Scarface (1932)

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 | West Germany:16 (f) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Norway:16 (1984) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (re-release) | USA:Passed (original rating)

Company:

The Caddo Company

Trivia:

The "serious" play in which Tony is so interested is an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's "Sadie Thompson".

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

[Angelo is answering the phone for Tony]
Tony Camonte: Hey, hey. Get a name. Get a name.
Angelo: [speaking into telephone] What's your name? No, no, I no wanna know what's your brother's name, I wanna know what's your name.
[angrily]
Angelo: Oh, you do, huh? Listen, I come on over there, I smack you right in the teeth! I get you, you brother -
Tony Camonte: Hey! What's the matter? That's no way to talk. Talk nice. Tell him to state his business.
Angelo: Go state your business!
[hangs up phone]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Flatland (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Some of These Days

Arguably superior to De Palma's remake

Many purists would jump at this as being the definitive "Sacrface," but so much had changed in the fifty-one years between the two movies that it is nearly impossible. Whereas the Al Pacino cult classic spanned close to three hours and included almost every imaginable cause of death, this version is a mere hour and a half, give or take a few minutes, and unlike the remake, takes place entirely in Chicago.

Made as an anti-gangster film, with a message buried under the many bodies that pile up, this is a surprisingly brutal movie for its time, and got a reputation as such. This was just before the so-called "Golden Age" of cinema, and in a time like that, chances are a movie this unapologetic wouldn't get made. But it is a masterful gangster film.

Paul Muni is Tony Camonte, a pseudo-Capone psycho who believes in doing the dirty work himself, is a sleazebag. He talks in a lisp that holds him apart from the gangsters of Cagney and Bogart as a man who, even then, seems ethnic. To boot, his "secretary" is an immigrant who is only semi-literate and can't hear people well on the phone. Boris Karloff shows up as an Irish gangster, Gaffney, who falls under Camonte's gun. Aside from an entire segment where Camonte goes seemingly from point A to point B with the same tommy gun and kills off the competition, this is a brilliant milestone in the gangster genre, and probably the best of the era. Even now, it proves what people could accomplish by mere suggestion, sparing much of the language that is in movies (and, indeed, used in real life) today.