Scarface 1932: Censorship Issues

Gangster movies were popular during the 1930's but the content of gangster films worried American censors. Gangster movies created a movement. American censors where worried that gangster films implied bad behavior. American censors thought that people would start acting like the gangster's in the movie. “The public discourse on criminality in film bespoke concerns with the legitimacy of violence and finally social order. Popular cinema was the primary national venue through which these concerns were expressed and debated at a transformative moment when sound technology was introduced, a variety of genres were honed, and Hollywood resituated itself in Depression-era America.” (Slocum, J. D. (2000).

In Scarface (1932) there was an delay to its opening. According to Catholic University of America "Scarface had censorship issues because Scarface was a "pre-Code" picture, made before the enforcement of rigid standards in the depiction of violence, sexuality, and morality in Hollywood movies (Faculty of Catholic University 2015, February 14)". People protested against the movie Scarface (1932) because they felt like the movie had a negative impact on society. The delay came about because the producers wanted to please American Censors. “The delay came about because, in an effort to appease the American censors, a subtitle "Shame of the Nation" was added to Scarface, along with a scene in which civic reformers preach ("You can end it. Fight!") directly to camera”(Springhall 1998).They added this scene in the movie about good people discussing controlling the gangster. Good people do not want gangsters in their society. “New York and Chicago censorship boards rejected Scarface outright until Warner’s agreed to make these changes but Jason Joy, who enforced the Hays Code, still had to convince them to show it cut. Each state in America had its own board of censors, so the original ending could still be seen in some theatres when the film was finally released in the spring of 1932. Howard Huges, the producer of the Scarface film, censorship issues was unsuccessful but the movie was still played in areas where there were less ridged censorship issues. Also the movie was delayed because the film was inappropriate and showed scenes where people questioned the relationship between brother and sister. “A particular target of censorship pressures was the depiction of independent or sexually-expressive women. Poppy is a kept woman who moves from one mobster to another. Both she and Cesca reflect elements of the "flapper" type that developed in the 1920's: the young woman out for a good time rather than marriage and a family” (Faculty of Catholic University 2015).