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Movies / On DVD / Scarface
Scarface

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Scarface (1932)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:21

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: Loosely based on the life of Al Capone, Howard Hawks's SCARFACE is one of the most shocking and powerful gangster films ever made, setting the standard for Hollywood screen violence for years to... Loosely based on the life of Al Capone, Howard Hawks's SCARFACE is one of the most shocking and powerful gangster films ever made, setting the standard for Hollywood screen violence for years to come. Tony "Scarface" Camonte (Paul Muni) is an enforcer for Johnny Lovo, an ambitious gangster who wants to combine all the liquor rackets in Prohibition-era Chicago into one crime empire. To achieve this goal Tony embarks on a reign of terror, threatening citizens and clawing his way to power until he is the number one mobster in town. Muni's fierce performance established the model for the Hollywood mobster, a violent yet charismatic figure. Censorship battles over the film delayed its release for two years, and resulted in additional moralizing scenes and an alternate ending. Visually dynamic and provocative, SCARFACE, produced by Howard Hughes, is one of the best films of the 1930s and the forerunner of the modern gangster film. [More]

Starring: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft, Karen Morley

Starring: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, Vince Barnett, C. Henry Gordon, Boris Karloff

Director: Howard Hawks

Director: Howard Hawks
Producer: Howard Hughes
Screenwriter: W.R. Burnett, Ben Hecht, Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, Fred Pasley
Story: Armitage Traill
Composer: Adolph Tandler, Gus Arnheim

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Scarface

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/18/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The original Scarface, loosely but boldly based on the notorious life and legend of Al Capone, didn't invent the modern American gangster film. It blew it up.

Full Review Source: Seanax.com | comment Comment
07/21/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com

Despite censorship problems and interference from producer Howard Hughes, Howard Hawks' early crime-gangster is a masterpiece and a seminal work in the genre's evolution, with a truly scary performanec from Paul Muni.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/22/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Paul Muni goes way over the top as Tony Camonte, painting a picture of a gangster who knows nothing but excess, and who will stop at nothing to get his way.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
05/17/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

The slaughter in Scarface, the Shame of a Nation, the Howard Hughes gangster production... is like that of a Shakespearean tragedy

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/28/06
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
09/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
03/05/05
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com

A brilliantly wild narrative that had a lot of Capone and the Borgias in it.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/04/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Hawks displays balls of steel, using the filmic medium to challenge the free reign of mobsters in the 1930's.

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
11/17/04
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

The quintessential crime thriller. One of the few perfect films.

comment Comment
10/18/04
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

No review available.

comment Comment
10/01/04
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
10/31/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
10/17/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

The quintessential classic gangster picture.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
07/30/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/30/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

No review available.

comment Comment
07/25/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

a potent, uncompromising and de-romanticized portrait of the gangster life

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/27/02
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
All Movie Guide
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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