Crime Films, Stereotyping and Xenophobic

Crime Films, Stereotyping and Xenophobic Characters

The two motion pictures called "Scarface" that are critiqued in this paper certainly have the same title and embrace the same themes of power, arrogance, gruesome bloodshed and gangster corruption. But when it comes to the characters, settings, editing, dialogue, narrative logic, and sociological substance, the two films are as far apart as Miami is from the moon. Howard Hawks' Scarface is dripping with blood and with xenophobic characterizations that are, in retrospect, insulting and demeaning to Italian immigrants. It may not have been Hawks' intention to create a film that viciously mocks Italians at every turn, but in 2009, that's what the film projects. In fairness, the United States in 1932 was in the grip of the Depression and was stumbling in its adjustment to the post-Prohibition dynamics. Given that backdrop, filmmakers like Hawks -- in concert with screenwriter Ben Hecht -- were presenting audiences with the perfect scapegoats for all that was chaotic and ugly in the country.

The 1983 version of Scarface -- starring Al Pacino -- also had powerful ethnicity themes as it used the arrival of the Marielitos (Cuban refugees) as the principal gangster characters. The arrival of Cubans (Castro sent boatloads of so-called deviants to Florida, many of whom were not in fact criminals) helped bring about an anti-Latino movement in the United States at that time. However, the portrayal of ethnic persons in the 1983 version was nowhere near the brutally xenophobic portrayals of ethnic persons in the 1932 film. Indeed, the Brian DePalma version of Tony Montana in 1983 did not make the Cuban characters out to be bumbling, nearly illiterate knuckleheads like Tony and his moron colleagues in Hawks' version fifty-one years earlier. Yes Tony and his gangster partners were brutally mean, deviant and power hungry, but the 1983 film did not overtly attack an ethnicity the way Hawks and Hecht did in 1932.

Brian DePalma's Scarface (1983) vs. Howard Hawks' Scarface (1932)

A man is standing on a balcony and is being riddled with bullets. He shouts and screams in the anguished, pained roar of a man about to go down. Several men in camouflage are continuing to attack him, from every side. Notwithstanding his weakened position, he fights back, shooting wildly and showing that he hasn't run out of testosterone quite yet. Finally, and according to film critic Tricia Welsch, "almost mercifully" a "lone gunman appears and fires a single shot" (Welsch, 1997). That last shot is the final nail in the struggling man's coffin. He falls off the balcony, landing in a "decorative pool of water far below," Welsch continues. The last the film viewer sees is the dead body "spread eagle" and face down in the pool.

The dead man in the pool is notoriously evil gangster Tony Montana. The film is Brian DePalma's Scarface, circa 1983. What is remarkable about that ending scene, according to Welsch, assistant professor and chair of the Department of Film Studies at Bowdoin College, is that it moves away from the ethnic hostility presented in the 1932 version by "persistently evoking" associations with the horror film genre. The way DePalma put this scene together reminds Welsch of the stereotypical monster movie during which the creature doesn't die easily at all; the monster offers a "superhuman burst of energy" prior to all the forces that civilization can muster finally brings the creature "to its knees." And so, Welsch's bottom line is that DePalma's movie redefined the genre by "reconfiguring the problems the gangster film traditionally posed" (Welsch, p. 39). And, as previously mentioned in this paper, by incorporating the monster theme, DePalma coyly (or intentionally) avoids criticism from some that he is unfairly attacking Latinos.

By asserting that DePalma has redefined the gangster film Welsch enters a discussion of cultural changes that have occurred in society since the 1932 Scarface by Howard Hawk. That early Scarface -- and other crime films in the 1930s -- portrayed the mobster as a "recent and unwelcome immigrant" to the United States. In that genre, during that cultural period in the U.S., gangsters were not "men" but rather gangsters were "social problems" that citizens should "do something about" (Welsch, p. 39). Indeed these films of the 1930s delved into political issues, Welsch continues; some footage in Scarface 1932 urges citizens to "put teeth in the Deportation Act." Rubbing out cultural differences was considered a way of rubbing out the violent criminal in the 1930s, according to Welsch's thinking. And she clearly establishes the viewpoint that the "xenophobia" (fear of strangers or foreigners) commonly espoused in 1930s films by directors like Hawk would not likely be tolerated today's society. Hence, DePalma brings monster images and themes into his updated version of the 1932 classic film presumably to avoid offending immigrants in the manner that Hawk most certainly did.

Welsch makes her strongest point about the 1983 version of Scarface by asserting that the "threat of cultural differences has been contained" through "generic hybridization" (p. 39). Said another way, DePalma avoids direct criticism and defamation vis-a-vis Italians by treating ethnic differences as "insurmountable" by shooting the gangster movie through the lens of the horror film genre (Welsch p. 39). (In popular American culture the "mafia" or "mob" is always alluded to as of Italian ethnicity and it is not politically correct to attack ethnic groups in the U.S. In modern times.)

