A Comparison of Little Caesar, On the Waterfront, and Scarface
P.J. Worsfold, 5/25/2005
The American dream is advertised, if not promised, to all hard-working men and women living within the country's borders. Yet for many, the dream that they have bought, or leased into never comes true. As history shows, the reasons for this can all too often be attributed to unjust political structures, economic restrictions, and social boundaries rather than a lacking work ethic. Increasingly since the waves of immigration and urbanization that accompanied the turn of the 19th century, the realization of a hollow American dream has led many in society to feel unfulfilled and increasingly skeptical of the establishment. It is no coincidence that this same timeframe witnessed the birth of the urban gangster; a character whose life on screen, and on the street, came into its own during the Prohibition era and the Great Depression. Although the gangster mystique is perhaps as manufactured as the American dream, the gangster has come to symbolize a sense of rebellion against a corrupt system. At its core, the American gangster film is about exploring the individual frustration and anger created by "the promise of inclusion and the reality of exclusion"(Munby 3). Stemming from Neale's socio-cultural genre theory, which states that genre is a vehicle "for the exploration of ideas, ideals, cultural values and ideological dilemmas central to American society,"(Neale 220) I contend that, based on my analysis of three important films within the genre, there is little significant variation between gangster films. The basis for this contention is not to criticize the genre; rather it is to celebrate it. My position is that when applied effectively, the gangster film is a fixed construct that filmmakers can use to examine individual struggles against the establishment. This examination on an individual level in turn leads to insightful commentary on society. The films Little Caesar, On the Waterfront, and Scarface, illustrate this position well and, following a brief summary of the origins and fundamentals of the gangster genre, further discussion of the content, style, and structure of these films will expand upon this idea.
In further understanding the genre, one must remember that the gangster film is an evolution of the western, and a "modern continuation of America's story reflected on film."(McCarty 2) Although the gangster film trades the wild frontier for the big city, its focus remains on the individual and on his struggles with the establishment. This is an important element of the genre and one that speaks to its wide appeal and to its value as a tool for cultural exploration. The notion of being an outsider pitted against an unjust system is one that transcends both historical and class boundaries. At one time or other, we all feel cheated by a societal structure or bureaucratic obstacle, and although we do not resort to crime, we can identify with the plight of the misguided gangster. In a world that is increasingly more structured and more urban, many of us struggle to find our own identity and we empathize with the gangster's lifelong "effort to assert himself as an individual, [and] to draw himself out of the crowd."(Neale 76) This individual struggle is the essence of the genre and it is in reflecting up on it that, "meanings emerge, whether deliberately or not, about the nature of society."(Shadoian 3) This combination of similarity in conflict and the subsequent social criticism unifies the genre and lessens the significance of variations within it.
Before proceeding, and in order to avoid any misperceptions, it is important to qualify the concept of variation. Assessing the significance of variation between films is a subjective process. Variations in style, structure, and content do exist between films of the gangster genre and indeed within the films being discussed here. Although both the technical and creative sides of filmmaking are continually evolving, variations between films of the gangster genre are not necessarily indicative of this evolution. Such variations are tied to the vision of the filmmaker and to their choice in selecting an effective means of expression. The significance of these variations is ancillary to the unity in theme and social commentary that the films demonstrate as a whole. Yet, such variation is important to the longevity and continued analysis of the genre. Moreover, it underscores the genre's flexibility and ability to explore a wide variety of subjects while highlighting the issues that unite them.
The gangster genre is essentially a lens through which filmmakers attempt to explore societal problems that, at their core, share a similar nature. To add credence to this notion it will be useful to summarize and provide historical background on the central conflicts of the three films up for discussion. This content analysis will illustrate a pervasive theme of the disenfranchised individual's struggle and its resulting meaning for society as a whole.
