Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)

NOTE: Sometimes the film is referred to as just Scarface, sometimes just The Shame of the Nation, and at times the full title, Scarface: The Shame of the Nation. Due to the fact that I have the liberty to choose the titles freely, I am siding with the AFI with the title. Scarface: The Shame of the Nation was the title listed when the film was said to be the sixth best gangster film of all time, beating the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction. And that, my readers, is why I proclaim that this film is good. NOTE OVER. Providing the basis for the soon-to-be-remade 1983 cult Brian De Palma film Scarface starring Al Pacino (which I will finally see in a very long amount of time) and based off of the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail which was based off of the life of Al Capone (my God, that’s a lot of versions), Scarface: The Shame of the Nation tells the story of Tony Camonte (Paul Muni), a man who, through a couple of bullets, rises to the top of the city, which I assume is Chicago, and then watches himself fall from the top, lower than he could have ever imagined. Now, the rise of Tony and the fall of Tony isn’t as crystal-clear as that of Tony Montana in the Brain De Palma film (according to one reviewer, there is a moment where the screen goes black, making the transition between the two. And, unlike many people, being unable to compare the two versions of this film, I can say, pure and true, that this is a good film. Not a brilliant film, not a perfect film, not The Godfather, but a good film none-the-less. If you are like me, and are intent on discovering the full history of cinema, and one of the most fascinating sub-genres, the gangster film, it is definitely worth a watch.
8.5/10