History YMMV / Scarface1932

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Modern audiences might naturally find the violence of the first ''Scarface'' tame in light of the remake's chainsaw goodness. But in its day, the violence was considered very shocking and to some extent, this version is less sentimental. Tony Montana has DelusionsOfEloquence giving speeches to people in the restaurant, "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy" and all that, but Tony Camonte has no such inclinations and indeed Paul Muni gave him a simian or animalistic leer and grin that made him harder to like and root for. It makes the film's decision to essentially make him a TragicHero that much bolder and make the initial panic against it understandable.

* AdaptationDisplacement: There was a book? Also on the receiving end of this from [[Film/{{Scarface 1983}} the 1983 remake]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film has an explicit and on-the-nose message amounting to "gang rule is bad for society, and the government needs to crack down on it". It's also an allegory of Al Capone and the gang wars in Chicago, making it hit closer to home. Though the scene of MoralGuardians insisting that crime doesn't pay wasn't directed by Creator/HowardHawks and by and large audiences saw the original ending, which gave Camonte a DyingMomentOfAwesome that made him a tragic hero as per the critic Robert Warshow.

* GenreTurningPoint: This wasn't the first gangster film or even the first sound gangster film (that goes to ''Film/ThePublicEnemy1931'') but it was the first crime movie that became a huge hit and created controversy since its main character was an {{expy}} of an actual criminal. Its non-judgmental use of a VillainProtagonist raised concerns about glorifying violence and raised enough fears among MoralGuardians that they demanded the movie be ReCut, not unlike the 1983 remake. Among moviegoers, ''Scarface'' and other Depression gangster films, was seen as edgy and innovative for use of contemporary slang that the working-class audiences recognized and used themselves, further showing the potential for sound cinema to be dramatically and socially realistic.

* GenreTurningPoint: This wasn't the first gangster film or even the first sound gangster film (that goes to ''Film/ThePublicEnemy'') but it was the first crime movie that became a huge hit and created controversy since its main character was an {{expy}} of an actual criminal. Its non-judgmental use of a VillainProtagonist raised concerns about glorifying violence and raised enough fears among MoralGuardians that they demanded the movie be ReCut, not unlike the 1983 remake. Among moviegoers, ''Scarface'' and other Depression gangster films, was seen as edgy and innovative for use of contemporary slang that the working-class audiences recognized and used themselves, further showing the potential for sound cinema to be dramatically and socially realistic.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Due to the ExecutiveMeddling. Though the scene in question of MoralGuardians insisting that crime doesn't pay wasn't directed by Creator/HowardHawks and by and large audiences saw the original ending, which gave Camonte a DyingMomentOfAwesome that made him a tragic hero as per the critic Robert Warshow.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The film has an explicit and on-the-nose message amounting to "gang rule is bad for society, and the government needs to crack down on it". It's also an allegory of Al Capone and the gang wars in Chicago, making it hit closer to home. Considering the film was made at the tail end of the Prohibition era, it was a very important message for its day. The 21st amendment re-legalizing alcohol would be signed on December 5, 1933.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: The film didn't give Tony Camonte any straight-laced companions (well, his mom); but the studio changed its title to ''Scarface: the Shame of a Nation'' and added dull scenes of bankers — not exactly heroes during the Depression — and a token Italian-American denouncing the Mob. All three films utterly failed to deglamorize their heroes, even in their fall, in part because all three showed them getting their comeuppance in shootouts where they faced off alone against more and better armed opponents. It failed so badly at this trope, in fact, that it resulted fifty years later in the remake.
* GenreTurningPoint: This wasn't the first gangster film or even the first sound gangster film (that goes to ''Film/ThePublicEnemy'') but it was the first crime movie that became a huge hit and created controversy since its main character was an Expy of an actual criminal. Its non-judgmental use of a VillainProtagonist raised concerns about glorifying violence and raised enough fears among Moral Guardians that they demanded ReCut, not unlike the 1983 remake. Among moviegoers, ''Scarface'' and other Depression gangster films, was seen as edgy and innovative for use of contemporary slang that the working-class audiences recognized and used themselves, further showing the potential for sound cinema to be dramatically and socially realistic.

* AdaptationDisplacement: There was a book?

* {{Anvilicious}}: Due to the ExecutiveMeddling. Though the scene in question of MoralGuardians insisting that crime doesn't pay wasn't directed by Hawks and by and large audiences saw the original ending, which gave Camonte a DyingMomentOfAwesome that made him a tragic hero as per the critic Robert Warshow.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Modern audiences might naturally find the violence of the first ''Scarface'' tame in light of the remake's chainsaw goodness. But in its day, the violence was considered very shocking and to some extent, the Hawks Scarface is less sentimental. Tony Montana has DelusionsOfEloquence giving speeches to people in the restaurant, "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy" and all that, but Tony Camonte has no such inclinations and indeed Paul Muni gave him a simian or animalistic leer and grin that made him harder to like and root for. It makes the film's decision to essentially make him a TragicHero that much bolder and make the initial panic against it understandable.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Modern audiences might naturally find the violence of the first ''Scarface'' tame in light of the remake's chainsaw goodness. But in its day, the violence was considered very shocking and to some extent, the Hawks Scarface is less sentimental. Tony Montana has DelusionsOfEloquence giving speeches to people in the restaurant, "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy" and all that, but Tony Camonte has no such inclinations and indeed Paul Muni gave him a simian like or animal like leer and green that made him tougher and harder to like and root for. It makes the film's decision to essentially make him a TragicHero that much bolder and make the initial panic against it understandable.