Little Caesar was produced in 1930 and it set the mold for the classic gangster tale of morality. The film follows Rico "Little Caesar" Bandello, played by Edward G. Robinson, on his rise from a small-town hood to a big-time Chicago gangster. There are a variety of elements in this film that tie it to real life subjects of the day, not the least of which is the fact that Rico's character was based on the infamous gangster Al Capone. Little Caesar played on a frustration that many in the film's audience felt at the time. A number of criteria led to this frustration, but it can be summarized by considering the effects and sequence of the major events of the day. To begin with, after returning from World War I, the urbanized American working class was greeted with Prohibition, a movement largely supported by rural, middle class Protestants. Next came the Great Depression, an event that, to the working class, was due in part to the greed and corruption of the middle and upper classes. Despair and division symbolized the mood of the day. Into this mix, director Mervyn LeRoy offered Rico, an Italian immigrant who goes to "the big-town" to do "things in a big way" and in doing so, he wages war on the establishment.
Rico's rise and fall communicates an important moral message, which is aptly summarized by the film's opening title card, which quoting St. Matthew says, "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." However as Baxter points out, such obvious morality was "a sop to the pious"(Baxter 9) and masked a much more complex issue. Of greater relevance to the film's value in a generic context are what elements of the story, such as Rico's relationship and admiration of Big Boy, say about the prejudices of the social hierarchy during "a time in which the forces of WASP hegemony directly interfered with the private sphere of everyday life."(Munby 30). For instance, when Rico finally gets to meet Big Boy, who represents the established, presumably Protestant criminal class, Rico's lack of social grace makes it clear that although he may have the power and the money, he will never understand the refined tastes of the establishment. Furthermore, at the film's end as Rico goes down in a hail of bullets, fired by an Irishman, Big Boy is never heard from again, perhaps left unscathed due to his "WASP invulnerability"(Shadoian 31) and connections to the establishment.
Director Elia Kazan's 1954 film On the Waterfront looks at America as it stood following Prohibition, the Depression, and World War II. The film's plot deals with corrupt union politics and the gangster control of the longshoremen working the New York City docks. In the film, Terry Malloy, played by Marlon Brando, is a former boxer, forced by his own brother and the rest of the local mob, to take a dive in the ring. When he becomes unwittingly involved in the murder of his friend and fellow dockworker, Malloy faces a moral decision of whether to side with the mob or take a stand against their oppression. The screenplay, written by Budd Schulberg, is based on a series of Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reports written in 1949 by New York City journalist Malcolm Johnson. The film's subject matter struck a chord with audiences in a time that saw Senator Estes Kefauver's Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, announce that, "a nationwide crime syndicate does exist in the United States of America."(Baxter 12) In the film, Kazan continues to demonstrate the gangster genre's individual struggle against the establishment, only now organized crime is as much a part of the establishment as the banks that foreclosed loans in the 1930s.
The content of On the Waterfront and its relationship to the gangster genre is of particular interest when one considers it in terms of Kazan's 1952 testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). During the Red Scare, Kazan admitted to being a member of the Communist Party, and in exchange for being allowed to continue to work, he agreed to name other party members. On the Waterfront was Kazan's public response to his role in the HUAC. Although his actions are easily condemned now, and are in any case morally dubious, the film is an interesting metaphoric statement of his individual struggle, whether it was a justification, an excuse or an apology.
Scarface is the story of Cuban 'political prisoner', Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, and his rise from the gutter to the top of the cocaine trade. Directed by Brian De Palma, the film was released in 1983 and is a remake of the 1932 film Scarface: The Shame of the Nation. Although based on different subject matter, the success of DePalma's version, over 50 years after the original's release, is testimony both to the continued relevance of the gangster narrative, and sadly to the societal conditions that inspire it. The film opens in the spring of 1980 with the Mariel Boatlift, an event where Fidel Castro opened up his country's borders ostensibly to allow Cubans to join relatives living in the Unites States. In reality, this was Castro's chance to purge his prisons and mental hospitals of Cuba's undesirables. According to the film's statistics, Castro's actions sent 125,000 refugees to Florida's south shore, an estimated 25,000 of whom had criminal records.
