This paper examines the life of Al Capone — his origins as an Italian immigrant in Brooklyn, his rise to lead Chicago's organized crime syndicate, and his eventual downfall — alongside an analysis of how the Scarface films adapted and mythologized his story. The paper traces Capone's career from street gang membership through the St. Valentine's Day Massacre to his conviction for tax evasion. It also considers how 1930s gangster cinema, shaped by the Hays Code, simultaneously glamorized and condemned figures like Capone, and how Capone's trajectory represented a distorted but compelling version of the American Dream.
The paper demonstrates the technique of contextualizing a cultural artifact (the Scarface films) within its historical moment. By first establishing the social conditions of Prohibition-era America and Capone's actual biography, the author gives the reader a framework for understanding why gangster films resonated with Depression-era audiences and why the Hays Code shaped their moral arc.
The paper opens with a thesis linking Capone's historical significance to the two Scarface films. A second section covers the social conditions — immigration, Prohibition, and the rise of organized crime — that produced figures like Capone. The third section narrates Capone's career arc from Brooklyn street gang to Chicago crime boss to imprisoned tax evader. The fourth section analyzes the 1932 film and the Hays Code. The paper closes by framing Capone as an ambivalent symbol of the American Dream.
"Scarface" is the nickname given to one of the most famous and infamous members of organized crime. Scholars and crime enthusiasts throughout the United States know all about Alphonse "Scarface" Capone and how he rose to head the mafia in Chicago, Illinois during the 1920s. Capone achieved his success in the underworld by being smarter — and perhaps luckier — than his enemies. He was a strategist, as focused on the destruction of his opposition as any military general. Although his actions were nefarious and his endeavors served only his own financial betterment, it cannot be denied that figures like Capone played an important role in the formation of American history.
The original film Scarface is based on the life of Al Capone — gangster films being very popular in the 1930s and early 1940s. The 1980s remake of Scarface tells a similarly themed story of criminal success and ultimate failure, but changes the setting, the ethnicity, and the story arc while removing all historical context from the narrative.
During the time of the Great Depression, organized crime became a big business. After the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition went into effect, and consequently there was higher demand for illegal substances, particularly liquor. Criminal enterprises had been around for a while, providing prostitution and gambling to major cities, but Prohibition would lead to the rise of the famous American gangster. Bugs Moran, John Dillinger, Lucky Luciano, and of course Al Capone — along with their organizations, such as Murder, Inc. — became household names during the period. Many of these early gangsters were first- or second-generation immigrants, primarily from Italy (Shanty 12).
When immigrants came to the United States, many were unable to speak English, and so they formed tight-knit communities with others of similar backgrounds. In Brooklyn, New York, a group of Italian immigrants settled in what would become known as Little Italy (Al 1). Being unfamiliar with the language, most immigrants could only obtain low-paying, menial jobs. The fastest way to escape the rut of slum life in these ethnic neighborhoods was to join gangs and commit crimes — activities that, though decidedly illegal, were also highly profitable.
Like many of his countrymen, Capone joined a street gang in Brooklyn at a very early age. He quickly built a reputation among the ranks as being both highly intelligent and aggressively vicious when provoked. After establishing himself in New York, Capone moved to Chicago to work for the Italian crime syndicate (Raab 42). His assertiveness and ruthlessness moved him quickly up the ranks until he was running the crime family.
Chicago, Illinois was home to many hardened gangsters, and gangs within the city were constantly battling for territory. Tensions came to a head between Capone and his main rival, Bugs Moran, the head of an Irish gang in Chicago. This rivalry culminated in the famous 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which members of the Capone gang arrived at a car garage dressed as police officers and executed their gangland enemies, who were inside playing cards (Schoenberg 209). Although it was widely understood that Capone had orchestrated the assassination of several rival gang members, he had ensured he was out of state at the time of the attack, and thus the crime could not be pinned on him.
Al Capone was a smart man and a brilliant criminal. However, he was unable to avoid the long arm of the law forever. He was finally arrested and convicted — not for any violent crimes, but for tax evasion (Raab 41). When he was released from prison, he was suffering from advanced syphilis and unable to retain his position in the hierarchy of organized crime.
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Raab, Selwyn. Five Families. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne, 2005. Print.
Schoenberg, Robert J. Mr. Capone: The Real — and Complete — Story of Al Capone. New York, NY: William Morrow, 1992. Print.
Shanty, Frank. Organized Crime: Trafficking to Terrorism, Volume 1. ABC-Clio, 2008. Print.
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