The Horse's Head

#541) Sky High (1922)

OR “Mixology”

Directed & Written by Lynn Reynolds

Class of 1998

The Plot: Grant Newbury (Tom Mix) is an Inspector of Immigration in Calexico, CA. After a successful bust, Newbury infiltrates a gang sneaking a group of Chinese immigrants across the Mexican border (more about that later). On his way to turn the gang in, Newbury saves the lovely Estelle Halloway (Eva Novak) from drowning, and he sticks around to take care of her. It turns out that Estelle is the ward of Jim Frazer (J. Farrell MacDonald), the boss of the gang Grant is trying to sabotage. This all comes to a head in a climactic fight across the Grand Canyon, filmed on location, with some incredible aerial footage as Grant takes to the skies.

Why It Matters: The NFR gives a brief overview, and calls Tom Mix by his given moniker “King of the Cowboys”, adding that Mix’s easygoing style contrasted with William S. Hart’s screen persona, and “set a standard for cowboy stars that lasted decades”.

But Does It Really?: “Sky High” has two things going for it in terms of NFR recognition: It represents Tom Mix, and it features impressive footage of the Grand Canyon. That’s about it. As a movie, “Sky High” isn’t that memorable, but there are worse ways to spend an hour. A slight pass for NFR inclusion.

Everybody Gets One: The son of a stable master, Tom Mix learned to ride horses at a young age. After a stint with the Army during the Spanish-American War (stories of him being one of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders are false), Mix became a rancher in the Oklahoma Territory. A skilled horseman and a good shot, Mix joined the ranch’s touring Wild West show, which led to the start of his film career in 1909. By the 1920s, Mix was one of the biggest stars (Western or otherwise) in Hollywood. Also making their sole NFR appearance in “Sky High” are frequent Mix leading lady Eva Novak, and writer/director Lynn Reynolds.

Wow, That’s Dated: The Chinese immigrants in this movie are referred to solely as “Chinamen”. We’re a long way from “Chan Is Missing“.

Title Track: “Sky High” was originally titled “The Go Getter” during pre-production, and at some point during filming was renamed the similar sounding “Go Get Her”. I presume “Sky High” made the cut to associate the film with its aerial scenes.

Seriously, Oscars?: The Oscars were still a few years away, but apparently camera operator Blaine Walker received a gold medal from Fox Film for his “enterprise and daring in obtaining the first motion pictures of the Grand Canyon taken from an airplane”. I’m sure this was all a big publicity stunt from Fox, but hey someone got a medal out of it!

Other notes 

• This is typically the part where I mention that this Fox film is now technically a Disney property, but “Sky High” is in the public domain. Your loss, Mouse House!
• This movie goes all in on the Grand Canyon gimmick. Immediately following the opening credits, we get an intertitle proudly stating the film’s on-location production, followed by some facts about the Grand Canyon. It’s standard Grand Canyon trivia, though I will point out that “It is one of nature’s most sublime spectacles” is not a fact, but rather an overall agreed upon sentiment.
• As soon as I learned that Mix’s character worked border patrol, I knew we were in trouble. Thankfully the film doesn’t lean too much on our shitty immigration policies, though neither side comes out of this looking good.
• You read the synopsis correctly, the illegal aliens being trafficked over the border are Chinese. Who does this movie think we share a border with?
• Despite his status as King of the Cowboys, I don’t have a lot to say about Tom Mix in this movie. His performance is fine, but not particularly noteworthy or a confirmation of his star power. Honestly, my takeaway from Tom Mix is that he’s wearing a huge cowboy hat. I mean, I get it; it’s a big hat, it’s funny.
• Oddly enough, I can’t find anything to confirm that Grant’s horse in this movie is Tom Mix’s famous companion Tony the Wonder Horse. I feel cheated.
• That bar fight is sped up like crazy. I was waiting for the Keystone Kops to break it up.
• Whoa, they have cars in this western? And biplanes!? My mind is blown.
• I do not want to know how someone in your posse earned the nickname “Chili Beans”.
• During my viewing, I was thinking about where exactly Tom Mix fits in the pantheon of classic movie cowboys. In terms of NFR induction, Mix joined the roster after John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and William S. Hart, but before Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. I guess Mix is the last of the great non-singing cowboys.
• Did they really make these actors climb the Grand Canyon? No wonder they unionized.
• Frazier henchman Bates to Estelle upon her capture: “Better start enjoyin’ the scenery – ’cause you’re goin’ to see some that’s different”. In the annals of film history this has got to be the least threatening threat of all time.
• And then we get to the film’s meat and potatoes: Grant flying over the Grand Canyon in a biplane. It’s an impressive sight in a fun action sequence, and I’m sure it went over like gangbusters in 1922. Despite a reputation for doing his own stunts, Mix had stunt pilots Bud Creeth and Dick Grace do the actual flying. During one take, Creeth almost fell out of the plane, but was saved by Grace (as in Dick Grace, but possibly also “of God”).
• In true leading lady fashion of the time, Estelle is a passive, sidelined character for most of the movie. She doesn’t get much to do, but at least Grant trusts her with his gun while he’s out fighting the main baddies.
• “Sky High” may be the only western on this list that spares both Mexicans and Native Americans from the typical sweeping racism associated with the genre.

