Now here's a shocker for you, not only is the "Scarface" that many of you know and love is a remake, but the original film wasn't an obscure gangster flick as you think it would be. It was actually really just as controversial as the remake, and on top of it, the film itself is considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, by critics, film historians, and the American Film Institute (Putting the original higher than the remake on their "Top Ten Gangster Films"). It was also very influential in the world of gangster films, by being pretty much ahead of its time. I didn't even know there was a remake as a young film buff; I was actually introduced to the 1932 classic first. When I saw the remake, I loved it just as much as I loved the original. But since the remake has a larger fan base than the original film, does that make the original film bad? Well join me as I not only review the original classic, but talk about the similarities to the remake as well as comparing them.
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
Starting with the premise, what are the similarities between the original and the remake? Well everyone knows the story about a Cuban Immigrant named Tony Montana who got involved with the drug trade in the remake; well the original was about an Italian Immigrant named Tony Camonte who got involved with selling and distributing alcohol during The Prohibition. The two films however, aren't just about an Immigrant gangster distributing illegal items that were popular in both eras, which leads to them rising to power and then falling in the end, but the remake also takes some key scenes and elements from the original film. Since everyone knows the remake better than the original, I'll talk about the scenes in the remake first, as I compare them to the original.
In the remake, Tony's first job for the crime boss that he wants to work for is doing a hit on a man who killed his boss' Brother.
In the original, Tony's first job for the crime boss he wants to work for was also hit. However, instead of being a hit on a powerless guy that screwed Tony's new boss over, it's a mob boss who Tony used to work for as his bodyguard.
In the remake, Tony starts making moves behind his boss's back to become powerful, thinking that his boss is "Soft".
In the original, Tony does the same, as well as having a similar scene that the remake took where Tony and his friend are riding in a car as Tony claims that their boss is "Soft" and that he plans on making some moves.
In the remake, Tony has the hots for his boss' hot girlfriend, who's shallow, constantly bored with everything, and spends most of her time putting on make-up, getting dressed, and getting high.
In the original, Tony falls in love with his boss's cold and constantly bored girlfriend, who spends most of her time doing almost everything that Tony's love interest did in the remake, only without the getting high part.
In the remake, Tony's boss gets pissed with Tony making deals and hitting on his girlfriend, which results with him ordering a hit on Tony, which Tony survives (Despite getting wounded), while killing the other henchmen. He then later on comes to his boss wounded, along with his friend and another henchman. Orders someone to call his boss as a henchman who failed to kill Tony, which would make boss reveal it was him. And as the Boss begs for Tony not to kill him, he orders his friend to kill him.
In the original, the same exact scene happens. The only difference is, instead of being gunned down at a club, he's in a car chase. He also doesn't have a dirty cop to kill, and a former henchman to hire.
Right after that scene in the remake; Tony wakes up his girl and tells her to come with him and "get her stuff", and as she's packing, Tony looks at a blimp that says "The World Is Yours".
In the original, the same exact scene happens after the hit, only difference is she's happy that Tony killed her former boyfriend than being shocked; and Tony looks at a neon lit billboard that says "The World Is Yours" instead of a blimp.
In the remake, Tony has a Mother who disproves his life style. He also starts giving money to his Sister, but hates seeing her with other men (Hinting of his incest towards her).
In the original, he has a Mother who disapproves his life style, and has a sister that she gives money too, while also having incest feelings towards her, which aren't hinted at like in the remake.
In the remake, when Tony goes to his Sister's mansion; Tony discovers that his best friend has been dating his Sister and kills him out of anger, while being under the influence of drugs. He then sees his sister cry over his dead body, telling Tony that they just got married and that they were going to surprise him.
In the original, Tony goes to his Sister's new apartment, and kills his friend for dating his sister out of anger, by letting his killing habits take control of him, instead being both drugs and his killing habits. As you may have guessed, the Sister cries over his dead body and tells Tony that they just got married and that they were going to surprise him.
