The Scarface Mob

The adage “When legend becomes fact, print the legend” might have come from a John Ford western, but applies equally well to the exploits of Eliot Ness.  After all, Hollywood would love you to believe the famed prohibition-era crimefighter and his fellow untouchables were solely responsible for busting up Al Capone’s criminal organization and making the streets of Chicago safe – not to mention liquor-free!  The truth is more complicated but it makes for a rousing bit of cinematic exaggeration as adapted by film noir veteran Phil Karlson in The Scarface Mob (1959), a theatrical presentation of the two-part TV special that continued on for five seasons as The Untouchables.

Brought in to fight fire with fire, Ness (Robert Stack) recruits his team of tough guys on the down low, hoping to dodge the police corruption hampering all previous efforts to enforce the Volstead Act.  And he makes headlines with high-profile raids on breweries and speakeasys that take a bit out of Capone’s profits, enough so that Ness gets a bounty on his head sealed by the Sicilian “kiss of death.”  But Capone’s downfall won’t come from being at the wrong end of a gun, but being on the wrong side of the IRS.

 

At this point, Brian De Palma’s big screen version is the more well known.  But the original special, produced and introduced by Desi Arnaz and Desilu productions, got there first and pulled off one of the most gritty, violent, suspenseful two hours of television ever produced at the time.  Most of the credit has to go to director Phil Karlson, whose own Phenix City Story (1955) provided a template for this “inspired by true events” sort of anti-crime propaganda.  Even though it premiered on television, The Scarface Mob delivers uncompromising brutality and a shocking amount of bloody gun battles.  But more than that, it just feels dangerous.

 

A lot of that comes from the cast, including Robert Stack, whose laser beam eyes drill holes right through the screen, and Neville Brand as Capone, using every intimidating angle of his beautifully misshapen face (if only he wasn’t saddled with that corny Italian accent!).  But it’s Keenan Wynn – in the role Sean Connery would late assume – that gives the story its heart and soul; an ex-con with honor, courage and connections who’s doomed the minute he walks on screen.  It’s one heck of a take on what’s now a familiar bit of TV mythmaking.  But, damn, if it doesn’t hold up well!

 

Arrow’s Blu-ray looks theatrical in every respect, with noirish shadows and tight grain.  Two visual essays cover much of the same ground, providing background not only on the production itself but where things start to veer away from established facts.  Extras not for review include a collector’s booklet, lobby cords and poster.

 

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tormented

Image
The west coast always struggled to create a creepy atmosphere on screen.  All that southern California sunshine just doesn’t lend itself to ghostly apparitions or gothic castles.  But  Tormented  (1960) gives it a good try, staging its opening scene in an abandoned lighthouse where blackmail turns into murder - and one cover up leads to another.  Director Bert I. Gordon, better known for his giant-sized - but low-budget - monster movies, works well at this level, turning in a film that delivers small scares but perhaps his most  professional finished product. Tom Stewart (played by genre regular Richard Carlson) is a fairly successful jazz pianist whose impending marriage to Meg Hubbard (Susan Gordon) will put him in an entirely new tax bracket.  Trouble is his old flame, Vi (Juli Reding), isn’t taking this lying down.  After  allowing  her to fall to her death in the opening scene, Tom is haunted by disembodied visions of his ex-lover who refuses to go quietly into the afterlife.  And
Read more

The Cat and the Canary

Image
My favorite directors have always been showoffs:  Hitchcock, DePalma, Spielberg (when he’s feeling frisky) and gonzo auteurs like Sam Raimi.  There’s just something about their cinematic ambition, constantly reminding the audience that, yes, there actually  is  someone behind the camera calling the shots.  And that directorial discontent shines through even in the early days of the medium, such as Paul Leni’s 1927 adaptation of  The Cat and the Canary .  While the rest of the industry was still learning the basics of visual language, Leni fills his frame with tracking shots, POVs and dramatic lighting that set the standard for every spook show to come!  Gathered for the reading of the last will and testament of eccentric recluse Cyrus West,  the potential heirs meet up in his decrepit mansion to discover who will inherit the estate and family jewels.  Predictably there is some petty jealousy when young Annabelle West is named the sole beneficiary…that is, if she can be proved sane afte
Read more

Impulse

Image
William Shatner, for all his ego and arrogance, always seemed comfortable being the butt of a joke.  His career outside of the  Star Trek  franchise was a bumpy road of corny TV shows and enjoyable B-movie dreck.  But he never delivered anything less than 100% “Shatner!”  Like 1974’s  Impulse , a regional drive-in quickie directed by William Grefé ( Stanley, Mako: Jaws of Death ) that casts the once and future Captain Kirk as a psychologically troubled con man whose childhood trauma leads to a string of murdered women.  After dumping the body of his last victim in a Florida canal, Matt Stone (Shatner) is on the prowl for another financial windfall, this time using a phony investment scam to entice Ann (Jennifer Bishop) into a romantic relationship.  But when Ann’s daughter, Tina, is witness to the murder of his business associate (Harold “Chop Top” Sakata), Matt has to clean up his tracks and speed up his escape plan.  That includes silencing Tina…and whoever else gets in his way.   Ta
Read more