Legacy 

• Tom Mix made 291 films over the course of 25 years! Sadly, due to a number of setbacks (including the famous 1937 Fox Fire), only about 30 of Mix’s films are known to still exist.

• Although Mix’s film career started to decline in the 1930s (he transitioned to talkies successfully, but grew weary on the injuries he was incurring), Mix found continued success on radio. Sadly, Mix died in a car accident in 1940 at the age of 60.
• Tom Mix is still the King of the Cowboys to a lot of film buffs, and gets occasionally referenced in period pieces like “Boardwalk Empire” and “Peaky Blinders”. Plus he was played by a young Bruce Willis in Blake Edwards’ light historical fiction “Sunset”.

• In reference to this film’s apparent lack of significance, there are countless other movies also named “Sky High”, including that one about a superhero high school. I guess “Sky High” is a Disney property after all.

#540) Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage (1937)

Filmed by Pathé News, Hearst News of the Day, Paramount, and Fox Movietone

Class of 1997

As always with my posts based on historical events, this write-up is about the footage of the Hindenburg crash, not necessarily the event itself. Do not let this oversimplified summary be your one stop for Hindenburg knowledge.

There’s plenty of YouTube videos of the Hindenburg disaster, but this video synchs them all in an approximation of real time.

During our fascination with aviation throughout the 1930s, rigid airships were considered to be the next big thing in commercial air travel. The most well-known of these airships were made by the German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, and the most famous Zeppelin was the LZ 129 Hindenburg. Launched in March 1936, the ship was in operation for 14 months and 17 roundtrips across the Atlantic. On May 6^th, 1937, the Hindenburg had been delayed from Germany due to weather conditions, and was landing in Lakehurst, New Jersey (about 75 miles south of New York City). As the ship was starting to make its landing approach, it suddenly caught on fire. Within a matter of moments, the Hindenburg went from being one of the largest airships in the world, to a smoking pile of rubble on the ground. Of the 97 people on board, 35 were killed in the crash, and another died on the ground. Following similar crashes in years past, the Hindenburg disaster was the final nail in the coffin for Zeppelins as a commercial transport.

Airship landings were still a unique occurrence in 1937, and thanks to some heavy promoting from the Zeppelin Company, many news sources were at Lakehurst to cover the event. The footage of the crash as preserved by the National Film Registry was recorded by William Deeke of Pathé News, Al Gold, Larry Kennedy and Deon de Titta of Fox Movietone, James J. Seeley of Hearst’s News of the Day, and Tommy Craven of Paramount. Many of these newsreels can be easily viewed online synced with the audio recording of Herbert Morrison’s eye-witness report for WLS Chicago, culminating in his oft-repeated cry of “Oh, the humanity!”

Like the “Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse“, the Hindenburg footage is a reminder of some of the tragic missteps taken in our technological advancements. The footage is NFR worthy not only for its multiple perspectives of an historic moment, but also for its continued echos throughout history.

Why It Matters: The NFR gives some historical context and calls the disaster “[o]ne of the 20^th Century’s most vivid historic images”.

Wow, That’s Dated: Rigid airships, that’s the big one. Turns out the lifting gas of choice for these ships was the incredibly flammable hydrogen. Yep, there’s your problem right there.

