So much has been written about capone, and gangster movies here is a little note on character building in Noir. Noir characters were often minmal stereotypes, but some writers were able to create memorable characters, and some actors were able to bring them to life in a rather convincing way. This is one such case where despite rather limited screen time, the character of Capone is brought to life in a rather convincing way. So Today I would like to consider the economic portrayal of “Scarface Al Capone” in the 1967 Noir classic, The valentine’s day massacre about the infamous 1929 gangland hit.
Noir genre and its Constraints
The noir genre was often severely restricted by the production code, which was a set of rules that the studios had to follow to avoid censorship. This meant that the bad guys had to be punished, and the good guys had to win. This was a problem for the noir genre, which was all about the bad guys. The solution was to make the bad guys really bad, so that the audience would be happy to see them punished. This is why the villains in noir movies are often so much more evil than the villains in other genres. Noir also faced significant monetary constraints, which meant that the movies had to be made on a tight budget. The solution was to make the movies as cheaply as possible, which meant that the movies had to be set in a few locations, with a small cast of characters. Many times they used up and coming or B stars, but the writers created roles that were not just stereotypes but vehicles for the leading men and ladies to highlight thier skill. But the upshot of this was that while a few these movies were awful as the genre progressed a surprisingly large number of noir movies were made stronger due to the many artistic constraints. Many employed some really good story telling, because there was no money to cover up any mistakes. To work well the noir genre is so tightly plotted, with every scene and every line of dialogue serving a purpose. The valentine’s day massacre is no exception, it is a tightly plotted movie, with every scene and every line of dialogue serving a purpose.
After the noir era ended in the late fifties we started to see neo-noir movies. These movies were often by a new generation of producers that has better budgets, talent and fewer restrictions but the best of these movies still follow the economies and kept pushing the tight plotting, dialogue and many of conventions of the noir era and relaxing them when ever the movie needed a more optimistic contrast. Familiar examples include China town (1974), Blade runner (1982), The Usual suspects (1995), L.A. Confidential (1997) Memento (2000). However neo-noir had no problem blending in more light, color and many more subtleties that let these later movies have a much wider appeal and more modern feel.
Destiny in the Valentine’s Day Massacre
In the Saint valentines Day massacre, all the cast are villains, pure and simple. There are no innocent standers. Some may not be gangsters, but we get to see that they are not innocent. This is a strange world, the gangsters own the police, the judges, the politicians, the press. And so all sort of people are involved in the gangster’s world but we are told one way or another how they are not innocent. This is a key theme and framing device in the movie which sets up this point of view the pre-nmovie credits which tells us the names are real and the events are real. And this point of view is reinforced by voice over introduction of characters as if their destiny is already written in stone by describing the fashion of thier death which is then contrasted with thier origins. Despite this being clearly a dramatization of the events. This moralization is in stark contrast to the portrayal of Capone in the movie.
Capone’s character development
This is a tour de force performance. We are presented with biographies of a number of gangsters. But there are only a couple that have no criminal record. These are the worst right? And Capone is one of these. Capone however is a mob boss so he does not get many chances to get his hands dirty.
We also get to see Scarface Al Capone. This is a tour de force performance. Here are the main scenes that Capone’s character is developed in the movie.
- Corporate boss Capone:
- This is a scene full of gangsters in smart suits in an imitation of a corporate board room listening to his accountant and lawyer going over the successes of his illegitimate operations.
- Capone is busy with his own agenda - getting into the oppositions’ territory, eliminating the opposition before they can eliminate him.
- His men try to tell him that they are tiny compared to his operation.
- Capone uses his rage to dominate and terrorize his underlings in this board room. Dispelling any notion that he is a corporate boss.
- And the scene cuts into a flashback of the North side gang ten car convoy’s attack on Capone’s hotel showing how his fears are very real.
- Capone then goes on to show his ruthlessness by ordering the hit on the North side gang.
- Has this become a blue print for the modern corporate boss?
- The next scene vindicates Capone as the head of the North side gang is shown to be busy plotting against Capone.
Next we see Capone meeting with the head of the Sicilian Mafia in Chicago. Capone treats the man with respect. He seems to be asking permission to kill Moran bau when the boos asks for a negotiation he retorts “I am not asking, … I am telling you”. Capone dominates the scene and the Mafia boss quickly agrees to Capone’s terms. Capone then warns the Mafia boss that he is in danger too. But this warning is not heeded. The Mafia boss is later killed by the North side, betrayed by the man who Capone warned him about. This is a rather weak scene, but it shows that Capone goes through the motions to pay respects the hierarchy of the Mafia, even if he is not shy to use his power to dominate them
Celebrity millionaire capone:
- At his mansion, he is a celebrity, he is a millionaire, and he gives interviews to the press. This Capone is smooth, charming, and most importantly charismatic. He is managing his image and is at ease in this scene.
- Later in the same mansion, we see Capone stepping out of his pool, he is taking care of his health but he looks around wearily, and we see that now he is surrounded by bodyguards, no family, no friends, no one to trust.
Capone and His Baseball bat:
Capone the avenging angel on the train
Citation
@online{bochman2024,
author = {Bochman, Oren},
title = {Villeny Pure and Simple},
date = {2024-12-12},
url = {https://orenbochman.github.io/posts/2024/2024-12-12-the-valentines-day-massacre/},
langid = {en}
}