DePalma's film represents both a continuation of the classic gangster film's core struggle and a progression of its social commentary. To some it represents the apotheosis of the genre, to others it is camp and over-the-top. Starting with the drug traffickers and moving to the bankers, then continuing with the police and ultimately political ideology Scarface is a study in corruption. Tony Montana is a product of this world, hell-bent on getting "the world, and everything in it." Like the gangsters of old, Tony uses crime, the only means available to him, to quench his insatiable thirst for money and power. Throughout his meteoric rise, Tony's quest to acquire the trappings of the establishment only uncovers its corruption. Finally, and in continuation of the ethnic division of Little Caesar, Tony's inescapable demise comes not at the hands of the establishment but from Bolivian drug-lord Alejandro Sosa's hit-squad. Sosa, a man educated in England, and the establishment are no doubt left free to continue business as usual.
Oliver Stone's script is an examination of the social excess of the time and as Tony's wife, Elvira says, "nothing exceeds like excess". Scarface shows the greed and consumption that would characterize the decade brought to a fever pitch, one that, like Ivan Boesky's real life greed on Wall Street later in the decade, ultimately destroys itself and everything around it. Tony's story combines both Stone's timely social commentary and a more timeless commentary on the American dream. Flawed by the society around him, Tony sets out with "his word and his balls" but is corrupted by his own greed and consumption. He ultimately realizes everything he struggled for is ultimately meaningless, culminating with his restaurant speech, where he asks is "this it, this what it's all about Manny?"
Accompanying Scarface's release was the tagline, "He loved the American Dream. With a Vengeance". These few words are a succinct illustration of both the gangster's raw determination and his contradiction, which is the source of the gangster's fatal flaw. In each of the previously discussed films, the protagonists were only after what was promised to them, yet in pursuing it they were forced to take action that tainted their character, an act for which they atoned. Through the pity we feel for these characters in their atonement, we appreciate what drove them. Moreover, we consider the societal structures at the heart of the conflict be they bigotry, corruption, or excess. This quality unites Little Caesar, On the Waterfront and Scarface.
The stylistic elements of the gangster genre are often the most recognizable elements of the gangster film. They set up a language and paradigm upon which the gangster narrative takes place. The stylistic elements at play in Little Caesar, On the Waterfront and Scarface are numerous, but in relation to the subject of variation within the genre and Neale's notion of genre as a vehicle, two observations bare mentioning. As in prior discussion of the films' content, these observations, pertaining to the combined effect of setting and cinematography, illustrate minor variation within the genre and ultimately greater similarity in purpose and theme.
When considered in chronological order, Little Caesar, On the Waterfront and Scarface offer unsettling commentary on the progression of the average person's complicity in the corruption of the time. Although perhaps due in part to technical limitations, there are several stylistic factors which express this sense of complicity. For instance, the role of the public is very limited in Little Caesar. Shadoian suggests, that with sparse sets and "Spartan efficiency [the film] is opportunely functional in defining and displaying its perversely animated central figure."(Shadoian 26) The intense inward focus on Rico's character, affected by the film's limited cast, minimal sets, and quick edits suggests a public who were largely removed from Rico's world and thus not to blame for its flaws. Conversely, central to On the Waterfront is the subject of group complicity in corruption, as is demonstrated by the dockworker's "D and D" (deaf and dumb) policy concerning their witnessing of criminal acts. The struggle to end this complicity by breaking from the masses is the essence of Terry Malloy's journey. The finale of this journey is expressed in the lead up to Malloy's fight with Johnny Friendly, one of the film's most powerful scenes. Upon not being allowed in to work, the camera follows Brando's character as he walks alone, though followed from a distance by his coworkers, toward the union clubhouse. The tension of the scene peaks when Malloy is shown standing on the bridge between his fellow dockworkers on the land and Johnny Friendly and his crew on the dock. He is literally and symbolically standing out from the crowd. With this shot and the lead up to it, Kazan demonstrates a man making a moral choice when the world around him is telling him not to. Finally, DePalma's Scarface, with its lush and exotic setting, suggests not an element of indulgence and corruption, but a culture of it. From Giorgio Moroder's synthesizer driven score and the beachfront setting, to the slick costumes and expensive cars, Scarface depicts a hedonistic society driven by excess and consumption. The Babylon club, with regards to the biblical origins of its name, to its décor, to its clientele is the essence of Stone's vision of a society where everyone is complicit.
