In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
Scarface is one of best of the early gangster movies; its wit and building velocity speeds it past Little Caesar and keeps pace with Public Enemy.
– Mark Chalon Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jul 2014
fresh:
By far the most visually inventive and tonally anarchic movie that Hawks made.
– Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Jul 2014
fresh:
Howard Hawks's 1932 masterpiece is a dark, brutal, exhilaratingly violent film, blending comedy and horror in a manner that suggests Chico Marx let loose with a live machine gun.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
2 Mar 2010
fresh:
Scarface contains more cruelty than any of its gangster picture predecessors, but there's a squarer for every killing. The blows are always softened by judicial preachments and sad endings for the sinners.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
Its seminal importance in the early gangster movie cycle outweighed only by its still exhilarating brilliance, this Howard Hughes production was the one unflawed classic the tycoon was involved with.