Scarface, the 1932 Film

Introduction

Scarface, the 1932 film adaptation, depicts Antonio “Tony” Camonte’s rise to prominence as Chicago’s most ruthless gangster lord. The real-life criminal leader Al Capone, who dominated the 1920s alcohol industry during Prohibition, inspired the film’s protagonist. Tony Camonte, an illegal immigrant, assists Johnny Lovo, a local mafia leader. He goes against the order not to interfere with the O’Hara faction, who rule the city’s northern reaches, and murders their commander. He then goes on to assassinate his employer and rise to the position of Chicago’s most powerful crime lord. Camone’s sister accuses him of killing her husband, providing the authorities with the opportunity they have hoped for. Tony, besieged by police, hides in a home until he is shot and killed in the film’s last scene. The first critical reaction to the film was quite adverse. There were complaints about too much blood, gore, and explicit language. This study thus offers a genre analysis of Scarface (1932). Furthermore, the film’s potential significance is tested by investigating how it departs from standard norms.

Q1. The film centred on gang members’ criminal activities. As a result, there were explicit depictions of violence and bombing. However, influential community members and self-proclaimed moral judges opposed action films and advocated that Scarface be restricted because it glorified violence. U.S. authorities were concerned that gangster movies might promote criminality. American regulators were concerned that viewers might want to emulate the film’s gangster characters. Discussions on crime in the media often pivot to the justification of violence and, by extension, the maintenance of societal order. Protests arose against the 1932 film Scarface because it influenced people for evil. The public at large does not support the presence of criminals.

Scarface appeased the Code enough to get a brief showing by modifying its final scene, cutting off very violent scenes, and incorporating a prologue condemning criminals. Still, the mafia film’s violent material and protagonist-led crime, like Goodfellas, would not get past State and city-wide censorship offices. Consequently, conditions such as New York, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, and Kansas, as well as towns such as Seattle, Detroit, Portland, and Chicago, all prohibited the screening of Scarface. The movie was eventually banned in five cities and five states and heavily restricted in others—the extensive adjustments needed to be revised to satisfy State and local censor boards. The primary point of contention was between Hughes and the New York censor board. After the film was prohibited, the organization refused to display the sanitized conclusion(Yogerst,2017).

In the 1930s, gangster films were trendy, a trend sparked by gangster films. It was a period of societal turmoil, upheaval, and violence. Society’s morals have been brought into question as a result of the Great Depression. High unemployment, an influx of new immigrants, and the ban on alcohol sales dominated daily life in the United States. Scarface, directed by Howard Hawks and Howard Hughes, was released in 1932, prompting renewed controversy over the appropriateness of such behaviour. Scarface had fallen prey to a social change movement brought on by the economic crisis, its aftereffects, and the resulting social and moral difficulties in the United States. one that is critical of the way American culture promotes violence and moral decay. With the advent of sound and extraordinary lighting effects, the cinema industry had also begun a period of profound transformation. The general public’s opinion of movies might be affected by these factors. A result that can both enlighten and amuse while also pushing its audience’s cognitive boundaries and influencing the direction of popular culture.

Adults are less likely to be negatively impacted by Scarface’s violence than children are because they already have strong moral convictions. However, the effect of movies on minors is far more significant than on adults. When children are exposed to violence, they learn it is a better way to resolve disagreements than through peaceful means. There is evidence that exposing minors to violent media may have long-lasting effects on their worldview and level of empathy. Scarface is a dangerous and upsetting picture to show to anybody, especially young children, because of its overt and subtle immorality and excessive violence.

There has been an increased call for a halt to the creation of gangster movies since the debut of Scarface. Studios, still keen on drawing in big crowds, react by making sexual content, rather than blood and gore, a central selling element. Rabbis condemn Hollywood and its primarily Jewish studio leaders and the Catholic Church responds by forming the Legion of Decency. Through threats of film boycotts, the Church exerted enormous pressure on Hollywood studios, prompting Hays to choose Roman Catholic Joe Breen to head the Production Code Administration in 1934(Doherty,2019). Breen is heavily involved in rewriting screenplays and fining production companies that violate the Code. The PCA lost influence after Breen’s resignation in 1954 due to a Supreme Court antitrust verdict against studio-owned theatres. The movie picture industry in Hollywood unanimously agreed to a voluntary age grading system proposed by the MPAA in 1968. The argument over controversial scenes in movies continues unabated.

Furthermore, per MPAA guidelines, only adults or minors accompanied by an adult are allowed to watch the Scarface remake from 1983. Brian De Palma helms the picture; he has been criticized for the “brutality” of his previous works. Before its final screening, the picture had to be changed to pass muster with the Hays Office. These alterations were tasteful because they stayed true to the Lord-Quigley Code’s Prohibition on disproportionate violence. Some of the film’s more violent scenes were also placed in perspective by this, giving the impression that the filmmakers were only reporting on the story rather than trying to profit from it.

The Supreme Court sustained the conviction of a California publisher for disseminating pornographic materials in Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973). The standard it set for determining when creative works pass over into uncensored obscenity was thus born. In Miller v. California, the Supreme Court established a new framework for identifying what constitutes obscene content for government regulation(Klika,2019). The three-part test asks whether the ordinary person, using current community standards, would believe the work to have no real literary, artistic, political, or scientific merit; to appeal primarily to prurient interests; and to represent sexual activity in an objectionable manner (Padgett,2021).

I believe Scarface was not a violent movie; instead, it simply represented the violence already present in society at that time. Scarface, released in 1932, is undeniably considered a cult masterpiece today. Even for modern viewers, the film’s unfiltered and accurate portrayal of criminal activity, gang conflict, and the culture of the 1930s during the Great Depression is disturbing, demonstrating both the filmmakers’ courage and determination. Even if they may have been negative initially, the challenges and controversies surrounding its first release only contribute to its reputation and mythology in modern times. The director of Scarface fashioned the movie in a manner congruent with the social events occurring at the time in the nation, regardless of acts of violence or corruption.

Conclusion

In conclusion, conventions specific to the Scarface film genre helped establish the nature of the cinema. They focus primarily on the criminal element, which is bolstered by violence. Other cliches, like the locale, are less critical in identifying the kind of film than they were. Characters of Italian ancestry were featured prominently in the majority of gangster films made during the golden age of the genre in order to portray life in the 1920s in the United States accurately. On the other hand, contemporary fiction might have characters from various periods and settings who interact with one another. There has been a shift in how the film industry is governed as a direct result of the violence in gangster films.

Reference

Doherty PhD, W. (2019). The American Catholic Church Censors the Movies.

Klika, C. (2019). The First and Second Amendments Are Not Mutually Exclusive: A Look at the First and Second Amendments after the Unite-the-Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rutgers JL & Pub. Polly, pp. 16, 39.

Padgett, E. S. (2021). Dirty Pictures. Semiotic Review, 9.

Yogerst, C. (2017). Hughes, Hawks, and Hays: The Monumental Censorship Battle Over Scarface (1932). The Journal of American Culture, 40(2), 134.