“Do it first. Do it yourself. And keep doing it.”
When it comes to gangster pictures, there is no better film than Howard Hawks’ Scarface. From the single shot opening in which Italian immigrant gangster Antonio "Tony" Camonte (played masterfully by Paul Muni) guns down his boss, "Big" Louis Costillo (Harry J. Vejar), to the epic finale in which he goes out with guns blazing, this pre-Code Gangster film is one hell of a wild ride through Chicago gangland.
It is indeed a Reel Classic and thanks to the Criterion Collection, it finally lands on 4K with a sparkling new digital restoration, complete with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack to highlight the film’s early use of sound design. Let the bullets fly!!!
Directed by Hawks and adapted by Ben Hecht, Scarface is the second of three Warner Bros classics which gave the gangster sub-genre of films the tropes we know so well. The other two are Little Ceasar and The Public Enemy. And, interestingly enough, they are still informing today’s gangster pictures. In fact, it could be argued (and should be) that when it comes to gangster flicks, Hollywood has been recycling the same tropes since 1933.
And that stings.
But it is true. From The Godfather to Goodfellas and beyond, there simply has been nothing new in the gangster business but recycled themes, scenes, and characters all stemming from those three classic Pre-Code Hollywood films. And perhaps, from that list, none has been as influential when it comes to violence and loyalty than Scarface as Tony and his associates, the dim-witted Angelo (Vince Barnett) and the handsome playboy Guino "Little Boy" Rinaldo (George Raft) take over one bootlegging operation after another until the entire city is owned by them.
But with every great rise there comes a great fall. And Tony’s fall is a historic one, resulting in the Hays Code getting more involved in the film’s release than Hawks would have liked. With its focus on sex and violence, the glorification of the gangster depicted here put a target on the film’s release and, with heavy insistence, changes had to be made and new scenes (highlighting society’s response to the crime) were shoehorned in, along with a completely different ending. See if you can spot them!
Also starring Ann Dvorak as Francesca "Cesca" Camonte, Karen Morley as Poppy, Boris Karloff as Gaffney, and Osgood Perkins as John "Johnny" Lovo, Scarface unloads on the screen a barrage of machine gun rat-a-tat movements as montages absolutely come to life depicting an early on-screen version of the Valentine’s Day Massacre as Tony blasts his way to the top of the bootlegging business. It is both explosive and hilarious as Hawks mixes the gunplay with a healthy dose of humor along the way.
We also get a rich sound design and a production which lands so many “X”’s in its design that it becomes damned impossible to count them all. But there are there, whether be a part of the set design, the lighting, or beams under a bridge, the X in this case always marks the spot where a body is going to fall.
Scarface remains an intelligent and influential film and, with The Criterion Collection’s release, the world - as depicted by Hawks in ‘32 - is indeed yours.
Blu-ray Edition
Home Video Distributor: Criterion
Available on Blu-ray - November 12, 2024
Screen Formats: 1.37:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Video: MPEG-4 AVC; 1080p
Audio: English: LPCM Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; single disc
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Blazing across the screen in a spray of bullets, the gangster-film sensation Scarface helped set the standard for the genre for decades to come. Swaggering, scary, and unexpectedly charming, Paul Muni gives an iconic portrayal of criminal sociopathy as Tony Camonte, the ruthless, machine-gun-toting mobster who rises through the ranks of a bootlegging empire atop an ever-increasing body count, but whose possessive relationship with his wild-child sister (Ann Dvorak) threatens to be his undoing. With rat-a-tat command of editing and dialogue, and his trademark panache, director Howard Hawks creates an unstoppable sense of dynamism while pushing on-screen violence to new heights of brutality.
Video
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, Scarface was restored with a digital transfer taken primarily from the 35 mm original nitrate camera negative with some of the film scanned from another nitrate safety fine-grain master. The play on shadows are seen in all of their 4K glory! And the X’s too are more pronounced in the overall production of the movie, as well. The depth of the shadows is very pronounced and the greyscale is very nice with a nice dynamic range. The sharpness is great with lots of fine details visible, and there seems to be no problems with the stability of the picture. Overall, there is nothing really to complain about here.
Audio
The uncompressed monaural soundtrack is also on point with heavy tommy gun action and lots of crashes, booms, and attitude!
Supplements:
While short on extras, the commentary is just a plethora of film history talking about everything from Whale to the actors to Pre-Code history and much more. It more than compliments the film well.
Commentary:
- None
Special Features:
With a new cover design by Mark Chiarello, Scarface also features a good selection of supplemental items to accompany the new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Alternate ending, from the censored version of the film
- New conversation with author Megan Abbott and actor Bill Hader
- New interview with film scholar Lea Jacobs on director Howard Hawks’s innovative use of sound and editing
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith
| Movie |  |
|
| Video | |
|
| Audio |  |
|
| Extras | |
|
|
Composite Blu-ray Grade
|
||
MPAA Rating: PG.
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Howard Hawks; Richard Rosson
Writer: Armitage Trail; Ben Hecht; Seton I. Miller
Cast: Paul Muni; Ann Dvorak; Karen Morley
Genre: Crime | Noir
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "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."
Theatrical Distributor: United Artists
Official Site:
Release Date: April 9, 1932
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: November 12, 2024
Synopsis: An ambitious and nearly insane violent gangster climbs the ladder of success in the mob, but his weaknesses prove to be his downfall.
