Violence In Howard Hawks Scarface (1932)

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In Howard Hawks’ Scarface (1932), there is a disconnect between the violence playing out on screen and the audience’s perception of it. With the introduction of the Hayes Production Code in 1930 the depiction of violence on screen became regulated. Historically, the Gangster genre was a perfect platform to reflect the American experience and explore some of the central issues at the heart of the American audience. For Scarface (1932), this is no different. A paradox exists in Howard Hawks’ Scarface. In an era before American film got violent, we are presented with an ultraviolent film, where there are no graphic close-ups of bullet wounds or slow motion examination of suffering faces and convulsing bodies (Gronstad 2003). Instead, these scenes which depict massacres, are presented at a distance from the viewer, rendering them devoid of the passion and heat associated with more contemporary gangster films such as the slow bleeding to death of Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs. The forms of violence shown are more discreet in terms of graphics, however, they still convey their true meaning perfectly.

History …show more content…

The pre-code period, coinciding with the unpopular Prohibition, witnessed the transformation of bootleggers and gangsters as heroes. Many otherwise law-abiding American’s tolerated and reveled in the sale of bootlegged alcohol. The situation ended up glorifying the mobsters who stepped in to fill the sudden need for illegal alcohol. We saw real life gangsters such as Al Capone over take our screens, their stories pulled straight from the tabloids. The sensational nature of the newspaper accounts of gang warfare and bootlegged alcohol, combined with the unpopularity of the Prohibition, ensured audience turnout (Pollard

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