In the remake, henchmen working for a partner that Tony screwed over, comes to his mansion to kill him. Tony's Sister tries to kill him, but a henchman kills her. Tony sighs over his Sister's dead body, and then starts to kill the henchmen during a shootout. However, he gets shot in the back by a henchman sneaking up on him, falls into a pool, and above his dead body is a statue of a globe that says "The World Is Yours".
In the original, instead of henchmen from a gangster coming to kill him, it's the cops. His Sister tries to kill him, but quickly forgives Tony, and helps him with his fight against the cops, but gets killed. The cops are closing in on Tony, and Tony gives up. However, instead of being arrested, he runs out and gets shot down. After he's killed, we see the same sign that we saw earlier that says "The World Is Yours". It's different from the ending in the remake, but it still has the basics from what the remake took.
So after pointing out the similarities between both films, which one is better?
First off, lets start out with Tony's introduction and his first kill, because both versions give this character a cool introduction and first kill.
In the remake after the opening credits, we see Tony being
interviewed by FBI men about his life in Cuba;
who he knows in the US;
and what crimes he’s committed. Tony tells a few fibs; jokes around; and gives
a powerful speech about his hardships in Cuba. When he's sent to "Freedom Town", he does a hit for a gangster
(As I mentioned earlier) and stabs the person he's ordered to kill during a
tense sequence, where the stabbing is left for our imagination. In the
original, instead of seeing our lead right away, we see the mob boss Louie
alone in a restaurant that he owns as the place is closing up, with the janitor
being the only person left. As Louie makes a phone call, we see a shadowy
figure walk down a dark hallway whistling. We then see the silhouette of our protagonist greeting his victim and shoots him down, and as he leaves while whistling, the Janitor
finds Louie’s dead body and quickly leaves. For me, his first kill is way
better than his first kill in the remake, because of the atmosphere; the way
its shot; and not seeing our lead as he kills the guy. When we finally see him,
he's in a barber shop covered up with a towel, and when a cop comes to question
him about the murder; he unwraps his face which reveals his X shaped scar on
his Italian face (Which I think is cooler than Pacino's Scar), as he insults
the cop while lighting a match on the Cop's badge. Then when he's taken into
police headquarters for questioning; he lies, acts tough, and comically
insults the cops. While I love the character's introduction in the remake;
for me, this is my favorite introduction to this character, because of the
build up to him; his first scene being his first kill; his reveal; and watching
the character carelessly and humorously sassing the cops.
We all know how iconic Al Pacino's performance as Tony in the remake is, but how is the actor playing Tony in the original? Tony is played by Paul Muni (Who was also in another iconic film classic that same year called "I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang") and his performance is just as great as Pacino's performance. How he jokes around and insults the characters is fun to watch; his hunger for power is just as hungry as Pacino's character; his tough guy image is badass; but what makes the character stand out is his violent behavior. This guy really loves to kill and beat the living crap out of people. While Pacino too was a merciless killer, he for the majority of the film didn't show the fun he was having, compared to Muni. This guy enjoys every single second of it! From his laughing; to his cold and haunting whistling; to his look of enjoyment on his face; it's clear that he really gets a kick out of violence. Just look at the scene when he finally gets a machine gun, he’s like a child excited and happy about a toy that he just got on Christmas. I also love that when he gets involved into shootouts or fights; his slicked back oily hair becomes a complete mess. Muni in real-life isn't Italian, and the accent that he puts on (Along with the rest of the cast) is pretty over the top and exaggerated. Pacino's Cuban accent (and performance in general) was over the top and a bit exaggerated too, but he was more convincing at playing a different race than Muni did. Pacino, never let out his American accent, while Muni on the other hand does. The actors including Muni even rush through their lines at times. However, despite his bad Italian, and occasional rushing through lines, it's still a really great performance.
