Scarface Al and His Pals: Not Much for Books, but Magic on the Screen
2011; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 85; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/wlt.2011.0117
ISSN1945-8134
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoJLÀiNTERNATioN CC^rime 6l Mystery JLÀiNTERNATioN jj J.MADISON DAVIS SCARFACEAL AND HIS PALS: not much for books,butmagic on the screen gangster may seem nearlyubiquitous in crime writing, but with a few exceptions, itishardtonamemany gangster novels thathave had a major impact.Immediately, one thinks ofMarioPuzo'sTheGodfather (1969), butlikemany other novels Cimarr ón (1930)andGiant (1952)by EdnaFerber, CoolHandLuke(1965) byDonnPear ce,TheGraduate (1963) by CharlesWebb,and, of course, GonewiththeWind(1936)- it may only beinprint becauseofthegreatnessofthemovie madefrom it.Few peoplewouldgrant theabovenovels theliterary merit ofTheGrapes of Wrath(1939), or A Farewellto Arms(1929),or TheHandmaid'sTale (1985),regardless ofthequalityof thefilms madefrom them. TheGodfather (1972)issurely oneofthebest films evermade,butcertainly not oneofthebestnovels. Other novelsfocusing ongangsters ? Let's see. . . . There'sE. L. Doctorow'sBillyBathgate (1989), with "Dutch" Schultzas a main character.TheFriendsofEddieCoyle (1972)by GeorgeV. Higginsis a finenovelsetin theworldofIrish gangsters. There'sthe award-winning children's book, AlCapone Does MyShirts (2004).Including "urban" stories, we couldmention Richard Price'sdockers(1992),whichwas probably packaged as a motion pictureprojectwhen the novel was being developed. I'm probably forgetting something , but that'sthecase isn'tit? Excludinggangsters who operate independently ofa larger organization (Bonnie andClyde, for instance), it'snoteasytocomeupwith a listof novelsin whicha character within the "mob" is theprotagonist. We likeourheroes andantiheroes tobe entrepreneurial, building their reputationsindependently . The recent moviePublicEnemies (2009)makes a point of JohnDillinger's"free spirit," becausehe won'tcooperate withthegrowing organized crime groups.It dooms him,of course. Novelswith mobsters asantagonists arecommon, butit'sfar more easyto think ofsuccessful nonfiction books TheGangThatCouldn't ShootStraight (1969)by Jimmy Breslin, or Honor ThyFather (1992) by Gay Tálese. GetCapone(2010)by Jonathan Eig drewa lotofattention lastfallfor itsportrayal ofAlphonse "Scarface" Capone and itsalternate theory of whatreally happened attheSt.Valentine 's DayMassacre. There's something about the storyof the gangster thatorients itmuchmoretowardthemedium offilm thantowardthenovel,illuminating the relativestrengths of thesetwo storytelling media.In a recent classofmine,graduate and March-April 2011 19 Iu Q. z O io H ÛC O U¡ a. 3 00 j forinstance, triesto giveitsmain character the mantleof a visionary ,buttheattempted elevation of thestory nevertakesflight. Meyer Lansky (BenKingsley) comesacross as a statesman, whileBugsycomes acrossas,well,"bugsy." Another reasonthatorganized crime figures havenotproducedas muchcompelling fiction as film? The truestoriesare so incredible thattheybeggartheability offictionto deal withthem.Consider Capone.Welloverfifty actors have played him,fromNeville Brand in The Untouchables (1959) to Rod Steiger, F. MurrayAbraham, Ben Gazzara, Robert De Niro, and StephenGrahamin HBO's BoardwalkEmpire (2010).If we include thinly veiled characters recognizable as Capone,theliststretches on to include dozens of others. As earlyas 1928,thesilentmovie TheRacket (whichwas nominated forthefirst Oscar)had a gangster named "Nick Scarsi" played by LouisWolheim. Itwas based on a Broadway playthat openedin1927 withEdwardG. Robinsonin the role.KeepinmindthattherealAl Caponedidnotenter federal prison until1932.That's how notorious AI was. Screenwriter Ben Hecht had to denyto thepressthathis script, Scarface (releasedin 1932), portrayed Capone afterhe got a visitfrom a coupleofAl'spals. Al Pacino has also done at least two Capone descendants: TonyMontanain Scarface and Big Boy Capricein DickTracy(1990). Paul Muni in Scarface and Robinsonin LittleCaesar(1930) both have scenes in which "Capone" takesoverthemobintheoffice of hisboss. Scarface has his pal (the coin-flipping George Raft)shoot Johnny Lovo; LittleCaesar simplyputsSam Vettori in hisplace. Capone's actualboss was named JohnnyTorrio, thoughhe simply The manyfacesofAlCapone.Abovefrom top,the gangsterhimself¡n a mug shot from June1931;Robert De Niro as AlinThe Untouchables (1987); and Capone's most recentreincarnation, played by Stephen Graham inHBO'sBoardwalk Empire (2010). retired toEurope,leavinghismob to Capone. Even moresuggestive isthesceneinLittle Caesar inwhich he sponsorshis own testimonial supper because that'swhat successful peopledo.Itevokesthelegendary incident inwhich AlCapone invitedtwo former colleaguesto a celebration dinner at whichthey werebeatento deathwithbaseball bats.Morerecently, thebanquet isa major sceneinBrian De Palma'sThe Untouchables (1987).Al (Robert De Niro)poundsthem todeathingory living color. As MarkAntony said,theevil thatmendo livesafter them.Like serialkiller Ed Gein(whoinspired Psycho [1959] and Silence of the Lambs [1988]) or Jack the Ripper (who inspired The Lodger [1913], Murderby Decree [1979], and Time After Time[i<)7ci'r among manyothers ), ScarfaceAl has remaineda fascination long after he deserved beingremembered. Intruth nothing morethana thug, weseeinhimthe darkside oftheAmerican psyche, a combination ofthedrivetomake it,thefearlessness to stopat nothing ,and thepowerofthecommon man.In theend,they had toresort totaxlawstogethim.Thegangster becomesa different symbol witha slightly different meaning depending on thescreenwriter and filmmaker , so we continue tobe fascinatedby him.Like a murderous gorillain a cage,we loveto study hispowerandhisanger, butweare morethandisturbed bythehuman lookinhiseyes. University ofOklahoma J. Madison Davis is the authorof eight mystery novels,includingTheMurder of FrauSchütz,an Edgarnominee,and Law and Order: Dead Line, whichwas an e-book best-seller. He has also publishedseven nonfiction booksand dozens ofshortstoriesand articles.His columnon internationalcrimewriting has been appearing in WLT since2004. In2008 he was elected president of the International Association ofCrime Writers. March-April 2011 111 ...
Referência(s)