"Scarface" Is Released

Scarface (also known as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 American gangster film, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, C. Henry Gordon, George Raft, Vince Barnett, Edwin Maxwell, and Boris Karloff. Howard Hughes produced the film. Produced in the Pre-Code era, the film centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of a city.

Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s.

Born in Brooklyn to Southwestern Italian immigrants Gabriele and Teresina Capone, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit – though his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer.

Although he was never successfully convicted of racketeering charges, Capone's criminal career ended in 1931, when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income-tax evasion.