Review of Scarface (1932) by Kenr — 06 Oct 2021

After waiting till this year to see this highly regarded vintage gangster flick, have to admit coming away somewhat disappointed. The whole thing looks good thanks to top cinematography by veteran Lee Garmes (Detective Story 51) and some nice touches from director Hawks, it also features some superbly staged crashes and gun battles but these seem to become overdone, and more in line with exploitation.

These films were the action fare of their day but with so many being churned out, the line became blurred between glorifying these moronic henchmen and showing them up for their immorality. Another cliché of the era, assisting to bring it undone, was the inclusion of a comic relief sidekick to the main villain.

These characters were stereotypes of unbelievable Simple-Simon stupidity but deemed necessary by Hollywood (and it seems Hughes & Hawks) as ‘humorous’ relief. Technically, good to look at as cinema history but showing the constraints of early sound performances and their various limitations.

This is certainly a different Paul Muni to most I have seen but for professionalism, would prefer to take another look at ‘I’m A Fugitive from a Chain Gang’, than this effort.