RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Scarface
Scarface

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Scarface (1932)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
100 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:21

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.6/10

Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Loosely based on the life of Al Capone, Howard Hawks's SCARFACE is one of the most shocking and powerful gangster films ever made, setting the standard for Hollywood screen violence for years to... Loosely based on the life of Al Capone, Howard Hawks's SCARFACE is one of the most shocking and powerful gangster films ever made, setting the standard for Hollywood screen violence for years to come. Tony "Scarface" Camonte (Paul Muni) is an enforcer for Johnny Lovo, an ambitious gangster who wants to combine all the liquor rackets in Prohibition-era Chicago into one crime empire. To achieve this goal Tony embarks on a reign of terror, threatening citizens and clawing his way to power until he is the number one mobster in town. Muni's fierce performance established the model for the Hollywood mobster, a violent yet charismatic figure. Censorship battles over the film delayed its release for two years, and resulted in additional moralizing scenes and an alternate ending. Visually dynamic and provocative, SCARFACE, produced by Howard Hughes, is one of the best films of the 1930s and the forerunner of the modern gangster film. [More]

Starring: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft, Karen Morley

Starring: Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, George Raft, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, Vince Barnett, C. Henry Gordon, Boris Karloff

Director: Howard Hawks

Director: Howard Hawks
Producer: Howard Hughes
Screenwriter: W.R. Burnett, Ben Hecht, Seton I. Miller, John Lee Mahin, Fred Pasley
Story: Armitage Traill
Composer: Adolph Tandler, Gus Arnheim

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Scarface

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite the storm of protest this Howard Hughes production might evoke from certain quarters it is perhaps the most daring and sensational expose of the modern gangster we have ever witnessed on the screen.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/02
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/18/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Paul Muni goes way over the top as Tony Camonte, painting a picture of a gangster who knows nothing but excess, and who will stop at nothing to get his way.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
05/17/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
10/31/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
09/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

a potent, uncompromising and de-romanticized portrait of the gangster life

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/27/02
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
All Movie Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
David Poland
David Poland
Hot Button

A brilliantly wild narrative that had a lot of Capone and the Borgias in it.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/04/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Despite censorship problems and interference from producer Howard Hughes, Howard Hawks' early crime-gangster is a masterpiece and a seminal work in the genre's evolution, with a truly scary performanec from Paul Muni.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/22/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/01/04
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

No review available.

comment Comment
03/05/05
Eric Melin
Eric Melin
Lawrence.com

Hawks displays balls of steel, using the filmic medium to challenge the free reign of mobsters in the 1930's.

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
11/17/04
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

Scarface is unquestionably one of the greatest talking American movies ever made, and has been terribly underrated all through this century.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

No review available.

comment Comment
10/17/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

The quintessential crime thriller. One of the few perfect films.

comment Comment
10/18/04
Jonathan R. Perry
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)

The quintessential classic gangster picture.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
07/30/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The slaughter in Scarface, the Shame of a Nation, the Howard Hughes gangster production... is like that of a Shakespearean tragedy

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/28/06
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Scarface

July 21, 2005: In Other News...Rose McGowan, Al Pacino, Daryl Hannah, and James Doohan
Ah, Tinseltown romances. Rumor has it there's a new hot couple in town, and they're bound to give TomKat, Bennifer II and Brangelina a run for their publicity-generating money.... More...

See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
67% 67% Public Enemies
75% 75% Julie & Julia
95% 95% The Cove
85% 85% World's Greatest Dad

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
15
  • Peter Jackson Talks Hobbit, LotR Blu-ray Source: Collider.com
14
  • Woman Jailed for Filming New Moon Screening Source: Chicago Sun-Times
15
  • McG Has Plans for Fifth and Sixth Terminator Movies Source: Gizmodo
156
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
82
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
56
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
28
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
30
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Scarface at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.