The Washington times., 1932-05-30

as impressive as public Enemy" has had peculiar
career, and not designed to make respect the
law. For authority announced that "Scarface would
not be shown and "Scarface" is shown 1t has prob
ably been cut-many films are. But to inspire conf
dence, wish that the authorities including the Hays
organization and the State boards of censorship would
in while stick to their guns in important
1t is not inspiring to hear that "Ran" would never
appear the screen, and then to see Rain on the
SCREEN it is foolish to producers of "Dishonored
Lady," and then produce Lefty Lydon which is based
, on the same actual case
Good Picture-Bad Morals
However, "scarface" is being shown with great
cess 1t is good gangster picture with superb per
formances by Paul Mum, Osgood Perkins, George Raft
(who ought to be starred in his rght) Karen
Morley and Ann Dvorak-some of the direction is
superb At many points the story suggests the
of AL Capone throwing in for good actual events
in the lives of all those other gangsters whose lives and
deaths brilliantly recorded in Edward Dean Sui
vans "Rattling the Cup which is still the best book
Chcago's madness. The end, where the moral is
driven hoe is the weakness There the story switches
from Capone to Two-Gun Crowley; there it switches
from the public enemy to the private murderer. Scar
face is trapped because he shot down the he
thought his sisters lover but who actually her
husband
turkey to reformers and puts the responsibility
up to them. At the end, after shot of Scarfaces
wobbng feet the trap of the scaffod, there is
long preachment the responsibility of all of But
the effect is nufed by the turn which the picture has
taken-by substituting private injury for the foul pub
lie wrong of the gangster.
Atanta-Not the ScaffoId
/ can think of nothing ronic than the actual
ending of Capones If the movies want to bring
home to the seriousness of the gangster menace,
why don't they show him to in all his rattiness and
murderous fury-and then show him escaping all pun
ishment for his crime but sent to prison for tax dOdg
ing? Capone legally innocent, far, of murder and
violation of the prohibition law yet clamped into Atlanta
for crime which most of consider only msde
reanor is an outrage to the civic conscience Capone
struck down by rival gangser would be cheap melo
drama in comparison.
Little Truth Here
With the excellent actor, Paul MUM, attractive
ever playing Scarface it is impossible to believe that
the gangsters entirely bad Mr. Perkins, playing the
gangster whom Scarface disodges and finally kills.
gests something less admirable because he admirably
plays a nervous, umpy, cowardy, hysterica organizer
of murder The movies aren't exactly free to show the
truth of gangstersm Censors check them for excessive
brutality and their requirements make them shy
from placing in the central role character who is not
sympathetic Cagney and Robinson, other types
enemies.
A Missing Scene
wonder, specifically, about the omission of
In "Scarface good citizen talks about the murder
of little children in the strees-obviousy remnscence
of the horror which took place in New York last year.
Would there be any objection to showing that murder
inserting perhaps few shots of the Big Shot taking
his ease prating Capone does of serving the public?
Would that savage conformation be too much for the
censors? Wouldn't it, by lucky chance, make few
people think that the exploits of the gangsters not
altogether admirable?