Trivia / Scarface (1932)

• Breakthrough Hit: For Howard Hawks.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Karen Morley was given the option of playing either Poppy or Cesca. Morley later said that she knew the role of Cesca was the more interesting of the two, but she accepted the role of Poppy instead and lobbied for her friend Ann Dvorak to be cast as the sister. The role of Cesca would ultimately jumpstart Dvorak's career as a major actress.
• Channel Hop: The film was produced by Howard Hughes and distributed by United Artists. After Hughes' death, the rights to the movie along with several of Hughes' works were bought by Universal, who would go on to produce the more notable 1983 remake.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Howard Hawks named this as his favourite film of his own, stating that it was a movie he had complete freedom to achieve what he wanted.
• Denied Parody: Ben Hecht denied any connection to Al Capone (whose Embarrassing Nickname was "Scarface") when confronted by some of Capone's men, insisting that it was just a work of fiction and that the name was only there to get the audience's attention. The film was an adaptation of the novel Scarface, which was somewhat influenced by Capone.
• Executive Meddling:
  • The studio forced a disclaimer at the start of the film denouncing gang activity.
  • The original shootout ending was almost replaced by one in which Tony is arrested and tried for his crimes. Paul Muni was not present for the filming of this new ending. Fortunately, producer Howard Hughes fought to keep the original ending. The alternate ending was eventually included as an extra feature on the DVD.
  • There's an ultra-Anvilicious sequence near the midpoint of the film where representatives from different groups are gathered in a room to discuss America's crime problem. Also forced on Hughes and Howard Hawks by the censors.
  • The original script was changed in several ways (see: What Could Have Been).
• Fake American: Boris Karloff (an Englishman né William Henry Pratt whose father was Anglo-Indian) as an American gangster of Irish descent.
• Fake Nationality: Paul Muni, a Jewish actor born in Lemberg (Austro-Hungarian Empire), plays an Italian-American.
• Hypothetical Casting: Irving Thalberg suggested Clark Gable for Tony Camonte. Howard Hawks turned him down, saying, "We need a real actor, not some personality."
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: For a while, the movie didn't get a theatrical re-release in the US due to refusals from producer Howard Hughes, who owned the rights to the film, though he did allow for a few re-releases in some European countries. After Hughes died, Universal bought the rights to the film from his estate and screened the movie at the New York Film Festival in 1979 before finally putting out in the home video market the following year. Universal's purchase of the movie gave them green-light to do the more familiar remake.
• Life Imitates Art: Tom Gaffney is machine-gunned to death while bowling. In 1936, former mobster "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn was killed in the exact same way.
• On-Set Injury: According to a Todd McCarthy biography on Howard Hawks, Gaylord Lloyd (brother of Harold Lloyd) lost an eye while visiting the set after getting hit by bullet fragments from live gunfire during filming, as the usage of squibs to simulate gunfire impacts wasn't common in Hollywood productions of the time.
• Scully Box: The 5' 9" Paul Muni wore small lifts (adding three or four inches) and padding to appear more hulking and ape-like as Tony.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film's release was delayed almost a year due to producer Howard Hughes' protracted battles with regional censor boards.
• What Could Have Been: The original script differs from the final film in several ways, changed likely due to Executive Meddling:
  • Tony's mother loves her son unconditionally, praising his lifestyle, and even accepting money and gifts from him.
  • The incestuous subtext between Tony and his sister is far more explicit.
  • There was a cut politician character who, despite campaigning against gangsters on the podium, is hypocritically shown partying with them after hours.
  • The final shootout plays out differently. Tony keep firing back at cops as they surround his building, seemingly unaffected by the ever-increasing tear gas and near-misses. Eventually the building catches fire and Tony is forced to exit, firing Guns Akimbo and being sprayed with bullets in return. Unfazed, he spots Inspector Guarino (his brother in the original novel), and tries to shoot him but his gun clicks empty. He finally succumbs to his wounds but keeps defiantly pulling the trigger as police surround him and the credits role. This ending is referenced somewhat by the remake.
• Working Title: The Shame of a Nation, The Menace, Yellow, Man is Strange and The Scar.
• Write What You Know: Screenwriter Ben Hecht was a former Chicago journalist familiar with the city's Prohibition-era gangsters, including Al Capone.

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