Scarface

The Last Night before Prohibition

Scarface is set and made in the time of prohibition which was also known as "The Noble Experiment" or the Volstead Act. It ws in force from 1920-1933.

The idea that drunkness was undesireable and unacceptible goes well back before prohibition. In those days though, it was the excess in drinking that was the problem, not the alcohol. Becoming anti alcohol because one is against drunkness, is, as some have pointed out, like being against food because some people become obese.

To some degree in earlier times, alcohol was safer than water since water was not purified and so sickness could occur through drinking water.

There were a number of temperence movemets and Kansas in 1881 became the first state to outlaw alcoholic beverages in its Constitution. Carrie Nation became famous as a kind of vigilante who enforced the provision herself. She walked into saloons, berated the customers, and destryed bottles of liquor with her hatchet!. She also formed groups of ladies known as "The Carry Nation Prohibition Group" which she led herself. There were many other activists who joined in. Much was peaceful and they entered saloons, sang, prayed, and urged saloon keepers to stop selling alcohol.

Kansas was not alone and many other states, especially in the South, also prohbited the sale of alcohol as did many individual counties.

Eighteenth Amendment passed on December 18, 1917, with 36 states approving of it. It was ratified on January 16, 1919 and effected on January 16, 1920

Woodrow Wilson, then the president, vetoed the bill but Congress overrode it on October 28, 1919. The act defined just what constituted "intoxicating liquor" and prohibited its sale, but didn't do much to enforcement. Estimates of the number of speakeasy clubs doing business in NYC in 1925 numbered anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000!.

Religious groups, largely Methodist, pioneered the temperance movement (whose name implies control, not abstinence) and Reverend Mark A, Matthews was one who tried to broaden the movement by citing other behaviors associated with drinking places (saloons) like prostitution.

Prohibition had been demanded by the "dries" — primarily pietistic Protestant denominations, especially the Methodists, Northern Baptists, Southern Baptists, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Congregationalists, Quakers, and Scandinavian Lutherans. They identified saloons as politically corrupt and drinking as a personal sin.

They were opposed by the "wets" — primarily liturgical Protestants (Episcopalians, German Lutherans) and Roman Catholics, who denounced the idea that the government should define morality. Even in the wet stronghold of New York City there was an active prohibition movement, led by Norwegian church groups and African-American labor activists who believed that Prohibition would benefit workers, especially African-Americans. People involved in non-alcoholic beverage businesses like tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers generally supported Prohibition, thinking a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products

The split between dries and wets was non partisan. When the 65th Congress convened in January of 1917, there were 140 pro dry Democrats and 64 against prohibition. The Repubicans had 138 "dires" in congress, and 62 "wets" Electioneering generally ignored the problem since no candidate in either party wanted to lose that many votes by siding with one side or the other. When America declared war against Germany in April, German-Americans—a major force against prohibition—were widely discredited and their protests subsequently ignored.

Canada and Mexico still had distilleries and American who could, crossed the border to drink and to bring liquor home (illegally) The borders between the 2 countries being especially difficult to control As Prohibition became increasingly unpopular, especially in the big cities, "Repeal" was eagerly anticipated. On March 23, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an amendment to the Volstead Act known as the Cullen-Harrison Act, allowing the manufacture and sale of "3.2 beer" (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines. The original Volstead Act had defined "intoxicating beverage" as one with greater than 0.5% alcohol.[1] Upon signing the amendment, Roosevelt made his famous remark; "I think this would be a good time for a beer."[14] The Cullen-Harrison Act became law on April 7, 1933, and on April 8, 1933, Anheuser-Busch, inc. sent a team of Clydesdale horses to deliver a case of Budweiser to the White House. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed on December 5, 1933 with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment. Despite the efforts of Heber J. Grant and the LDS Church, a Utah convention helped ratify the 21st Amendment. While Utah can be considered the deciding 36th state to ratify the Amendment and make it law, the day Utah passed the Amendment, both Pennsylvania and Ohio passed it as well. People wanted alcoholic drinks, government denied and gangsters supplied. Gangsters become the good guys, government the bad guys. Bad guys become romanticized (see Pirates as well)

This leads to a glorification of gangsters (as appeared in films and stories like Robin Hood, Thief of Bagdad) who become antagonistic to the power structure, which in effect has lost its way in that it has decided it knows what is better for the people than they do..