As for his rise and fall from power story, while good, I do think the remake did a better job at it. While we see Tony's hunger for power; enjoying the stuff he's getting that helps persuades him to gain more power; and even seeing him actually making moves behind his bosses back in the original; the problem I have is, after he kills his boss, gets the girl, and runs the empire, we never see him enjoying it, or struggling with it. I'm serious, right after the murder of his boss, and taking his girlfriend with him, we don't see him again until he shows up to kill his best friend, which that action leads to his downfall. In the remake, when Tony gets his power, we see him enjoying himself with it for a little bit, but his downfall becomes harsher compared to Camonte's downfall in the original. He becomes paranoid; he doesn't trust anyone; he gets pinched by an undercover cop for laundering money; he loses his wife; he gets addicted to his drugs, which makes him lose control over himself, and lose money; and he fails a hit for his powerful business partner because of his code not to kill innocent civilians (Especially Women and children), which leads to a hit squad coming to his mansion. That's way more tragic and harsh compared to his downfall in the original. When Tony does die at the end of the remake, he doesn't go without a fight and when he does die, it's both sad and epic. In the original, he cowares, runs for his life, and dies, which is still intense; but Tony's death in the remake just seemed grander, since he's coked up on drugs; has lost everything; and will continue to fight whether he lives or dies. While Muni gives a good performance, with his insane killer instinct; lust for power; fun personality; and tragic end, I'm going to have to go with Pacino's performance in the remake. His story and character is more fleshed out; his Cuban accent, while over the top, is still more convincing and cool than Muni's phony Italian accent; he's not as cold and heartless as Muni is, since there is a strong likability to his character throughout the film, as well as seeing the character follow a personal code despite doing some very horrible things; he's a lot of fun to be around; and his quotable swearing dialogue is so great that it truly makes the character more memorable compared to Muni. Muni is a great Scarface too, but Al Pacino is the most memorable and identifiable one in comparison.
Now what about the supporting cast, are they better than the remake's supporting characters?
Starting off with Tony's best friend and partner in crime Guino, he's actually a real badass character. First of all, he's played by classic film tough guy George Raft in his film debut, who plays his role just as cool as Muni. He loves hitting on the ladies; he helps Tony with not only killing his boss, but also helping him grab a machine gun (Which was hard for Tony and his crew to get); and he lays back and fliping his coin like a boss. Even his death was pretty sad and poetic, because as he's killed by Tony for dating his Sister, he kills him as he flips his coin and misses it as he collapses. What makes it even sadder is the coin that he's flipping is the coin that Tony's Sister gave him when they first met each other. Raft's performance was so good, that his gangster friends were asking him for advice of how to walk, talk, dress, and so on. However, as great as Raft's performance is, I honestly found myself more connected to Tony's friend Manny played by Steven Bauer in the remake. While Raft just hangs around looking cool and will talk to his friend every once and awhile; Manny has more of a personality, and a closer connection to the lead than Raft's character. His personality is a lot of fun; his chemistry with Pacino is perfect, as well as making you feel that brotherly connection between them; and he has more lines of dialogue than Raft does. When Manny died at the end, I was actually really sad; and while Raft's death was sad too, I just didn't feel as close to him, than I was with Manny. So while Raft maybe awesome, Manny is the one who I feel the closest too.
Next we have Tony's boss Johnny Lovo played by Osgood Perkins. I'm just going to say it, Robert Loggia as Tony's boss Frank in the remake is a better character and performance compared to Perkins' character. Perkins’performance isn't bad or anything, it's just that he's more of a wimp compared to Frank in the remake. When we first meet Frank in the remake, he's fun; over the top; enjoying his rich life style; gives Tony some wise advice; and seems like a good leader. However, when he discovers that Tony is making moves behind his back and hitting on his girl, he starts to become intimidating and tries to find ways to destroy Tony. When Tony threatens to kill him, you feel bad for him, but at the same time you're rooting for Tony to kill him for screwing Tony over, since Tony didn't turn on Frank despite making some moves behind his back. Tony's boss in the original just whines and complains about Tony's actions, while being pushed over. The only time I felt any type of intimidation from him, is when he thinks about killing Tony. Like I said, Perkins' performance isn't bad, but Frank seems to be a much better leader, as well as being more of a threat towards Tony, than Johnny is.
