Scarface (1932) - Film directed by Howard Hawks

* * * 1/2

Having never seen the more famous Al Pacino version I went into this film with an open mind and little knowledge other than it is a film about a gangster with a scar on his face. This film follows a gangster's, Tony, rise with the help of brute force and gun power through the ranks of a mob gang in New York.

The acting was quite awful. The scene where our protagonist is introduced is awfully directed, written and acted. Everything is stilted and seems awkward. I think this style of acting is somewhat common in the time because realism was less important 80 years ago because the cinema was about escapism. It's difficult to take the dramatic events that happen too seriously when you don't believe anything is happening because the acting isn't good enough.

The characters are interesting, there is a variety of men and women and that is always interesting because it makes a film ore psychologically engaging. There was a despairing mother, chastised sister and a shrewd gangster girlfriend. The three women either cope and adapt to what the men in their lives do or flounder and suffer. It is an interesting dynamic. The men, on the other hand, show a variety of male gangsters because there are calm characters and excitable ones. It's rare to see a variety of men and even rarer to get multiple differing female characters although I still don't think it will pass the Bechdel test.

It's a typical old-style gangster film which is quite good. The acting is disastrous but the basic plot and characters are quite interesting. Not being able to compare it to the 80s version I do not know any differences and possibly in comparison this version is poorer but I think this one is worth a try.