Other notes 

• I recently realized that I’ve never actually researched the Hindenburg or its crash until now. Perhaps the most intriguing element to me: no one knows for sure how the ship burst into flames, and there’s no existing footage that documents the very beginning of the disaster. Among the speculated theories are a sudden bolt of lightning (it had started to rain just before the crash), or some static electricity tampering with the ship’s weather-proofing. A little further down the iceberg we find claims of sabotage by anti-Nazi organizations, or possibly self-sabotage at the command of Hitler himself. Speaking of…
• You know what little detail this film pointed out to me that everyone glosses over? THERE WERE SWASTIKAS ON THE TAIL OF THE HINDENBURG! Of course this was a tragic event, but how sad can you be that a Nazi ship went down?
• My main takeaway from the actual newsreel footage is just how much sensationalism is thrown into this. Each of these reports took an already sad occasion and cranked it up using dramatic music, with the sounds of screaming people dubbed in later (all of these films were recorded silently). It reminded me of the “Simpsons” line about the news covering “a crisis so serious it has its own name and theme music“.

Legacy 

• It was shortly after the Hindenburg disaster that airships switched from using hydrogen to helium, and stopped being used for commercial travel. Today, only a handful of non-rigid airships (such as blimps) still exist and operate, including the Goodyear Blimps.

• The Hindenburg crash footage pops up in all kinds of historical documentaries, often paired with Herbert Morrison’s “Oh, the humanity!” The name Hindenburg has become synonymous with total disaster, and “Oh, the humanity” has been referenced and parodied quite a lot over the years, presumably by people not entirely aware of the tragic event they’re making light of.

• This real-life disaster of the ’30s met the disaster movie genre of the ’70s in 1975’s “The Hindenburg”. With a cast led by George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft, the movie leaned more on the sabotage theories of the flight’s demise. Although dismissed by critics, historians, and moviegoers alike, “The Hindenburg” won two Oscars in 1976 for its Special Effects and Sound Editing.

Listen to This: Among the first 50 recordings added to the National Recording Registry in 2002 was Herbert Morrison’s reportage of the Hindenburg crash, cited by the NRR as “[a]n emotional, never-to-be forgotten moment of news broadcasting”. There’s also a very detailed historical essay by…Cary O’Dell again. Doesn’t anyone else at the NRR want to write an essay? O’Dell can’t carry all of you!

#539) The Heiress (1949)

OR “Like Father, Like Sum”

Directed by William Wyler

Written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. Based on their play. Suggested by the novel “Washington Square” by Henry James.

Class of 1996

The Plot: In New York’s Washington Square circa 1849, Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) is the reserved daughter of the respected Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson), who is overly protective of Catherine and often demeaningly compares her to her late mother. After some encouragement from her widowed Aunt Lavinia (Miriam Hopkins), Catherine attends a dance and meets Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift). The two immediately fall in love, and after a brief courtship, decide to marry. Dr. Sloper disapproves of the engagement, fearing that Morris is after Catherine’s money (her annual inheritance from her mother’s estate will triple when her father passes). Catherine learns to stand up for herself and be with the man she loves. And he loves her too, right? ….Right?

Why It Matters: The NFR praises William Wyler for “adeptly harness[ing] the diverse acting styles” of his actors, and singles out Aaron Copland’s “poignant score”. De Havilland’s Oscar win is also mentioned.

But Does It Really?: It’s by no means a timeless classic, but “The Heiress” is still an entertaining film made by A+ talent. At the center of “Heiress” is a remarkable performance by Olivia de Havilland (I’ll gush about it later), aided by a top-notch supporting cast, William Wyler’s deft direction, and Leo Tovor’s unintrusive cinematography. I just wish “The Heiress” was better remembered today outside of film buffs like me. A “maybe” on its NFR designation, but a definite “yes” for recommended viewing.

Everybody Gets One: Sir Ralph Richardson was widely considered one of the great British actors of the 20^th century, alongside Olivier and Gielgud. In lieu of a biography, here’s my favorite (albeit possibly apocryphal) anecdote about Sir Ralph: While appearing in the play “Alice’s Boys” in the West End, Ralph Richardson allegedly stopped the show one night to ask, “Is there a doctor in the house?” When a doctor made themself known, Richardson asked, “Doctor, isn’t this a terrible play?”

Wow, That’s Dated: The film opens with the text “One Hundred Years Ago”. So…1921?