What about Tony's love interest Poppy played by Karen Morley, how is she compared to Tony's girlfriend Elvira played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the remake. In personality wise, there's really nothing that different about them. They both have the same exact characteristics. So both performances are spot on, but there are a few differences with the exception of one not being addicted to cocaine. The thing that separates these two characters from being exactly the same is she does show an actual interest in Tony. Even when her boyfriend is dead, she actually smiles, instead of looking shocked like Elvira did in the remake. Tony doesn't even break up with her in the end either like in the remake, he just hangs up on her on the phone before being attacked by the cops and his sister, while feeling depressed about his friend's death. While it's nice seeing Tony's girlfriend having more of an interest in Tony than Elvira did in the remake, I actually do prefer Elvira over her. Despite Elvira not being all that interested in Tony than Poppy was in the original; she does hint her attraction towards Tony before he gets powerful, and she and Pacino have really interesting chemistry together. Once they do get together, the two start to lose interest in each other, which makes Tony realize that there's really nothing special about her aside from her good looks, which causes her to flip out and tell Tony that he's worse than she is, who breaks down at the life she chose to live, and decides to leave Tony for good. That to me seems more interesting and tragic compared to Tony's on-going happy relationship with his love interest in the original.
We move onto our next female supporting character Tony's Sister Cesca played by Ann Dvorak. Her relationship with the character are done ok, but Gina played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in the remake had a stronger and more fleshed-out connection with the characters. In the original, Cesca's relationship with Guino is just as effecting as the relationship in the remake, but with that said, I just felt like Gina and Manny in the remake were a cuter couple, as well as finding myself closer to these character than the characters in the original. The biggest reason why I like Gina in the remake is because the relationship between her and Tony seemed more interesting and engaging. While he does abuse her just as much as the character did in the original, the film gave them enough time to have a happy relationship (Despite that Tony may have deeper feelings for her). In the original, the happy moment before Tony starts to abuse her feels a bit rushed. And when Tony kills Guino in the original, Tony's Sister thinks about killing Tony after murdering her husband, but quickly forgives him and I guess starts to have the same feelings that Tony has for her, before being killed off. Uuuh yeeeah, that was pretty stupid and really did feel painfully rushed. In the remake, she actually tries to kill Tony for killing her husband and almost succeeds before being killed by a henchman, and to me that felt more fleshed out and plausible, than what the original did. If the original had one weakness that needed to be updated for a remake, it's Tony's relationship with his Sister. As for Tony's Mother, despite having short appearances in both movies, while both also give a good performance, the strongest performance goes to the Mother in the remake, who seems to be more strict and tough than Tony's Mother in the original.
Tony does have an enemy in the original, but he is nothing like Tony's former business partner Sosa in the remake. He's not a partner or a friend of Tony, he's just a powerful rival who works for a crime boss who we never meet and gets killed off screen (Which the remake gave Tony some powerful rivals that we hear about, but never meet). He doesn't even live in the end like Sosa, he actually gets killed by Tony. While being completely different compared to Sosa, he's still comes off as a worthy and intimidating opponent, and plus he's played by Boris Karloff (A year after his performance in "Frankenstein") which is a role that he completely owns. Yeah, despite playing an Italian gangster, he sure doesn't have an Italian accent at all, nor is he trying. However, like the cast in this movie, his performance is so great that I'm willing to over look that aspect. The class, the elegance, and the intimidating tough guy approach is really what makes this performance so wonderful. However, since he is considered to be a rival and Tony in the remake also has a rival; I have to go with Paul Shenar as Sosa, who maybe a rich and handsome well mannered man on the outside; but on the inside, he's a sinister deadly snake, who will kill you when you least expect it or when you mess with him, and that to me is a much better opponent and character than the one in the original.