Welsch is certain that DePalma has pulled together two genres in order to exploit the most drama out of his Scarface, to avoid attacking ethnic groups as the 1932 crime films did, and moreover to add excitement to a violent crime tale. DePalma has woven the horror movie genre into his gangster film brilliantly, in Welsch's view. On the one hand, the typical horror film has a monster that often wishes to be treated as some kind of human; the outcome of the film depends on whether or not the monster actually deserves human treatment or in the end will receive such treatment (Welsch, p. 40). But the gangster film convention decrees, "…that violent, criminal actions will cause the mobster to be called a monster or a beast but that will not ultimately forfeit his status as a human by virtue of these acts" (Welsch, p. 40). And the "unbreachable gap between human and inhuman in the horror film is often externally coded in monstrous physiognomy" and "physical deformity" (Welsch, p. 40). More often than not in crime pictures the crime hero's foreignness "…comes from ethnic heritage, class difference, and the restriction of opportunity" (Welsch, p. 41). In this particular case, because DePalma has married two genres into a film that was highly praised, one could state without equivocation that DePalma was more of a pathfinder and trailblazer than an exploiter of ethnic criminals.

Meanwhile when DePalma approached cinematographer John A. Alonzo about doing the remake of Hawks' film, DePalma expressed to Alonzo that he wanted him to "light as beautifully as you can…" and that "the film noir elements will come out of the performances, not the look" (Sweeney, 2003). Later, after the film was in theaters, DePalma obviously approved of what the cinematographer did, describing it as "acrylic, high-tech, pastel glitz of South Florida in the 1980s" (Sweeney). Writing in the American Cinematographer -- The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques, Sweeney notes that unlike the blurry black and white setting of Hawks' Scarface, DePalma directed a "gaudy, slick backdrop" for a "brutal" and "engrossing melodrama."

Howard Hawks' Scarface (1932)

How closely did Hawks' screenplay match up with the original novel Scarface by Armitage Trail? The screenplay for Hawks' film was "a unique creation that owes little to the novel," which was originally published in 1930, according to Marilyn Roberts. Writing in the journal Literature/Film Quarterly (2006), Roberts points to the fact of Hawks claim -- that he created the film based on "his own knowledge of gangsters, particularly Al Capone" (Roberts, p. 71). The original writers for the 1932 version were W.R. Burnett and John Lee Mahin -- and according to Roberts' version of the screenplay's evolution the writers give Ben Hecht (heavily involved with the screenplay) credit for "a complete transformation" of the original screenplay version they had come up with.

Even though Hawks liked to state that the movie did not emerge from the novel, "The film does not depart as significantly from the novel" as Hawks and Hecht claimed. That said, what is true (according to Roberts) is that the main changes from the book involve the compression of the narrative and "eliminating most of the political commentary" in order to "appease the censors." In fact the film was delayed about two years because the film censors took a lot of time to review and discuss the material. Clearly the censors must have removed some blatantly overt cultural slams at Italians, because there are several that remained in the film.

Roberts, in her scholarly essay, claims the movie weeded out the more controversial lines and embraced a more "stereotypical commentary" about the central character's goal of material success in America. A professor of English at Waynesburg College, Roberts may have glossed over some of the raw and even vulgar remarks and actions taken by the characters. At one point a newspaper editor -- angered by the violence and killing conducted by Tony's gang of gangster beer purveyors -- blurts out, "We need to put teeth in the deportation act! These gangsters don't belong in this country" (Scarface, Hawk).

Throughout the entire film Tony is seen as a plodding, incompetent, intellectually shallow person who uses an exaggerated Italian accent in his broken English. Tony demonstrates the stereotypical Italian mafia persona in everything he does, which surely was a statement by Hecht and Hawk vis-a-vis Italian immigrants. The juxtaposition of Tony as a tuxedo-wearing mental lightweight pushing people around is among the lasting images one gets after viewing this film.

Hawks and Hecht ignored the first six chapters of Trail's book, in order to get right into the violence and killing. In those first six chapters, Roberts explains, the main character (Tony) has a stripper for a mistress, murders her gangster lover and earns medals for bravery in WWI. Later, Tony also kills his mistress and her new lover, Roberts goes on (p. 71) and in order to avoid prosecution he changes his name. In the film, Tony takes his boss's girlfriend away and eventually kills his boss. He also kills his sister's lover albeit his sister later embraces him as he is about to be killed by about fifty police waiting outside.

