SCARFACE set the style for all the Warner gangster films to follow, gritty, fast-paced and full of violence. It was a cycle that seemed to come to a fitting conclusion with Cagney's WHITE HEAT seventeen years later.
Aside from Howard Hawks' brisk, no nonsense direction, the biggest asset of SCARFACE is PAUL MUNI, with the swarthy actor riveting in the role of the merciless gangster who gets his comeuppance in the final scene, squealing like a cornered rat so that the pre-code censorship would be satisfied by a crime doesn't pay sort of ending.
A close second to Muni is GEORGE RAFT, flipping that coin in true gangster movie style, and doing nicely in a secondary plot that features his attraction to Muni's teen-aged sister, ANN DVORAK, who appears to have a close relationship with her obsessed brother.
Hawks and Howard Hughes apparently had many censorship angles to soften before the film could be released but this is still pre-code stuff that has a sharp enough edge to make it watchable today.
Interesting to note that the actor who plays a double-crossing crime boss is played by Osgood Perkins, father of the late Anthony Perkins. He bears no resemblance to his famous son. As an opportunistic gangster's moll, Karen Morley is stunning as Muni's love interest.
Other gangster films of this era were just as effective--films like LITTLE CAESAR and PUBLIC ENEMY--but this one ranks among the most memorable of the early thirties.
If you like gangster films, this is one you can't afford to miss.
Trivia note: Interesting to note the scarcity of background music throughout. It would take awhile before this would change drastically, especially at studios like Warner Bros. where Max Steiner flourished.
Aside from Howard Hawks' brisk, no nonsense direction, the biggest asset of SCARFACE is PAUL MUNI, with the swarthy actor riveting in the role of the merciless gangster who gets his comeuppance in the final scene, squealing like a cornered rat so that the pre-code censorship would be satisfied by a crime doesn't pay sort of ending.
A close second to Muni is GEORGE RAFT, flipping that coin in true gangster movie style, and doing nicely in a secondary plot that features his attraction to Muni's teen-aged sister, ANN DVORAK, who appears to have a close relationship with her obsessed brother.
Hawks and Howard Hughes apparently had many censorship angles to soften before the film could be released but this is still pre-code stuff that has a sharp enough edge to make it watchable today.
Interesting to note that the actor who plays a double-crossing crime boss is played by Osgood Perkins, father of the late Anthony Perkins. He bears no resemblance to his famous son. As an opportunistic gangster's moll, Karen Morley is stunning as Muni's love interest.
Other gangster films of this era were just as effective--films like LITTLE CAESAR and PUBLIC ENEMY--but this one ranks among the most memorable of the early thirties.
If you like gangster films, this is one you can't afford to miss.
Trivia note: Interesting to note the scarcity of background music throughout. It would take awhile before this would change drastically, especially at studios like Warner Bros. where Max Steiner flourished.