While both films have the same key characters, there are a few different characters that these two films brought. In the remake, you had Frank's associate Omar, and the dirty Cop working for Frank. In the original, we have cops that are looking to put Tony behind bars; a News paper publisher that wants to spread the word about gang violence; and Tony's goofy Secretary. The actors who play the cops that wants to take down Tony are played by Edwin Maxwell, and C.Henry Gordon are good as these cops that want to destroy Tony's criminal career; and Purnell Pratt is also really good as the News Paper publisher that wants to put gang violence on the front page. However, while their performances are good, there's nothing that special about them compared to the other characters in the original and in the remake for that matter. The character I do enjoy watching throughout the film that did leave a memorable impression on me is Tony's Secretary Angelo played by Vince Barnett. Every scene he's in, he always cracks me up with his idiotic behavior, especially when he has to keep on answering the phone for Tony. The new characters in the remake are obviously better, but I'm glad that the remake didn't try to update Angelo, because Barnett's performance is so funny, that I couldn't picture this performance and character being updated or duplicated.
The last thing to compare between these two films is the violence, and lets be honest, the violence in the remake is the real winner, hands-down, no contest. I mean it had blood, chainsaws, a guy being hung off of a helicopter, and one of the best climatic shoot em' up endings in the history of film. Still, while the violence in the remake is way better than the original, that doesn't mean that the violence in the original isn't any good. Ok, yeah like most gangster films at that time, there was hardly any blood when people got shot up; however, the ideas, the way the scenes are shot, the sound effects, and the reactions from the characters and victim are really creative and cool, especially for the time. When I first saw this movie as a kid, I was blown away at violent the film was; I mean you could hardly go through 10 minutes without someone being hit, shot, threatened, or seeing some kind of destruction and chaos. Sure films like "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy" had its share of violent scenes; but this film goes full out insane with its violence, as well as using a few of the elements that were used in the previous films that I just mentioned. People are being shot in the shadows; bodies are being dumped around; people are being killed off-screen as we hear gun shots, or hear the characters talk about the person they murdered; there's car chases; there's shoot-outs with rival gangs and the cops; and people are almost constantly being hit, punched, thrown, and slapped around. There are even some dark humorous moments in the film when people are being killed, like the scene when Karloff’s character gets killed while bowling, and as his bowling ball hits the pins; all pins are knocked down, except for one that twirls around until it finally collapses as we hear some more shots being fired. If that's not enough, the film also uses an X motif throughout the film that signals somebody’s death (Like the orange theory in "The Godfather" films). Whenever we see the X symbol by the character's, we see it in different forms such as in the shadows as the tiny specks of light forming an X shaped pattern; the roman numeral number for 10 (Which is an X); the Scar on Tony's face; the gown straps on Tony's Sister's back; even the X symbol just randomly appears for a few seconds; and the idea of the symbol and how the film executes it, is so creative, that its one of the things that I always find myself admiring about this film. This film also has the balls to put incest into the film, which was very rare at the time that this film was made, and while that aspect is better in the remake; I still give this film a lot of credit for taking a risk that's usually a big no, no for Hollywood at the time.
To make things even more interesting, the film is also loosely based on real life events with the mob, which mostly involves around the famous Prohibition gangster...