As mentioned earlier, considering variations between these films is an effective way at understanding their greater similarity in effect. Structurally, On the Waterfront is much different from Little Caesar and Scarface. On the Waterfront depicts one man's struggle and ultimate victory over corruption and the mob, while Little Caesar and Scarface take the gangster's perspective and show his rise to power and subsequent fall.
Part of the appeal of Little Caesar and Scarface is that we can live vicariously through Rico Bandello and Tony Montana. We consider how these characters are perceived by their peers and how they approach their struggles against our own lives and perhaps in some way we are envious, if only for a few hours. David Chase, the writer and director of the television series The Sopranos, offers the following observation on the gangster and our fascination with him, "people are scared of him and nobody messes with him - that's a big wish fulfillment [for the viewer]" (McCarty 8). The structure employed by LeRoy and DePalma allows the audience to get as close as possible to the gangster and in terms of wish fulfillment it is most effective. Rather than creating a character who projects outward to make his mark, On the Waterfront creates one who must look inward. This introspection is typical of many films of the era and reflects "socialist/humanist views of men who had been attracted to Communism during periods of Soviet reconstruction, in the thirties and the wartime entente" (Baxter 11). In using the gangster film as a means to tell his story, Kazan attaches the same sense of individual struggle and corruption one would expect in a typical gangster film, but in structuring the film from the perspective of those facing the gangsters, he achieves a deeper sense of morality. This sense of morality helps us consider the motivations for our actions rather than how they are perceived. The fact that both of these structures work successfully in the gangster framework speaks to the flexibility of the genre. Of greater importance however is the fact that although these structures offer opposing perspectives, they both resonate well with audiences and continue to be relevant. This speaks to the complexity of our emotions and the genre's ability to explore them.
Interpretation of the gangster genre exists in a duality. Some might see Tony Montana looking at the Goodyear blimp blinking "The World Is Yours" and experience a sense of liberation in watching a man who handled his problems his way. While others might look at the same scene and see the irony in the blimp, which might as well read, "The World is Ours," because for all his efforts the American dream is not meant for people like Tony, it is meant for the people of Goodyear. Linking these points on the spectrum of interpretation is the fact that they demonstrate the gangster genre's historically proven value in "connecting today's disenfranchised with a tradition of dissent"(Munby 3). In other words, the genre is so effective because people both within the establishment and on its margins relate to it. Any variations between films of the gangster are eclipsed by the universal appeal of the struggle. In the 1940s, the cultural critic C.L.R. James declared, "the gangster film expressed the most enduring social and ideological currents of his age"(Munby 2). Given factors such as the continued interest in classic gangster films and the diversification of the genre with such films as John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood and Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it appears that these social and ideological currents continue to endure. Should we continue to move towards a society that is characterized by economic and political polarization and unbridled consumption one can be assured that the gangster genre will continue to be relevant.
Works Cited
Baxter, John. The Gangster Film. London: A. Zwemmer Ltd., 1970.
Faragoh, Francis Edwards, writ. Little Caesar, Dir. Mervyn LeRoy. Warner Brothers, 1930.
Grant, Barry K. ed. Film Genre. London: The Scarecrow Press Inc., 1977.
McCarty, John. Bullets Over Hollywood. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Perseus Books Group, 2004.
McCarty, John. Hollywood Gangland. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.
McDowall, Matt. "What Choice? -- Subculture Films, Naturalization, and the Postmodern Condition." Master's Thesis for the American Studies program at Washington State University. 24 May 2005 http://www.creighton.edu/~spoko/subculture/index.html.
Munby, Jonathan. Public Enemies Public Heroes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Neale, Steve . Genre and Hollywood. London: Routledge, 2000.
Schulberg, Budd, writ. On the Waterfront, Dir. Elia Kazan. Columbia Pictures, 1954.
Shadoian, Jack. Dreams and Dean Ends. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1977.
Stone, Oliver, writ. Scarface, Dir. Brian DePalma. Universal Pictures, 1983.