SAN FRANCISCO JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL | SFJFF 2010

Screens with Potchki Press

Screens with Gambling Mensch

Part of Tough Guys: Images of Jewish Gangsters in Film

Warning: This is not a Jewish movie! Scarface is an unforgettable gangster classic featuring one of the most talented Jewish actors of all time, Paul Muni (born Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund). Muni plays Tony Camonte (aka Scarface), a bloodthirsty Prohibition-era mobster on the rise. Tony challenges boss Johnny Lovo, moving in on Lovo’s mistress, Poppy. Tony thinks there are bad girls like Poppy and good girls like his sister Cesca, although secretly his free-spirited sister aspires to be a moll. Director Howard Hawks’ early talkie—penned by veteran Chicago journalist Ben Hecht after the murderous machinations of Chicago’s notorious Al Capone—is an excellent example of a gangster picture that would have had a Jewish subtext for Jewish audiences of its day because of Muni’s fame in the Yiddish theatre. Scarface also brims with the not-so-subtle message of an ethnic community (in this case Italian) as a foreign and evil threat to dominant American culture. Muni (The Story of Louis Pasteur, The Last Angry Man) was born in Lemberg in 1895 and made his debut in New York’s Yiddish theatre in 1907. A versatile performer, he acted on Broadway as well as the silver screen. He is exceptional as Scarface, a ruthless criminal with an itchy trigger finger and a temper to match.—Nancy K. Fishman

Join us for the panel discussion on Tough Guys: Images of Jewish Gangsters in Film after the screening of Lepke on July 25 at 4pm at the Castro Theatre.

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