Cinema Seminar:
Scarface (1932)

Taught by Paul McEwan, Ph.D.
Professor of Media & Communication and Film Studies, Muhlenberg College

As Prohibition wound to an end in the early 1930s, audiences were eager to see the stories of the gangsters who had thrived in that era. Scarface (1932) followed other hit films like Little Caesar and The Public Enemy that tried to tell these stories of crime and wealth without looking like they were encouraging lawbreaking. In this case, the story is loosely based on the life of Al Capone.

Scarface was made in what we now call the “Pre-Code” era of 1930-1934, when Hollywood appeared to regulate itself in response to religious and civic pressure, but had not yet been forced to adopt the strict standards that would come to limit what could be shown on screen for decades. Its makers had numerous battles with censors, both within the industry and in government–this being the era when many states and cities had censorship boards with the power to ban movies outright.

The film is a result of all of that back-and-forth: as much “realistic” violence as it can get away with, and an honest attempt to tell a story like Capone’s. At the same time, Scarface had to be careful not to look like it was glorifying him or the gangster life, so it includes warnings and plot points to dissuade young audiences from being tempted to pick up a Tommy gun.

Selected for the National Film Registry and famously remade by Brian De Palma in 1983, Scarface, which stars Paul Muni (I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, The Story of Louis Pasteur) in the title role, is a captivating portrait of America at a transitional moment for the culture and for cinema itself.