Seriously, Oscars?: In a rare occurrence, “The Heiress” was the Oscar contender with the most nominations (8) and the most wins (4) of the year, but didn’t go on to win Best Picture. That distinction went to “All the King’s Men“, but “Heiress” took home four deserving trophies: Olivia DeHavilland’s second Best Actress Oscar, Best Scoring, Best Art Direction, and the first of an eventual eight Best Costume Design Oscars for Edith Head.

Other notes 

• “The Heiress” came into Olivia de Havilland’s life following her lengthy court battle with Warner Bros., with a settlement now known as the De Havilland Law. Long story short, de Havilland’s contract with Warner Bros. was for seven years of work, with time added on for any suspensions. The De Havilland Law made sure that seven years meant seven calendar years, regardless of actual amount worked. This allowed Olivia to leave Warner Bros. to pursue more challenging roles, including “The Heiress”, which she saw on Broadway and successfully lobbied to star in its film adaptation.
• Most of my notes are about how good this cast is. Shout out to Miriam Hopkins as Aunt Lavinia, Catherine’s only support. A major movie star in the ’30s, Hopkins successfully transitioned to supporting roles when her star started to fade. As Lavinia, Hopkins is not a former leading lady “slumming it” in a supporting part, but rather an actor who know exactly how her role fits into the big picture.
• Olivia de Havilland is on fire in this movie. After years of syrupy sweet ingénues, de Havilland plays Catherine as a meek, uncoordinated woman who confidently blossoms before a bitter betrayal. And she does it all without the hysterics and overacting associated with this era. De Havilland is, in short, the complete package, and I was ready to give her the Oscar five minutes in.
• I hate it when a black-and-white movie makes a big deal about a specific color in a scene. “I thought you’d like the color…it’s cherry red.” I guess we’ll take your word for it, Catherine.
• Montgomery Clift gets a nice reveal as Morris. As mentioned in the NFR write-up, Clift’s Method acting doesn’t stick out amongst his more classically trained co-stars, though I think he plays too much of his character’s hand too early.

• Also impressive: this movie doesn’t feel like a filmed play! Even though it is primarily set in the same house, Wyler et al prevent things from getting claustrophobic or too static. The trick seems to be: cover as much of a scene as possible in one take, and let the actors (not the camera) do the moving.
• God, de Havilland’s good in this. Even her line reading of “I love you” is heartbreaking. Can she win two Oscars for this?
• Having now seen a good portion of William Wyler’s filmography, he definitely had a thing for female characters who defy the conventions of their time: Catherine, Julie Marsden, Princess Ann, Fanny Brice. More directors should have that niche.
• There’s something Richard Kiley-esque about Ralph Richardson. Or is it the other way around? Regardless, Sir Ralph is doing a great job of making Dr. Sloper a grounded, realistic antagonist instead of a cartoon villain.
• The 1840s-1850s is apparently the era of giant top hats in American menswear. This was also a time when gentlemen wore “closely-cut trousers”, and Monty Clift’s may be a little too closely-cut. Did he borrow them from Andrew Rannells?
• William Wyler always has a subtle element of suspense in his movies. Watching Catherine waiting for Morris to return is aggravating. It’s like subdued Hitchcock.
• Another smart choice Wyler makes in opening scenes up is using mirrors to cover two reactions in the same shot. I keep calling that the Spielberg Mirror Shot, but clearly all the greats figured it out before he did.
• The final confrontation between Catherine and her father is brutal, but if there’s one thing Olivia de Havilland was great at, it was severing family ties.
• Luckily, I went into “The Heiress” with zero spoilers, so I was able to genuinely go along for the ride. And what a ride. That ending stunned me, and de Havilland somehow makes the act of walking up the stairs seem powerful and incredible.

Legacy 

• “The Heiress” had a successful run, and while Olivia de Havilland’s film career started to dwindle in the 1950s, she continued to grace the screen for another 40 years before retiring in France. Although I always enjoyed reminding readers that she was still alive while I was covering her movies for this blog, Olivia de Havilland passed away last summer at the age of 104.

• The stage version of “The Heiress” has returned to Broadway every few decades, with Catherine being played by the likes of Jane Alexander, Cherry Jones, and Jessica Chastain.

• Although there has never been a theatrical remake of “The Heiress”, there have been a few TV adaptations of the play over the years, plus the 1997 film “Washington Square”, which is more faithful to the novel.

