Scholars debate whether Scarface classifies as a film with historical significance or as merely a Hollywood gangster-era motion picture.[104] Its historical significance was augmented by the film's writing credits: W. R. Burnett, author of gangster novel Little Caesar from which the film of the same name was based on; Fred D. Pasley, a prominent Chicago gangland historian; and Ben Hecht, an ex-Chicago reporter.[105] Events similar to the assassination of Jim Colismo and the St. Valentine's Day Massacre contribute to the film's realism and authenticity.[77] Film critic Robert E. Sherwood stated that the film "merits...as a sociological or historical document", and "an utterly inexcusable attempt has been made to suppress it—not because it is obscene...but because...it comes too close to telling the truth."[106]
Excess
According to film studies professor Fran Mason, a prominent theme in the film is excess. The opening of the film sets the stage as Big Louie Costillo sits in the remnants of a wild party, convincing his friends his next party will be bigger, better, and have "much more everything".[107] This indicates the excessive life of a gangster, whether in pleasure or in violence. The death scene of Costillo sets the next tone of excess. In this scene, the audience sees only the shadow of Tony Camonte with a gun, hears the shots and the sound of the body hitting the floor. The violent scenes become more severe as the film progresses. Most of the violence in the film is shown through montage, as scenes go by in sequence, showing the brutal murders that Tony and his gang commit such as roughing up bar owners, participating in a drive-by bombing, and massacring seven men against a wall. A scene shows a peel-off calendar rapidly changing dates while shot by a machine gun, making the excessive violence clear. The violence is not only perpetrated by the gangsters. The police in the final scene with Tony and Cesca spare no effort to catch the notorious Camonte siblings, visible through the disproportionate number of police officers and cars surrounding the apartment complex to apprehend one man. Tony and the police's excessive use of violence throughout the film normalizes it.[108] An element of parody underlies Tony's abnormal joy in using Tommy guns. In the scene in the restaurant in which men from the North Side gang attempt to shoot Tony with a Tommy, he obtains pleasure from the power. Rather than cowering beneath the tables, he tries to peek out to watch the guns in action, laughing maniacally from his excitement. He reacts jovially upon getting his first Tommy gun and enthusiastically leaves to "write [his] name all over the town with it in big letters".[109]
The gangster's excessive consumption is comically represented through Tony's quest to obtain expensive goods and show them off. In Tony's first encounter with Poppy alone on the staircase, he boasts about his new suit, jewelry, and bulletproof car. Poppy largely dismisses his advances calling his look "kinda effeminate".[109] His feminine consumption and obsession with looks and clothes is juxtaposed by his masculine consumption, which is represented by his new car. Later, Tony shows Poppy a stack of new shirts, claiming he will wear each shirt only once. His awkwardness and ignorance of his own exorbitance make this Gatsby-style scene more comical than serious. His consumption serves to symbolize the disintegration of values of modernity, specifically represented by his poor taste and obsession with money and social status. Tony's excess transcends parody and becomes dangerous because he represents a complete lack of restraint that ultimately leads to his downfall.[110]
Tony's excess is manifested in the gang wars in the city. He is given express instruction to leave O'Hara, Gaffney, and the rest of the North Side gang alone. He disobeys because of his lust for more power, violence, and territory. Not only does he threaten the external power structure of the gangs in relation to physical territory, but he also disrupts the internal power structure of his own gang by blatantly disobeying his boss, Johnny Lovo.[111] Gaffney's physical position juxtaposes Tony's position. Throughout the film, Gaffney's movement is restricted by both setting and implication because of the crowded spaces in which he is shown onscreen and his troupe of henchmen by whom he is constantly surrounded. Tony is able to move freely at the beginning of the film, becoming progressively more crowded until he is as confined as Gaffney. He is surrounded by henchmen and cannot move as freely throughout the city. This, however, is self-imposed by his own excessive desire for territory and power.[111]
The theme of excessiveness is further exemplified by Tony's incestuous desires for his sister, Cesca, whom he attempts to control and restrict. Their mother acts as the voice of reason, but Tony does not listen to her, subjecting his family to the excess and violence he brings upon himself.[111] His lust for violence mirror's Cesca's lust for sexual freedom, symbolized by her seductive dance for Rinaldo at the club. Rinaldo is split between his loyalty for Tony and his passion for Cesca, serving as a symbol of the power struggle between the Camonte siblings. Rinaldo is a symbol of Tony's power and prominence; his murder signifies Tony's lack of control and downfall, which ends in Tony's own death.[112]
American Dream
Camonte's rise to prominence and success is modeled after the American Dream, but more overtly violent. As the film follows the rise and fall of an Italian gangster, Tony becomes increasingly more Americanized. When Tony appears from under the towel at the barbershop, this is the first time the audience gets a look at his face. He appears foreign with a noticeable Italian accent, slicked hair, and an almost Neanderthal appearance evident by the scars on his cheek.[74] As the movie progresses, he becomes more Americanized as he loses his accent and his suits change from gaudy to elegant.[74] By the end of the film, his accent is hardly noticeable. Upon the time of his death, he had accumulated many "objects" that portray the success suggested by the American Dream: his own secretary, a girlfriend of significant social status (more important even is that she was the mistress of his old boss), as well as a fancy apartment, big cars, and nice clothes. Camonte exemplifies the idea that one can obtain success in America by following Camonte's own motto to "Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doin' it."[113] On the other hand, Camonte represents the American urge to reject modern life and society, in turn rejecting Americanism itself. The gangster strives for the same American Dream as anyone else, but approaches it in a way at odds with modern societal values, through violence and illicit activity.[114]
Gangster territory
