Scarface (1932 movie)
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Scarface (also known as Scarface, the Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 gangster film which tells the story of gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city. It stars Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, C. Henry Gordon, George Raft, Vince Barnett and Boris Karloff. It was directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes.
The movie was adapted by Ben Hecht, Fred Pasley, (uncredited), Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, W.R. Burnett and Howard Hawks (uncredited) from the novel by Armitage Trail.
The film is loosely based upon the life of Al Capone (whose nickname was "Scarface"). Capone was rumored to have liked the film so much that he had his own copy of it.
The film was completed in 1930 but censors would not allow its release until 1932, because of concerns that it glorified the gangster lifestyle and showed too much violence. Several scenes had to be edited, the subtitle "The Shame of the Nation" as well as a text introduction and epilogue had to be added, and the ending had to be modified. In the modified ending, the main gangster goes to trial and is hanged; in the original ending, which is also the one usually shown today, the gangster is shot dead by police.
There are two other important gangster movies produced at about the same time: Little Caesar (1931) and The Public Enemy (1931).
The film Scarface has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Scarface was remade in 1983 by Brian De Palma; see Scarface (1983 movie).