Scarface (1932)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Directors:

Howard Hawks
Richard Rosson (co-director)

Writers:

Armitage Trail (novel)
Ben Hecht (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

9 April 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

An ambitious and near insanely violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Gangster | Barbershop | Bullet Proof Automobile | Secret Love

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Paul Muni	...	Antonio 'Tony' Camonte
Ann Dvorak	...	Francesca 'Cesca' Camonte
Karen Morley	...	Poppy
Osgood Perkins	...	John 'Johnny' Lovo
C. Henry Gordon	...	Insp. Ben Guarino
George Raft	...	Guino Rinaldo
Vince Barnett	...	Angelo
Boris Karloff	...	Gaffney
Purnell Pratt	...	Mr. Garston, publisher
Tully Marshall	...	Managing editor
Inez Palange	...	Mrs. Camonte
Edwin Maxwell	...	Chief of detectives
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Henry Armetta	...	Pietro, barber (uncredited)
Gus Arnheim	...	Orchestra leader (uncredited)
Eugenie Besserer	...	Citizens Committee member (uncredited)
Maurice Black	...	Jim, headwaiter (uncredited)
William Burress	...	Judge (alternate ending) (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Waiter at Columbia Cafe (uncredited)
Virginia Dabney	...	Mabel (uncredited)
William B. Davidson	...	Citizens Committee member (uncredited)
Eddie Fetherston	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Paul Fix	...	Hood with Gaffney (uncredited)
Francis Ford	...	Prison guard (alternate ending) (uncredited)
Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra	...	Paradise Club orchestra (uncredited)
Howard Hawks	...	Man on bed (uncredited)
Brandon Hurst	...	Citizens Committee member (uncredited)
John Kelly	...	Costillo's hood (uncredited)
Hank Mann	...	Stag party janitor (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Dance extra (uncredited)
Jack Perry	...	Costillo's hood (uncredited)
Warner Richmond	...	Cesca's dance partner (uncredited)
Bert Starkey	...	Epstein, lawyer (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Costillo's hood (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Costillo's hood (uncredited)
Helen C. Thompson	...	Sadie Thompson (uncredited)
Harry J. Vejar	...	Big Louis Costillo (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks
Richard Rosson		(co-director)

Writing credits
Armitage Trail		(novel "Scarface")
Ben Hecht		(screenplay)
Fred Pasley		(adaptation) uncredited
Seton I. Miller		(continuity) &
John Lee Mahin		(continuity) &
W.R. Burnett		(continuity)
Seton I. Miller		(dialogue) &
John Lee Mahin		(dialogue) &
W.R. Burnett		(dialogue)
Howard Hawks		uncredited

Produced by
Howard Hawks	....	producer (uncredited)
Howard Hughes	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Lee Garmes
L. William O'Connell		(as L.W. O'Connell)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss
Lewis Milestone		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Harry Oliver		(settings)

Production Management
Charles Stallings	....	production manager

Sound Department
William Snyder	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard A. Anderson	....	process photographer (uncredited)
Charles Bohny	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Roy Clark	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Warner Cruze	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Eugene Kornman	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Warren Lynch	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Douglass Biggs	....	editorial advisor

Music Department
Gus Arnheim	....	musical director
Adolph Tandler	....	musical director

Other crew
W.R. Burnett	....	continuity
Howard Hughes	....	presenter
John Lee Mahin	....	continuity
Seton I. Miller	....	continuity
E.B. Derr	....	supervisor (uncredited)
Howard Hughes	....	direction supervisor (uncredited)
Lincoln Quarberg	....	general press representative (uncredited)

Production Companies

• The Caddo Company

Distributors

• United Artists (1932) (USA) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Pictures Corporation (1938) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United Artists (1981) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MCA Home Video (1983) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Silver Screens

Other Companies

• Metropolitan Sound Studios  sound

Also Known As:

Scarface, the Shame of the Nation
The Shame of a Nation

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:A (original rating) | Finland:K-15 (2005) (DVD) | Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Norway:16 (1984) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (re-release) | USA:Passed (original rating)

Company:

The Caddo Company

Trivia:

The censors of the time thought that the film depicted that a life of crime was too easy and that Tony had still gotten away with his crimes. A second ending was shot, showing Tony being taken away by the police. He is then tried, found guilty and hanged. Paul Muni is not seen throughout this ending. Tony's sister's death scene was also re-edited, as it was felt that his affections toward her were not so brotherly. None of these changes satisfied the censors, so director Howard Hawks decided to abandon the changes and released it without censor approval. The movie's subtitle, "(The) Shame of a Nation", was added to deflect criticism on the same grounds.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Poppy visits Tony, she hold the flower, but Tony has it in the next shot.

Quotes:

Tony Camonte: Listen, Little Boy, in this business there's only one law you gotta follow to keep out of trouble: Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it.

Movie Connections:

Version of Scarface (1983)

Soundtrack:

St. Louis Blues

"Scarface" is most often brought up in discussions on the gangster movie…

"Scarface" is the film of the Thirties which is most often brought up in discussions on the gangster movie…

According to Hawks, he directed "Scarface" with the idea of telling the story of the Capone family as if they were the Borgias living in Chicago in the Twenties.... This may well be- true… At the time, however, there was much publicity to suggest that "Scarface" was the Capone story – which it certainly wasn't…

It was a very good, exciting gangster film, and it stands up well when viewed today, more than 70 years on…

Paul Muni gave a great performance as Tony Camonte, the scarred gang-leader, but it bears little resemblance to Capone as he really was… Camonte is tough, ruthless, a handy man with a gun and – at the end – a figure hysterically afraid of death as he battles it out with police from his steel-shuttered fortress…

Capone was certainly tough and ruthless, but he tried to avoid gunplay himself and employed others to do his dirty work… He was not cowardly, and he did not die in battle…

"Scarface"should be seen and remembered as a film devised to exploit the Chicago of its day – and it must be remembered that Chicago gang wars made front-page banner headlines all over the world… It is the story of a battle for power between two gangster figures: Tony Camonte and Gaffney, played by Boris Karloff… A secondary plot hinges on Camonte's strength of feeling for his sister, Cesca (Ann Dvorak), and the romance between Cesca and Camonte's henchman, Guino Rinaldo (George Raft).

Eventually Camonte kills Rinaldo in the belief that he has violated Cesca – though the pair are actually married… This is the famous scene in which Rinaldo, whose trademark throughout the picture is his constant flipping and catching of a gold coin, drops out of picture as he dies... and the coin this time falls to the floor…

Gaffney, the rival gang-leader, is sometimes likened to Edward "Spike" O'Donnell, with whom Capone fought a war for control of the Chicago South Side…

In the film, however, the Gaffney character is totally unlike the real Spike, who was a rough-and-ready criminal of Irish descent with a tendency towards practical jokes… He and his three brothers, Steve, Walter and Tommy, did just about everything in their time, from bank robberies to strike-breaking, with a little pick-pocketing on the side… "Spike" was a devout Catholic who attended services regularly... yet his most-quoted remark is: "When arguments fail – use a black-jack."