Control of territory is a theme in the gangster film genre in a physical sense and on the movie screen. Tony works to control the city by getting rid of competing gangs and gaining physical control of the city, and he likewise gains control of the movie screen in his rise to power. This is most evident in scenes and interactions involving Tony, Johnny, and Poppy. In an early scene in the film, Tony comes to Johnny's apartment to receive his payment after killing Louie Costillo. Two rooms are visible in the shot: the main room, where Tony sits, and the room in the background where Poppy sits and where Johnny keeps his money. Lovo goes into the back room but Tony does not, so this room represents Johnny's power and territory. The men are sitting across from each other in the scene with Poppy sitting in the middle of them in the background representing the trophy they are both fighting for. However, they both appear equally in the shot, representing their equality of power. Later, in the nightclub scene, Tony sits himself in between Poppy and Johnny showing he is in control through his centrality in the shot. He has gained the most power and territory, as indicated by "winning" Poppy.[115]
Fear of technology
Scarface represents the American fears and confusion that stemmed from the technological advancement of the time: whether technological advancement and mass production should be feared or celebrated. An overall anxiety post-World War I was whether new technology would cause ultimate destruction, or whether it would help make lives easier and bring happiness. In the film, Tony excitedly revels in the possibilities machine guns can bring by killing more people, more quickly, and from further away. This represents the question of whether or not mass production equals mass destruction or mass efficiency.[116]
Objects and gestures
The use of playful motifs throughout the film showcased Howard Hawks's dark comedy he expressed through his directing.[77] In the bowling alley scene, where rival gang leader Tom Gaffney was murdered, when Gaffney throws the ball, the shot remains on the last standing bowling pin, which falls to represent the death of kingpin Tom Gaffney. In the same scene, before the death of Gaffney, a shot shows an "X" on the scoreboard, foreshadowing Gaffney's death.[117] Hawks used the "X" foreshadowing technique throughout the film (seen first in the opening credits) which were chiefly associated with death appearing many times (but not every scene) when a death is portrayed; the motif appears in numerous places, most prominently as Tony's "X" scar on his left cheek.[118] The motifs mock the life of the gangster.[77] The gangster's hat is a common theme throughout gangster films, specifically Scarface, as representative of conspicuous consumption.[119] Hawks included hand gestures, a common motif in his films. In Scarface, George Raft was instructed to repetitively flip a coin, which he does throughout the film.[120]
"The World Is Yours"
Camonte's apartment looks out on a neon, flashing sign that says "The World Is Yours". This sign represents the modern American city as a place of opportunity and individualism. As attractive as the slogan is, the message is impossible, yet Tony does not understand this. The view from his apartment represents the rise of the gangster. When Camonte is killed in the street outside his building, the camera pans up to show the billboard, representative of the societal paradox of the existence of opportunity yet the inability to achieve it.[121] According to Robert Warshow, the ending scene represents how the world is not ours, but not his either. The death of the gangster momentarily releases us from the idea of the concept of success and the need to succeed.[122] In regards to the theme of excess, the sign is a metaphor for the dividing desires created by modernity seen through the lens of the excessive desires of the gangster persona.[112]
Style
"Sharp" and "hard-edged", Scarface set the visual style for the gangster films of the 1930s.[123] Hawks created a violent, gripping film through his use of strong contrast of black and white in his cinematography. For example, dark rooms, silhouettes of bodies against drawn shades, and pools of carefully placed light. Much of the film is shown to take place at night. The tight grouping of subjects within the shot and stalking camera movement followed the course of action in the film.[74] The cinematography is dynamic and characterized by highly varied camera placement and mobile framing.[124]
Italian-language versions
In October 1946, after World War II and the relations between Italy and the United States softened, Titanus, an Italian film production company was interested in translating Scarface into Italian. Initially, upon requesting approval from the Italian film office, the request was rejected due to censorship concerns of the portrayal of violence and crime throughout the film. There was no initial concern about the film's portrayal of Italians.[125] Titanus appealed to the Italian film office calling Scarface, "one of the most solid and constructive motion pictures ever produced overseas".[126] They lobbied to bring in a foreign language film to help domestic film producers save money in the Italian economy damaged by the recent war. After receiving approval at the end of 1946, Titanus translated a script for dubbing the film.[126] One difference in the Italian script is the names of the characters were changed from Italian sounding to more American sounding. For example, Tony Camonte was changed to Tony Kermont, and Guino Rinaldo was changed to Guido Reynold.[126] This and several other changes were made to conspicuously remove references to Italians. Another example is the difference in the scene in the restaurant with Tony and Johnny. In the American version, Tony makes a comical statement about the garlic in the pasta, whereas, in the Italian translation, the food in question is a duck liver pâté, a less overtly Italian reference to food.[127] Moreover, in the American version, the gangsters are referred to as illegal immigrants by the outraged community; however, in the Italian dubbed version, the citizen status of the criminals are not mentioned, merely the concern of repeat offenders.[128]
The film was redubbed into Italian in 1976 by the broadcasting company Radio Televisione Italiana (RAI). Franco Dal Cer translated the script, and the dub was directed by Giulio Panicali. Pino Locchi dubbed the voice of Tony Camonte for Paul Muni and Pino Colizzi dubbed the voice of Gunio Rinaldo for George Raft. A difference between the 1947 version and the 1976 version is that all of the Italian names are and Italian cultural references were untouched from the original American script.[129] The 1976 version celebrates the Italian backgrounds of the characters, adding noticeably different Italian dialects to specific characters.[130] This version of the dubbed film translates the opening and closing credit scenes as well as the newspaper clippings shown into Italian; however, the translation of the newspaper clippings was not done with particular aesthetic care.[131]
The film was redubbed in the 1990s and released on Universal's digital edition. According to scholarly consensus, the 1990 dub is a combination of re-voicing and reuse of audio from the 1976 redub.[132]