• While “The Heiress” doesn’t get referenced too often in pop culture, the movie did get the “Carol Burnett Show” treatment in the 1975 skit “The Lady Heir”.

#538) Chan Is Missing (1982)

OR “Forget It Wayne, It’s Chinatown”

Directed by Wayne Wang

Written by Wang, Isaac Cronin and Terrel Seltzer.

Class of 1995

The Plot: In San Francisco’s Chinatown district, aging taxi driver Jo (Wood Moy) is applying for his cab license with his nephew Steve (Marc Hayashi). Their friend Chan Hung has been assisting them in the process, and one day seemingly disappears with the $4,000 Jo and Steve gave him. The two try to track down Chan, a search that leads them throughout Chinatown, where many of the residents have contradicting viewpoints of Chan. “Chan Is Missing” uses its mystery and backdrop to examine the struggles faced by the Chinese American community, including identity issues and tensions between mainland China and Taiwan.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls it “a seminal work of Asian-America cinema” and “a heart-felt travelogue of San Francisco’s Chinatown”.

But Does It Really?: “Chan Is Missing” is referred to in various film essays as a “quiet gamechanger”, and I think I know what they mean. “Chan” might not get mentioned among the groundbreaking classics of filmdom, but its diverse depiction of Chinese Americans was one of the first in American film, and continues to inspire more varied depictions of Asians throughout our popular culture. The film’s more cerebral approach takes some getting used to, but behind its complex outer shell is a dissection of Chinese culture with a film noir coating. A “yes” for the NFR inclusion/continuing impact of “Chan Is Missing”.

Shout Outs: Supporting character Henry is always seen wearing his “Samurai Night Fever” shirt.

Everybody Gets One: Wayne Wang inherited his love of movies from his father, who named him after his favorite actor, John Wayne. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Wang moved to California to study medicine, but the political atmosphere of 1960s Berkeley led him to study film and television at Oakland’s California College of the Arts. Wang was inspired to make “Chan” while working with immigrants and hearing their stories of struggle and assimilation. “Chan” was made with grants from both the AFI and NEA that totaled just under $22,000.

Wow, That’s Dated: “Chan” is a nice little encapsulation of 1980s Chinatown, including shoutouts to such political figures as then-mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein. Plus, as with many a mystery movie on this list, this case would be a lot easier to solve if everyone had smart phones and the internet.

Title Track: “Chan Is Missing” refers to not only the missing character of Chan Hung, but also the fictional detective Charlie Chan. While popular throughout the ’30s and ’40s in various novels, films, and radio programs, Charlie Chan came to represent many negative Asian stereotypes (adding insult to injury, he was always played in films by White actors in yellowface). This film’s more dimensional depictions of the Chinese (mixed with the mystery elements) prove that (Charlie) Chan is indeed missing.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar love for this little movie, but “Chan Is Missing” did receive a special award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Despite being filmed (and premiering) in San Francisco and utilizing local talent, “Chan” received zero San Francisco critics awards, and was rejected by the San Francisco Film Festival. Seriously, SF?

Other notes 

• First off, my namesake is St. Anthony, patron saint of lost people. Chan is missing? I’ll get Tony on it.
• One of Wayne Wang’s inspirations while making “Chan” was the Chinese philosophy that “what is not there is just as important as what is there.” While Wang felt the final result was “too intellectual” for film, he has stood by this creative choice in recent years, stating how important it is for young filmmakers to take these kinds of risks.
• The majority of “Chan Is Missing” was filmed on weekends, as everyone involved had day jobs and/or school. For example, Wayne Wang was simultaneously writing bilingual science curricula for SFSU while making “Chan”. With apologies to the late James Brown, Wang may in fact be the hardest working man in show business.
• This is the third movie on the NFR list that opens with “Rock Around the Clock”, albeit a cover of the song in Chinese, thus highlighting the film’s theme of cultural identity immediately.
• Both Wood Moy and Marc Hayashi were members of San Francisco’s Asian American Theater Company before being cast in “Chan”. The two have a nice rapport between them, and their inherent dichotomy gives the film a nice balance: Jo with his more mature, grounded approach to the mystery, Steve with a more youthful, unpolished confidence. And when was the last time you saw a movie where one of the leads was a Chinese man in his mid ’60s?
• Wang’s theory of filmmaking: when in doubt, cut to the old guy. Moy’s reaction shots cover up a lot of edits, presumably to stitch together two separate takes of improvised dialogue.

