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:

Rise And Fall | Gangster Film | Tommy Gun | Irish Mob | Irish Gangster

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)
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)

Production Management
Charles Stallings	....	production manager

Art Department
Harry Oliver	....	settings

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)
• Astor Pictures Corporation (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Silver Screens
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2005) (Finland) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra  Paradise Club orchestra (uncredited)
• Metropolitan Sound Studios  sound

Also Known As:

Scarface, the Shame of the Nation
The Shame of a Nation
Arpinaama (Finland) [fi]
Mann mit der Narbe, Der (Austria) [de]
Narbengesicht (Germany) [de]
Scarface (France) [fr]
Scarface - A Vergonha de uma Nação (Brazil) [pt]
Scarface - Chicagos siste gangster (Sweden) [sv]
Scarface, el terror del hampa (Spain) [es]
Scarface, o Homem da Cicatriz (Portugal) [pt]
Sfregiato, Lo (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Company:

The Caddo Company

Trivia:

Prominent use of the figure "X". Its first appearance is under the opening credits and from then on, whenever a character dies, the figure "X" is prominent in the scene. Some examples: during the shooting in the bowling alley, a pencil fills in a strike box on a scorecard. When a recreation of the St. Valentine's Massacre is shown, the scene begins in the rafters of the garage, where the roof support beams are seven "X" shaped pieces. When Tony kills his best friend at the door of his apartment, the number on the door is "X". This was done for a reason: newspapers at the time printed photos of crime scenes. The "X" would be used to mark the spot of where the body was found.

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:

References Underworld (1927)

Soundtrack:

St. Louis Blues

Ugly and brilliant

Rat-rat-a-tat goes Hawks's direction, opening and closing with a bang, and what's in between is pretty sensational, too. Muni, who could be an awful ham, is just right here -- slick and sexy and a little stupid, a hot-tempered paisano unable to control his ambitions or passions. The incest subplot, never overtly stated but always close to the surface, makes the movie seem startlingly modern. And the dialogue goes snap, snap, snap. The only place the movie stumbles is in a civics-lesson scene where the self-important newspaper editor spells out exactly what's wrong with the criminal justice system of 1932 and delivers his dull speech straight to the camera, like a high school lecture. It's the briefest of lulls in one of the most exciting early talkies, and certainly one of the greatest of all gangster flicks.