1932 Howard Hawkes Masterpiece: Scarface
Written: Sep 06 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: direction, acting, characters
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: 1932's Scarface is one of the earliest organized crime films and a definite must-see for fans of the gangster film genre.
|
|
|
| tbrown's Full Review: Scarface |
One of the premier movies of the gangster film genre is Scarface. Directed and co-produced by Howard Hawkes, this film tells the hard-hitting story of the rise and fall of a notorious Prohibition-era gangster. In one of his first films, Hawkes' direction delivers a powerful and brutal story, full of fast-paced action. Exciting car chases and crashes, along with realistic gang violence, abound. Wonderful dark lighting sets the mood for a trip into the sordid world of 1930's Chicago. Newspaper journalist Ben Hecht wrote the screenplay for Scarface, inspired by actual events taken from Chicago newspaper stories.
Inspired by crime figure Al Capone, the main character, Tony Camonte is crude, illiterate, yet somewhat charming. He is the product of a broken home whose maniacal ambition for power drives him to become Chicago's top crime boss. This hunger for power is what inevitably brings about his tragic end.
While Tony's absent father is not explored thoroughly in the film, his mother is seen as disapproving of her son's choices. Tony also has a younger sister, Cesca (played by Ann Dvorak), for whom he has a strong attachment. So strong are his emotions toward his sister that they border on incest. This angle is subtly implied in many ways throughout the film.
Greed, arrogance and ambition fuel Tony's rise in the crime world. The ease with which he can commit cold-blooded murder make him a feared adversary even among his most violent rivals. His blatant disregard for authority and human life help to clear the path for a meteoric rise to the top. An utter sociopath, Tony is not a sympathetic character. His only saving grace is his attachment to his sister. However, even this is suspect because of his unnatural passion toward her, which is seen when Tony carries a fit of jealous rage over into murder.
Paul Muni's portrayal of Tony is riveting. Everything from the Italian accent to the maniacal gleam in Tony's eyes bring this character frighteningly to life. Although the movie is a raw study in brutal violence, there are some comic moments. It is this comic-relief that adds perfect pacing to break the harsh, violent mood of the film.
Scarface has a supporting cast of highly interesting characters, most of which parallel some of organized crime's most notorious personalities. Boris Karloff stars in an uncharacteristic role as Gaffney, one of Tony's murderous rivals. George Raft is Tony's friend and "right-hand man" Guino Rinaldo. In this role, Raft introduced his trademark coin-flipping gesture. Karen Marley is Poppy, Tony's platinum-blonde love interest, who is the object of a few sexual double entendres.
At the time of its release, there was much controversy over the amount of violence depicted in the film. Though the film was ready for release in 1930, Hollywood's censoring body, the Hays Office, demanded extensive editing before the film could be cleared. The title was changed from simply "Scarface" to "Scarface: The Shame of a Nation" to indicate the film industry's indictment of the underworld as a societal menace. An onscreen public statement prefaced the movie in an effort to assure the public of the film's stance against crime. Even an alternate ending was filmed, in which the main character shows cowardice and comes to a less-sympathetic end (Hawkes refused to direct this scene). After these changes were made, however, the Hays Office was still unsatisfied with the result.
In 1932, after two years of delays, co-producer Howard Hughes released the movie without the Hays Office's approval. The film received a poor reception at the box-office and was banned in several states. In response to the poor public reception, Howard Hughes removed the film from distribution. Until its re-release in 1979, the film was rarely seen in the United States.
While Scarface was undergoing the scrutiny of the Hays Office, two other films of the gangster genre were released--Little Caesar in 1930 and Public Enemy in 1931. Excellent films, yet also violent, these have come to be the two most recognized of the 1930's gangster genre. No doubt, the release delay for Scarface hindered its acknowledgment as THE premier gangster film.
If imitation is any measure of excellence, Scarface succeeds on that front. The use of the incest angle, the gangster's disapproving mother, murder of a best friend--are used in many later films (1983's Scarface, White Heat, A View from the Bridge, etc.). Although 1983's remake, starring Al Pacino, had many of the same plot elements as the original, the remake is essentially a different film and the 1930 version is, by far, superior.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
tbrown
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: USA
Reviews written: 252
Trusted by: 297 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.