JasonStrode t1_ir1gfja wrote on October 4, 2022 at 5:17 PM

Reply to comment by GeekAesthete in TIL that the 1983 film 'Scarface' is actually a remake of a 1932 feature of the same name. Both are based on a 1929 novel. by GremlinBandit

~~Including Big Al himself, who approved.~~

/u/GeekAesthete is correct, thanks for adding the bit about Little Caesar. I can see where Hollywood saw the opportunity to make the claim, and Big Al was in no position to contradict them.

GeekAesthete t1_ir1vagh wrote on October 4, 2022 at 6:50 PM

Maybe. There’s an urban legend that Capone loved the film and owned his own print of it, however he was in prison by the time it came out (having been convicted a year earlier), so it’s unlikely that he ever saw it. The film’s screenwriter has said Capone actually sent heavies to the studio to make sure the film wasn’t too similar to his own life story.

Capone is reported to have liked Edward G Robinson’s role in Little Caesar, which was more loosely inspired by Capone and came out 9 months before he went to prison, so it’s possible that the stories of him liking Scarface are conflating it with Little Caesar.