Howard Hughes produces the last classic of his film career before devoting himself to aviation, and runs into trouble with the Production Code.  Instead of showing that crime doesn’t pay, movies like Scarface were portraying the gangsters as daring opportunists exploiting a system that didn’t work.  The censors weren’t happy, as Haliwell explains:

‘Hughes’ only concession to governmental concern was to subtitle it The Shame of a Nation and to add an entirely hypocritical preface: ‘This picture is an indictment of gang rule in America… The purpose of the picture is to demand of the government: “What are you doing about it?”’  A reasonable answer might have been ‘Stop Hollywood from making films which glorify hoodlums’, and that in fact is what the government did.’

Warner Bros’ indeed changed their style in order to comply with stricter production controls:

‘After 1932 the gangsters withdrew, or were comicalised, until in 1935 Jack Warner had a brainwave.  If he could no longer make heroes of the gangsters, he would have his tough stars play the cops.  If Cagney was motivated by a personal vendetta, as in G Men, the excitement would be no less than in Public Enemy…’

In terms of specific influence, Scarface was directly remade in 1983 by Brian de Palma, relocating the story to Miami and having the gangsters peddling cocaine instead of booze, but retaining the usurpation of power and the incestuous overtones between Tony and his sister.  De Palma paid further homage in The Untouchables, showing the face of Al Capone being slowly revealed from under barber shop towelling.

George Raft parodied his own coin-tossing routine from this movie in Some Like it Hot, and the trick of moving the camera away from the action whilst something incredibly violent is taking place, was used by Quentin Tarantino sixty years later, in Reservoir Dogs.

 

Year: 1932