It’s been 30 years since the world met Tony Montana and the violent world of the Miami drug trade in Scarface, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone’s 1983 remake of the original Howard Hawkes gangster picture. Critics hated the film when it came out because of its vulgarity and violence; however fans, um, took to it and now it's impossible to imagine the pop culture landscape without it.
The iconic film has also been immortalized in music, especially in hip hop, as seen in the documentary Def Jam Presents: Origins of a Hip-Hop Classic that includes interviews with rapper Scarface (who took his name from the film), Snoop Lion and Diddy who has seen the gangster classic 63 times.
In honor of this tremendous milestone here are the 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Scarface.
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Oliver Stone wrote the screenplay in France after deciding to kick his own cocaine habit. A lot of his own experience inspired material in the film. For example, the motel scene.
Tony Montana was named after Joe Montana, Oliver Stone's favorite football player.
De Palma dropped out of directing Flashdance in order to work on Scarface.
Steven Bauer was the only Cuban cast member in the main ensemble. Angel Salazar, who play Chi-Chi in the supporting cast, was Cuban American. De Palma and other cast members would consult Bauer and Salazar about Cuban attitude and culture.
Miriam Colon, who plays Tony Montana's mom, is only four years older than Pacino.
Robert De Niro turned down the role of Tony Montana and Edward James Olmos also turned down an unspecified role.
John Travolta was actually considered for the role of Manny Ribera. It ultimately went to Steven Bauer.
A grand total of 42 people are offed in the movie.
Nancy Allen was considered for the role of Elvira, but De Palma changed his mind after their project together, Blow Out, flopped.
Director Brian De Palma had to edit the film three times in order to get an R rating instead of an X rating. He ultimately tricked studio execs and gave the first intended cut to theaters.
Only one shot was removed from the film. It was of a dismembered arm hanging from the shower rod curtain rod during the infamous "chainsaw bathroom scene."
One of the assassins at the Babylon Club is seen drinking Bavarian Löwenbräu beer. In the scene where Tony demands the money to be recounted the box which houses the money is a Löwenbräu, which translates to "lion's brews." Bavarian Löwenbräu is made in Munich, Germany since 1383.
Stan Parks, one of the special effects coordinators, brought a synchronizer to the set that hooked up to a gun. The gun would not fire until the camera shutter was open making it possible for camera to capture the gun's flash.
Pacino burned his hand by touching the barrel of a gun during the final shootout at the Montana mansion. He couldn't film for two weeks.
In the entire film, Tony Montana only gets called Scarface once, in Spanish, which translates to "Caracicatriz."
During filming Pacino asked John Alonzo, director of photography, to only speak to him in Spanish in order to help him pick up the language and perfect his accent.
Pacino pitched the idea to remake Scarface to Martin Bregman after seeing it at the Tiffany Theatre on Sunset Boulevard.
The film cost about $25 million to make. Today it would cost three times that amount.
Al Pacino went off script and used "yayo" a slang word for cocaine and De Palma liked it so much he let it be used throughout the film.
Most of the film was shot in Los Angeles instead of Miami in order to avoid Cuban American protesters that were unhappy with the film's subject matter.
Sidney Lumet was the first choice to direct the film, but he backed out after disagreeing with the screenplay. However, some of his ideas about the film were kept, such as making the characters Cuban and having Tony Montana come from Cuba in the Mariel harbor boat lift.
Before he was even able to audition for the role of Manny, a casting director told Steven Bauer he had the part and then met with De Palma who agreed.
De Palma first wanted to use dried milk to simulate cocaine in the film, but he nixed it because it didn't look good on camera. Until this day, De Palma refuses to say what he used as a prop for coke because he doesn't want to destroy the illusion.
The word "fuck" is used 218 times.
Al Pacino originally didn't want Michelle Pfeiffer to get the role of Elvira Hancock. Other actresses that auditioned for the role include Sharon Stone and Geena Davis.
