Though a classic by its own merits, Brian De Palma's Scarface (1983), starring Al Pacino as the iconic Tony Montana, is actually a remake of another classic: the original Scarface, released in 1932.
Watch both and decide for yourself. Watch it: "Scarface" (1932) and "Scarface" (1983) are both available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services.
Both films each have a spot in my heart's favorite movies, but when I'm forced to pick one, I'd definitely go with the 1983 remake. In it's very obviously over-the-top form, the movie also was able to capture the zeitgeist of the 1980s Miami culture...
Scarface (also known as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Hawks and Howard Hughes. The screenplay, by Ben Hecht, is based loosely on the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail, which was inspired by Al Capone.
Universal Originally Pursued a Sequel Called Son of Tony
Still, Universal was committed to the idea of doing another Scarface movie. Two years later, the project got a massive jolt of life by getting Harry Potter veteran David Yates in talks to helm the project.
Comparing Every Version of Scarface: The World Is Yours
What is the difference between Scarface 1932 and 1983?
Simply put, Scarface '32 takes place in 1920s Chicago gangland, whereas Scarface '83 starts in 1980 Miami during the real-life Mariel boatlift (éxodo del Mariel), a mutually agreed-upon mass migration of Cubans from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States.
Concerned with the film's grisly violence and sympathetic portrayal of mobsters, the release of SCARFACE was delayed, and Hawks was required to make substantial edits, including deleting scenes deemed overly sexual. Screenwriter Howard Hughes was even forced to write an alternate ending that condemned gang violence.
The game was shaping up to be pretty cool actually. It was culled when we were taken over by Activision. From my understanding, they had too many other open world games in development, and were not interested in making a Scarface game. I stuck around for another year and helped with the development of Prototype.
Guadagnino was first attached to “Scarface” in 2020, with Ethan and Joel Coen writing the script. “I'm not working on 'Scarface' anymore,” Guadagnino told the outlet in November 2023.
Development. Scarface began development after Al Pacino saw the 1932 film of the same name at the Tiffany Theater while in Los Angeles. He later called his manager, producer Martin Bregman, and informed him of his belief in the potential for a remake of that film.
Scarface is one of best of the early gangster movies; its wit and building velocity speeds it past Little Caesar and keeps pace with Public Enemy. By far the most visually inventive and tonally anarchic movie that Hawks made.
At this time, Tony reveals that Elvira is infertile, permanently souring their marriage and holding a grudge against her for it. This comes to a head as Tony attempts to assault Elvira only to be held back by Manny. Elvira collects herself and says one final insult to Tony before leaving him for good.
Much of the chainsaw murder and the shootout at the end of the movie was cut in Norway before its cinema release; later video versions are uncut. The BBFC requested cuts (totalling 25 seconds) to the chainsaw killing before passing the film with an 18 certificate. All cuts were waived in 1994.
The character is partly based on Tony Camonte, the protagonist of the 1932 film; Camonte was, in turn, an adaptation of Tony Guarino from the 1929 novel, which in turn was a loose fictionalization of real-life Italian-American gangster Al Capone, who was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1899.
Geno Silva, the character actor best known as playing the sunglass-wearing assassin who finished off Al Pacino's Tony Montana in "Scarface," has died at 72.
“Scarface,” which opened Dec. 9, 1983, made money at the box office but wasn't immediately profitable. However, in the 36 years since, the film has been embraced as a classic.
Filmed on location in Miami, the 7-minute sequel, by OID Productions, stars actor and music artist Jeancarlos Canela as Anthony Hancock-Montana, the previously unknown, only son of drug lord Tony Montana (played by Al Pacino) and his drug-addicted trophy wife Elvira (played by Michelle Pfeiffer).
We do know that co-star Keanu Reeves famously took a pay cut of a few million in order to allow for the production to afford to bring Pacino on board. As a result, we imagine Pacino was most likely paid around $10 million for his role.
Because of these changes, Scarface was delayed a year, though some screenings kept the original ending. Although the audience's reaction to Scarface was positive, censors banned the film in various cities across the United States, leading producer Howard Hughes to remove it from circulation and keep it in his vault.