The negative results of prohobition outnumbered the good. On the megative side:

SCAREFACE

The script for the film was written in 11 days by the well known writer Ben Hecht who usiedhis Chicago newspaper experiences to help in the writing. Hecht was himself a native of Chicago where the film is set, although it is never said overtly. The screenplay has been called violent, action-packed and the film visually expressionistic(look at the city background in the first shot of the film) . The script uses the 1930 novel Scarface by Armitage Trail (a pseudonym for Maurice Coons) as its source material.. Trail's novel, was inspired by the exploits of Chicago's Depression-Era underworld vice lord/gangster Alfonso Capone (nicknamed "Scarface"), but is said to have little resemblance to the finished film.. Capone had been jailed in 1931, and was in an Atlanta federal prison for tax-evasion. He got out in 1939 and died non-violently of syphilis in 1947.

The destruction of the Chicago gangs by Eliot Ness is well known and firms the basis of the film (and TV series) The Untouchables. There are many similarities between the film's characters and actual organized crime figures of the time. In addition to Tony Camonte portraying Al Capone, Johnny Lovo resembles crime figure Johnny Torrio, and "Big Louis" Costillo represents rackets crime czar "Big Jim" Colosimo. The notorious St. Valentine's Day massacre (the slaughter of seven members of George "Bugs" Moran's gang on February 14, 1929), the hospital murder from the life of Legs Diamond, and the 1920 killing of Capone's Irish, North Side enemy Deanie O'Bannion in a flower shop are also recreated.

The gangsters in the film are often described as being portrayed as ignorant, remorseless, and childish criminals who don't comprehend the enormity of their transgressions.

Scarface was delayed in its release because of a number of changes that there were battles over. Among these were:

Opening shots of this film are very odd and deflect the cause of crime from police and government and to place blame on spectators. This is also seen in several scenes in the film which feature direct address.

A number of interesting film techniques occur. The passage of time is shown by the days on a calendar being virtually shot off by a superimposed machine gun. Machine guns figure prominently in the story and act as a trope or motif for the escalating gang wars. It is not the major symbol or trope in the film however..

Symbolism:

From the very start of the film an "X" shape can be seen. Initially it appears behind the title. Later it is seen as the scar on Camonte's face which gives him his nick name. Its significance is far ranging however, and would appear to have intertextual reference to the world's first "killer" Cain who laso bore a mark. (In all fairness to Cain it should be pointed out that sinc no one had ever died at the time he strikes his brother down, it is reasonable to assume he knows nothing about death and therefore can not understand the consequences of his act.). The same sort of "mark" was used by Melville in his massive book Moby Dick

In the film the "X" occurs around deaths. It appears as a street corner sign, on the window where Camonte is seen doing his first killing in the film, and on the score sheet in the bowling alley. There are 7 X in the beams of the roof where the 7 men are killed in the St. Valentine's day massacre. An "X" appears as room number on Camonte's sisters apartment where Camonte will kill her husband. There is an X on pillow where Ceska dies.. There are many others.

We hear Camonte whistling regularly before a killing, which constitute another trope.

Doors:are broken through indicating some serious change - Louis is replaced by Lovo and again when Lovo is killed. A third door breaking occurs when the police break into Camonte's place and remove him has the head of the gang. Direct address occurs in the film as well. The orginal intent seems to have been to implicate the govenment as failing to act. However, there was pressure to exonerate the government and place the blame on the "people" for not fircing the government to take action. For this reason a different ending was filmed with Camonte (who never appears in the new ending) being sentenced by the judge (in a shot of very long duration which is virtually a direct address shot) who describes his terrible crimes (for which he has now been brought to justice by law and the government). In addition there are shots of Camonte being taken to the gallows to be hanged even though Illinois had switched to the electric chair by then)/. Bioth Hawks and Muni did not become invovled in these modifications.

The is a Review of the film that is worth looking at.. :