The Link between Legitimate Business and the Underworld
Scarface was produced within that post-1929 Wall Street crash milieu in which the contrast between the legitimate businessman and the gangster was no longer so starkly drawn in the minds of millions of moviegoers who had just seen their lives turned upside down directly as a result of the greed of so-called respectable business. The establishing shots set the stage for the narrative to be told in the respective films is highly suggestive. Whereas earlier gangster films focus on an underworld operating under the cover of night to engage in illegal activities, Scarface brings on the light and creates a hierarchical organization that becomes impossible to separate from the so-called legitimate industry. The world inhabited by Tony Camonte and his fellow mobsters is, in essence, right from the beginning a literal representation of the metaphorical sign feeding his ambition: “The World is Yours.”
Greek Drama
The greatest influence upon Scarface was the silent film Underworld which was also written by Ben Hecht. Not only do Underworld and Scarface share the symbolism of signs outside the windows that speak to the ambition of the protagonist, but the staging, lighting, and editing of the final shootouts that take the lives of Bull Weed and Tony Camonte so similar to verge upon the identical. And yet, it is the sign and the death of Camonte that has become remembered, not the death of Bull Weed. This may be due to an excess of artistry, but more likely it is due to Bull Weed’s death becoming a sacrificial act of redemption whereas Camonte’s death seems more related to the hubris of a king in an ancient Greek tragedy. The feeling that Camonte is at the center of an ancient Greek tragedy is further enhanced by the subtle subtext of incestuous desire for a sister which fuels the sublimation of sexual energy into explosive violence.
The Shame of the Nation?
After extensive editing and reshaping of the purpose and the addendum of the subtitle “The Shame of the Nation” the film was finally released with the express purpose in mind of revealing the lot of gangsters as hopelessly predetermined to end quickly and violently. The message was supposed to be clear: gangsterism is bad and Americans must do their part to stem its tide. Unfortunately, for the moral messengers hoping that Scarface would present its mobsters in such a bad light that no young unemployed men leaving the cinema would ever possibly even consider such a career, Scarface still manages to do what every gangster except Goodfellas manages to do: make the life of a gangster look pretty comfortable.