• One of Wayne Wang’s best directorial decisions: the multiple POV shots throughout the film. These shots allow the viewer to feel that they are a participant in this depiction of Chinatown, and not just an observer.
• Identity in film is a fine line to walk, but thankfully Wang et al never make their discussion about the subject sound preachy, or like a plea for racial tolerance. Each character in “Chan” is so well defined the dialogue comes across as hearing different perspectives from real people, rather than characters that serve as a mouthpiece for the writers.
• This movie’s drinking game: take a shot every time a passerby realizes they are on camera. Guerrilla filmmaking at its finest.
• “Chan Is Missing” rarely strays from Chinatown, but one of the last scenes occurs at Fort Point, not too far from where Kim Novak jumps into the bay in “Vertigo“. Hey, I was just there!
• The final montage is set to the song “Grant Avenue” from “Flower Drum Song“, offering one final contrast between a White perception of Chinatown and its authentic reality.

Legacy 

• After being rejected by multiple film festivals, “Chan Is Missing” was selected by New York’s MoMA to play as part of its New Directors/New Films series. Shortly after this, “Chan” was picked up for distribution by New Yorker films and had a surprisingly successful run in a handful of independent theaters. Wayne Wang often recalls seeing lines at its original New York engagement that stretched around the block.

• Despite the warm reception “Chan” has received over the years, Wayne Wang has expressed disappointment that his film didn’t lead to more change in the opportunities and representation of Chinese and Chinese-Americans within American film.
• After making a series of movies that dissected the Chinese-American experience (among them future NFR entry “The Joy Luck Club”), Wayne Wang branched out with movies tackling more diverse subject matters and cultures, in an effort to avoid being pigeonholed as an “Asian” director. And you can’t get any more different from “Chan Is Missing” than with 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan”. Not a great movie, but hey, if it pays the bills…

#537) Scarface (1932)

OR “Say Hello to My Older Friend”

Directed by Howard Hawks

Written by Ben Hecht. Dialogue by Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, and W.R. Burnett. Based on the novel by Armitage Trail.

Class of 1994

This trailer appears to be from a re-release in the late ’70s.

The Plot: In 1930s Chicago this town, Italian mobster Al Capone Tony Camonte (Paul Muni), shoots down a crime boss so that mafioso Johnny Torrio Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins) can control the South Side of…this Anytown U.S.A. Acting as Lovo’s second-in-command, Tony sells booze to speakeasies across their new territory. Soon Tony’s ambition gets in the way, and he begins selling beer to the North Side, starting a turf war with the Irish mob. Tony also starts aiming to replace Lovo as the crime boss, even stealing his best gal Poppy (Karen Morley). It’s a tale of gangsters hot with power that is in no way related to…what did you say his name was? Al Ca-pone? I’ll have to look him up.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls “Scarface” no short of a “masterpiece”, praising Paul Muni for giving “his best performance”.

But Does It Really?: Hey, why not? While not the quintessential ’30s gangster picture, “Scarface” is worthy of NFR recognition thanks to its top-notch talent, its behind-the-scenes struggles with the censors, and for spawning an equally memorable remake. No argument here for “Scarface” on the NFR.

Wow, That’s Dated: Italian stereotypes, pay phones, tommy guns, yada yada yada, you know the drill with this segment.

Title Track: As part of the Hays Office’s many attempts to water down the film’s glorification of the crime world, some prints of “Scarface” include the subtitle “The Shame of the Nation”. The subtitle has often been used in recent years to help differentiate this film from its better-known remake. Also, weirdly enough, in order to further avoid any connections to Al Capone (who was also nicknamed Scarface), no one says “Scarface” at any point in this movie.

Seriously, Oscars?: Perhaps due to the film’s controversies with censorship or its poor box office receipts, “Scarface” received zero Oscar nominations. The film was, however, named one of the top 10 films of 1932 by the National Board of Review.