After killing his sister's lover, sister Cesca comes into Tony's room with a gun and seemingly intends to kill her brother. When she puts the gun down, he says, "Why didn't you shoot me?" Her answer: "I'm you and you're me." (In other words, we're both Italians from lower class upbringing trying to better ourselves socially and financially.)

It is obvious that Hawks' Chicago-based movie was based in part on Al Capone, even though when Capone's "henchmen" confronted Hawks about the seemingly obvious resemblance between the Scarface character Tony and their boss Hawks denied any such link (Roberts, p. 72). In the June 2004 edition of American History magazine writer Philip Brandt George calls Hawks' Scarface "…One of the bloodiest crime movies of all time." Notwithstanding Hawks' pronouncements to the contrary, George flatly states that in the 1932 film "Paul Muni starred as Al Capone." George also provides a bit of perspective into the 1930s, pointing out that the Justice Department (in 1935) estimated "crooks outnumbered carpenters 4-to-1, grocers 6-to-1 and doctors 20-to-1."

As to Hawks, who died the day after Christmas in 1977 and had many films to his credit -- he directed 47 according to IMDB.com, including "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Land of the Pharaohs" -- he seemed to have taken liberties with the truth about his movie's relationship with Trail's book. For example, Hawks always claimed the incest-related sub-plot in the book that showed a sexy relationship between Tony and his sister was his original idea; however, Roberts reports, "Tony's excessive attachment to his sister Rosie already existed in the novel" (Roberts, p. 72).

Viewing the film with great attention and care in November, 2009, one doesn't see that Tony is necessarily sexually obsessed with his sister albeit he goes berserk when he finds her kissing a boyfriend or dancing cheek-to-cheek in a ballroom setting. Is this an ethnic stereotype, as Roberts asserts? Do Italian big brothers behave with a belligerent, bullish, even outrageously knee-jerk response towards their little sister when she is coming of age and interacting with men? If that is true then Tony is playing the culturally / ethnically appropriate role.

James Craig Holte, director of Graduate Studies in English in East Carolina University -- and author of books on vampires, ethnicities and African-American literature -- writes that Hawks' "Scarface" follows closely the barefaced ethnic stereotyping presented in the 1930 crime film "Little Caesar," starring Edward G. Robinson (Holte, 1984). Calling "Little Caesar" the "most influential gangster film ever made," Holte says Scarface helps propel the stereotype that "our gangsters are urban ethnics with stronger ties to an ethnic subculture than to the mainstream" (Holte, p. 104). And of course the ethnic subculture in Hawks' film is steeped in violence, power grabbing and contempt for law and order.

As for Hecht, he was the first screenwriter to receive an Academy Award for Original Screenplay (for the film Underworld) and he is credited with the screenplays of some outstanding, highly rated pictures. He wrote the screenplay for Barbary Coast, Some Like It Hot, Gone With The Wind, and Wuthering Heights (all of those in the late 1930s). He also wrote the screenplays for A Farewell to Arms, Mutiny on the Bounty, and Casino Royale. Hecht was an active Zionist prior to the Nazi Holocaust and wrote many plays about the plight of Europe's Jewish community.

The child of Russian-Jewish immigrants, whose native language was Yiddish, Hecht had a short career as a child prodigy violinist. Hecht later worked as a war correspondent in Berlin for the Chicago Daily News. Meanwhile, given that his parents were immigrants, it seems a bit out of character for Hecht to have created characters like Tony (and some of his gangster cohorts) who were so obviously portrayed with the stereotype of slimy Italian mobsters whose trigger fingers were loose and easy when it came to killing hundreds of people in order to profit from the illegal sale of alcohol.

On the other hand, it is possible that Hecht's Russian-Jewish immigrant family had little respect for the Italians. Putting that era into historical perspective, Congress passed the "Emergency Quota Act" in 1921, followed by the Immigration Act of 1924. The Immigration Act of 1924 was aimed at further preventing the Southern and Eastern Europeans -- especially Jews, Italians and Slavs -- from entering the U.S. That legislation was written because in the ten years following 1900, about 200,000 Italians immigrated annually, which did not sit well with ethnic cultures that were already settled into the U.S. -- including Jewish citizens like Hecht. Hence, one can speculate that Hecht and Hawks portrayed the Italian gangsters in ways that were obviously intended to be demeaning and culturally slanderous.

Further Perspective on Crime Film Themes / Settings

Author Philippa Gates writes in Detecting Men: Masculinity and the Hollywood Detective Film that detective fiction "coincided" with the emergence of the modern city police department. Echoing scholars who view Depression era gangster violence (Capone, et al.) as more of a "haves" vs. "have-nots" class war than patent insanity or murderous genes, Gates says both detective literature and police forces "…Can be traced to the anxieties of the literate, upper classes concerned with the threat to social order posed by the lower classes" (Gates, p. 56).