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins. He is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger John Howland. Perkins made his Broadway debut in 1924 in the George S...
, C. Henry Gordon
C. Henry Gordon
C. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 and 1940. He was a Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
, Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett
Vince Barnett was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in over 180 films between 1930 and 1975....
, Edwin Maxwell
Edwin Maxwell
Edwin Maxwell was an Irish 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
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. One of a number of pre-Code crime films
Pre-Code crime films
The era of American film production from the early sound era to the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934 is denoted as Pre-Code Hollywood. The era contained violence and crime in pictures which would not be seen again until decades later...
, the film centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city.
This film was the basis for the Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
1983 film of the same name
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
starring Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
.
Plot
Big Louis Costillo (Harry J. Vejar), the leading crime boss of the South SideSouth Side (Chicago)
The South Side is a major part of the City of Chicago, which is located in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Much of it has evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park Township which voted along with several other townships to be annexed in the June 29,...
, is killed, apparently by Tony Camonte (Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
) acting on the orders of Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins was an American actor.-Life and career:Perkins was born James Ripley Osgood Perkins in West Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins. He is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger John Howland. Perkins made his Broadway debut in 1924 in the George S...
). Lovo then takes control of the South Side with Camonte as his key lieutenant, selling large amounts of illegal beer to speakeasies and muscling in on bars run by rival outfits. However, Lovo repeatedly warns Camonte not to mess with the Irish gangs led by O'Hara who run the North Side. Camonte soon begins to ignore these orders, shooting up bars belonging to O'Hara, and attracting the attention of the police and rival gangsters. Lovo begins to realize that Camonte is out of control and has ambitions to take his position. Meanwhile Camonte pursues Lovo's girlfriend, Poppy (Karen Morley
Karen Morley
-Life and career: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....
), with increasing confidence. At first she is dismissive of him, but pays him more attention as his reputation rises.
Camonte eventually decides to declare war and take over the North Side, and sends one of his best men and close friend, the coin flipping
Coin flipping
Coin flipping or coin tossing or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties...
Guino Rinaldo (George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
) to kill O'Hara in a florists that he uses as his base. This brings heavy retaliation from the North Side gangs now led by Gaffney (Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
) and armed with Tommy gun
Tommy Gun
Tommy Gun may refer to:*Thompson submachine gun or Tommy gun, a submachine gun*"Tommy Gun" , a song by The Clash...
s, a weapon that instantly captures Camonte's dark imagination. Camonte leads his own forces to virtually destroy the North Side gangs and take over their market, using tactics such as those used on the Valentines Day Massacre. This proves too much for Lovo, whose organization has been effectively hijacked by his ambitious deputy, and he arranges for Camonte to be assassinated while driving in his car. Camonte manages to escape this attack, and he and Rinaldo kill Lovo in revenge leaving Camonte as the undisputed boss of the city.
Camonte's actions have provoked a public outcry and the forces of the law are slowly closing in. Camonte's problems increase when his sister Cesca (Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
), whom he is overprotective of, secretly marries his friend Guino Rinaldo. After discovering the two of them together Camonte kills his friend leaving his sister distraught. This provides the police the opportunity they'd been waiting for and they move to arrest Camonte for Rinaldo's murder. Camonte holes up in his house and prepares to shoot it out. His sister comes, planning to kill him, but ends up helping him to fight the police. When she is killed by a stray bullet, Camonte's confidence collapses. As the apartment fills with tear gas, he leaves down the stairs and is confronted by the police. He pleads in cowardly fashion for his life then seems to make a break for it, but is mowed down by police fire -- apparently suicide by cop
Suicide by cop
Suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer or other armed individual, such as being shot to death....
.
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 differs from the original ending (version A), in the manner that Tony is caught and in which he dies. Unlike the original ending in which 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 in which 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, in which 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.
Cast
- Paul MuniPaul MuniPaul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
as Antonio 'Tony' Camonte - Ann DvorakAnn DvorakAnn Dvorak was an American film actress.Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent...
as Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte - Karen MorleyKaren Morley-Life and career: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 - Osgood PerkinsOsgood PerkinsOsgood Perkins was an American actor.-Life and career:Perkins was born James Ripley Osgood Perkins in West Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Helen Virginia and Henry Phelps Perkins. He is a descendant of a Mayflower passenger John Howland. Perkins made his Broadway debut in 1924 in the George S...
as John 'Johnny' Lovo - C. Henry GordonC. Henry GordonC. Henry Gordon was an American film actor. He appeared in 79 films between 1930 and 1940. He was a Hollywood villain of the 1930s....
as Inspector Ben Guarino - George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
as Guino Rinaldo - Vince BarnettVince BarnettVince Barnett was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in over 180 films between 1930 and 1975....
as Angelo - Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as Gaffney - Purnell PrattPurnell PrattPurnell Pratt was an American film actor. He appeared in 114 films between 1914 and 1941.He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* On with the Show...
as Mr. Garston, Publisher - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
as Managing Editor - Inez PalangeInez PalangeInez Palange was an Italian-born actress who was best known for her role as Mrs. Camonte in the 1932 film Scarface.-External links:...
as Mrs. Camonte - Edwin MaxwellEdwin MaxwellEdwin Maxwell was an Irish 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
Production
The film was adapted by Ben HechtBen Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American 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...