Al Capone. The character of Tony Camonte is obviously based on Al Capone, because of his business in bootlegging and killing, as well as having a scar on his face. In fact, the characters in the film makes fun of Tony's Scar by jokingly saying that he got the slash on his face from a "war with a blonde in a Brooklyn Speakeasy"; when in real life, Capone got the slash on his cheek from a knife fight over a woman with a rival gangster. Tony also does some similar things that Capone did. He kills his first boss Big Louie Castillo, which is based on when Capone killed his first boss Big Jim Colosimo. The murder of an Irish gangster being killed in a Flower Shop that's been mentioned in dialogue in the film is based on the death of Irish gangster Deanie O'Bannio, who got killed in a Flower Shop ordered by Capone. Tony being gunned down by gangsters at a cafe by his rival is based on when Hymie Weiss tried to kill Capone in an Italian restaurant. However, the biggest nod that I caught with the film's similarities to Capone’s criminal career is when Tony massacres a bunch of gangsters up against a wall during Valentine's Day, which is of course based on the infamous St.Valentine's Day Massacre. All these little fictional historic references to Capone's actual life, is another reason why I find the film so amazing.
Since the film went all out with its violence, and taking a few more risks, the censors weren't at all pleased with the film. In fact, the film was so graphic looking that the censors not only demanded the film to be changed and toned down; but even delayed the film from its release for a few months. The changes that were made aside from the toned violence was to have Tony's Mother not approve his actions and behavior (Unlike Cagney’s Mother in “The Public Enemy”); put a few extra scenes of the cops and the press talking about how gangster's are destroying our country and corrupting people's minds; put a text after the opening credits that tells the audience that the film is not supposed to glorify gangsters; give the film's title an added subtitle called "Scarface: The Shame Of The Nation"; and even had the people behind the film direct an alternate ending, since Tony being shot up by the cops was too violent. When the film finally got released, it was still considered too violent for audiences at the time. I will admit, the stuff that was added into the film like the Mother's disapproval towards Tony's life and some of the speeches about crime, actually did fit the film fine and had me interested in the conversations than being bored by them, even if they were a bit too preachy and forced at times. However, what I really hate what the censors did with the film was the alternate ending that they told the people behind the film to create, where Tony would be hanged instead of being shot down. The director Howard Hawks hated the change so much that he refused to direct the ending, while the actor playing Tony refused to take part in the alternate ending. So what we get is half-assed acting that actually is boring and very preachy about the dangers of being a criminal; we get a stand in for Muni; the shots of seeing through Tony's eyes as we are being yelled at by the Judge and blind folded by the cops, isn't at all effective; and we don't even see the character get hanged, we just see Tony's obvious dummy legs being tied up and see the cops activating the hanging mechanism, that's it. It's a really lame ending compared to the tragic ending that Hawk's created and thank god that the ending was never released in the final cut of the film, since the censors still found the film to be too violent. However, if you're interested in seeing the alternate ending, you can find it on the DVD. While the violence in the remake are way more graphic, compared to the violence in the original; the violence in the original are still cool to watch, through the visuals, the writing, the acting, the symbolism's, lack of music (Though the music in the remake is awesome) and the tie-ins to real life murders.
I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that the remake is better than the original, and that’s coming from someone who grew up with the original 1932 classic. However, just because the remake is superior, that doesn't mean that the original is bad at all. Without comparing it to the remake, it's actually a solid gangster film. Despite the phony and exaggerated Italian accents, the performances are still great; the story about Tony trying to make it to the top, but failing at it, is very engaging; how the film ties-in with real life events is clever; the visuals are cool; the violence is still fun and cool to watch (As well as appreciating it for how groundbreaking it was for film); the humor being both dark and lighthearted on different occasions is fun; and the added themes by the censors of gangsters destroying America isn't as preachy or boring as I thought it was going to be, that does fit the film fine. The only thing I thought the film should have put a little more thought into is the relationship between Tony and his Sister, especially during the climax, but it's not as bad as you think (At least without comparing it the remake). While the remake is the best one in comparison, these two films are still masterpieces in their own right, both bringing something new, memorable, groundbreaking, and controversial to the art of film. If you haven't seen the original "Scarface" yet, check it out whether you're curious in seeing the similarities between both films for yourself; or if you just want to watch a groundbreaking (As well as controversial) classic Black & White gangster film, if you're a fan of classic cinema or gangster films in general.
RATING 5/5
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