Scarface (1932)
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An ambitious Italian immigrant rises through the ranks of the Chicago gangland to become a powerful but ultimately doomed kingpin.
The story
In 1920s Chicago, an ambitious Italian immigrant and low-level thug named Tony "Scarface" Camonte works as a bodyguard for a crime lord. After a violent power shift, Tony takes over a lucrative bootlegging operation. As his notoriety grows, he expands his criminal empire into the North Side, defying his superiors and attracting the attention of both rival gangs and the police. Amidst his rise to power, Tony pursues a woman named Poppy, while his sister, Cesca, navigates her own complicated relationships. The film depicts Tony's ruthless ascent and the escalating violence of the Chicago gang wars during the Prohibition era.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1920s Chicago, Tony "Scarface" Camonte, an ambitious Italian immigrant, rises from a low-level thug to a powerful crime lord after killing his boss, Louis Costillo. He takes over a bootlegging operation and expands his territory into the North Side, defying his superior, Johnny Lovo. As Tony's power grows, he becomes a notorious figure, eventually eliminating rivals like the Irish gangster O'Hara and his successor, Tom Gaffney. Throughout his rise, Tony pursues Poppy, Lovo's mistress, and becomes increasingly obsessed with his own status and his sister, Cesca. After a series of violent escalations, including the murder of Lovo and the acquisition of heavy weaponry, Tony becomes the undisputed kingpin of the city's underworld. However, his excess and lack of restraint lead to his downfall. After a period of hiding in Florida, he returns home to find his sister has been involved in a scandal. During a final, desperate standoff with the police in his apartment, Tony is caught in a hail of gunfire. He is ultimately shot and killed in the street while a neon sign above him proclaims, 'The World Is Yours.'
- First release year
- 1932
- Runtime (minutes)
- 93
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Howard Hawks
- Writers
- W. R. Burnett · screenplay; John Lee Mahin · screenplay; Seton I. Miller · screenplay; Ben Hecht · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Paul Muni · Antonio "Tony" Camonte; Ann Dvorak · Poppy; Osgood Perkins · none; Karen Morley · Cesca; George Raft · Guino "Little Boy" Rinaldo; Boris Karloff · Gaffney
- Genres
- gangster; crime
- Themes
- excess; American Dream; violence
- Tone and mood
- hard-edged; violent
- Setting
- 1920s Chicago
- Premise and plot tags
- gangster; crime; prohibition
- Source material / true-story basis
- novel by Armitage Trail
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- Audience reception was positive, but the film faced significant censorship hurdles and was initially banned in several regions due to its portrayal of crime.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 98% · review count: 52; Metacritic · score: 90 · scale: 100 · review count: 12
- Production trivia
- The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1994.; It was remade as the 1983 film of the same title, directed by Brian De Palma.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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