, Seton I. Miller
Seton I. Miller
Seton Ingersoll Miller was a Hollywood screenwriter and 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 producer. He was the son of John Lee Mahin, Sr. , a Chicago newspaper and advertising man, and Julia Graham Snitzler....
, and W. R. Burnett from Armitage Trail
Armitage Trail
Armitage Trail was an American crime writer best known for his 1929 novel Scarface, depicting the rise of gangster Al Capone, which was adapted into the 1932 film Scarface directed by Howard Hawks. Born as Maurice Coons he began writing at the age of sixteen, and wrote a number of detective...
's 1929 novel Scarface. Trail, whose real name was Maurice Coons, wrote for a number of detective-story magazines during the early 20s. At the age of 28, however, Trail, who struggled with morbid obesity throughout his life, died of a heart attack shortly before the release of the 1932 film.
The film is loosely based upon the life of Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
(whose nickname was "Scarface"). Capone was rumored to have liked the film so much that he owned a print of it. 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. When he said the film was fictitious, the two men working for Capone left Hecht alone. The introduction for the film's screening on Turner Classic Movies even stated that Hecht convinced the men to work as consultants for him.
The original script had Tony's mother loving her son unconditionally, accepts his lifestyle, and even accepts money and gifts from him. The script ending had Tony staying in the building, unaffected by tear gas and a multitude of bullets fired at him. It is not until the building is on fire that Tony is forced to exit the building, guns blazing. He is sprayed with police gun fire but appears unfazed. Upon noticing the police officer who's been arresting him throughout the film, he fires at him, only to hear a single "click" noise implying that his gun is empty. He is then killed after being shot several times by said police officer. A repeated clicking noise is heard on the soundtrack implying that he was still attempting to fire while he was dying.
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
Samuel Goldwyn Studio
Samuel Goldwyn Studio was the name that Samuel Goldwyn used to refer to the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios lot and the offices and stages that his company, Goldwyn Pictures, rented there during the 1920s and 1930s...
, Harold Lloyd
Harold Lloyd
Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....
Studios and the Mayan Theater
Mayan Theater
The Mayan Theater at 1014 South Hill Street in Los Angeles, California is a landmark former picture palace.Designed by Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements and opened in August 1927, the facade of the Mayan includes stylized pre-Columbian patterns and figures designed by sculptor...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. 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.
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 the New York censors, so Howard Hughes disowned this version and released a version as close as possible to the original version in the states that lacked strict censors and attempted to take the New York censors to court. Hughes also made an attempt to release the film under the title "The Scar" when the original title was disallowed by the Hays office.
Two other gangster films produced at about the same time were Little Caesar
Little Caesar (film)
Little Caesar is a 1931 Warner Bros. Pre-Code crime film. It tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the film stars Edward G. Robinson and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.. The story was adapted by Francis Edward...
and The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy
The Public Enemy is a 1931 American Pre-Code crime film starring James Cagney and directed by William A. Wellman. The film relates the story of a young man's rise in the criminal underworld in prohibition-era urban America...
,
both released in 1931.
Legacy
In 1994, Scarface was selected for preservation in the United States National Film RegistryNational Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
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
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains is a list of the 100 greatest screen characters chosen by American Film Institute in June 2003. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series. The series was first presented in a CBS special hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger...
list.
Leading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
. Raft, in the film's second lead, had learned to flip a nickel without looking at it, a trait of his character, and he made a strong impression in the comparatively sympathetic but colorful role. A reference is made in Raft's later role as gangster Spats Columbo in Some Like it Hot
Some Like It Hot
Some Like It Hot is an American comedy film, made in 1958 and released in 1959, which was directed by Billy Wilder and starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and George Raft. The supporting cast includes Joe E. Brown, Pat O'Brien and Nehemiah Persoff. The film is a remake by Wilder and I....
, wherein he asks a fellow gangster (who is flipping a nickel) "Where did you pick up THAT cheap trick?"
The film was named the best American sound film by critic/director Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
in Cahiers du Cinéma
Cahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
.
Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
directed a 1983 remake
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
which has become a cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
favorite in its own right. The 2003 DVD "Anniversary Edition" limited edition box set of the 1983 film 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. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
revealed its "Ten top Ten"
AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
—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.
On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, Scarface holds a 100% "Fresh" rating with all 27 reviews being positive.
Universal announced in 2011 that the studio is developing a new version of Scarface. The studio claims that the new film is neither a sequel or a remake, but will take elements from both this and the 1983 version, including the basic premise of a man who becomes a kingpin in his quest for the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
. Martin Bregman, who produced the remake, will produce this version, and David Ayer
David Ayer
David Ayer is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director.-Early life:David Ayer was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1968. He grew up in Bloomington, Minnesota and Bethesda, Maryland, where he was kicked out of his house by his parents as a teenager...
will pen the screenplay.
External links
- The World is Yours: The Writing of the Original Scarface by Stephen Jacobs at Creativescreenwriting.com
- Bibliography