Other notes 

• Producer Howard Hughes (yes, that Howard Hughes) was interested in doing a gangster picture based on Al Capone (still in his bootlegging prime in 1931), and bought the film rights to the novel “Scarface”, based in part on Capone. Hughes hired screenwriter Ben Hecht (writer of previous Hughes film “The Front Page“) and director Howard Hawks to mold Tony Camonte to a figure more align with the Borgia Family. Interesting side note: Hawks was in the process of suing Hughes for plagiarism on another movie when approached to direct! Helming “Scarface” was part of the agreement to drop the case.
• Due to its central themes of crime and corruption, “Scarface” ran afoul of the Hays Office throughout its production. In order for the film to be approved for release, a text prologue was added calling the picture “an indictment of gang rule in America”, and several new scenes were shot of journalists and government officials serving as a Greek chorus condemning Tony and his actions. In addition, any elements that were specific to Capone were toned down or eliminated.

• Tony gets a nice reveal: his first scene is played out in shadow, and you finally see his face during his second scene at the barbershop when the towels are being removed from his face.
• There’s something quite interesting about Paul Muni’s performance. In a movie swarming with the Italian stereotypes of the day (there’s an organ grinder for crissakes!), Muni approaches Tony organically. Still plenty of clichés in his performance, but he’s building the character from the inside out. It’s the kind of “method stereotyping” that Eli Wallach would perfect in the ’50s.

• A quick reminder that stage legend Osgood Perkins is the father of Anthony Perkins.
• George Raft was hired to play Tony’s confidante Guino Rinaldo thanks in part to his real life connections to various gangsters (he was childhood friends with Bugsy Siegel). As Guino, Raft spends most of this movie flipping a coin. Where’d he pick up that cheap trick?
• This movie may have the greatest time-lapse scene in cinema history. The passage of time as Tony starts to take over is visualized as pages rapidly falling off a calendar, synchronized with the rat-a-tat of a machine gun. It’s perfection.
• So that’s what Boris Karloff actually looks like! As Irish gang leader Tom Gaffney, Karloff is either using his native English accent or has the worst Irish accent since Sean Connery. Either way, Karloff has more dialogue here than he did in two whole “Frankenstein” movies.

• Between the free spirited, opinionated female characters, the rapid fire dialogue, and the comic relief of Tony’s secretary Angelo, are we sure Hawks didn’t think he was directing one of his screwball comedies?

• Like oranges in “The Godfather“, “Scarface” uses the X motif to symbolize when a character is about to be killed. Typically this is represented by perpendicular architecture or convenient shadows, but there’s also the creative workaround when a character is killed in a bowling alley immediately after scoring a strike. Even Tony’s scar is an X!

• Apparently the filmmakers fought to retain the original novel’s implications of incest between Tony and his sister Cesca. If any remnants of that are in the final film, I definitely missed them. Of course, that’s not something I inherently look for while I’m watching a movie.

• In addition to the overall neutering of violence and story elements “Scarface” endured from various censor boards, a new ending was filmed in which Tony turns himself in to the police and is hanged in the gallows, rather than being shot in a blaze of glory. Richard Rosson directed this new ending when Hawks refused, and a double filled in for Paul Muni, who was starring in a Broadway play at the time. Current releases of “Scarface” include the original ending, with the mandated alternate ending appearing as a supplemental feature.

Legacy 

• It was the long-fought censorship battles movies like “Scarface” encountered that led to the eventual installment of the Production Code. While this move negated the need for each state to have its own censor board, it created an over-protective code of conduct the movies would be straightjacketed with for the next 35 years.

• While there were critics and moviegoers alike who praised “Scarface” from the beginning (even Capone liked it), the public backlash over the film’s subject matter led to “Scarface” underperforming at the box office. Disappointed with the film’s initial lack of success, Howard Hughes removed all prints of “Scarface” from circulation and turned down all offers to sell or re-release the film during his lifetime.
• Following Hughes’ death in 1976, “Scarface” returned to the public eye for a reappraisal. Among those who saw the film was Al Pacino, who started planning a remake with producer Martin Bregman. Originally attached director Sidney Lumet came up with the idea of transplanting the story to the Cuban Mariel boatlift of 1980, and in the hands of new director Brian de Palma, 1983’s “Scarface” is more iconic than its predecessor. And yet, still no NFR recognition.

Bonus Clip: While we’re waiting for the ’83 “Scarface” to make the NFR, please enjoy this montage of Universal’s attempt to clean up Pacino’s F-bombs for network TV. Because this town is like a great big chicken just waiting to get plucked.