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Mister Scarface

Original title: I padroni della città
  • 1976
  • R
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
Mister Scarface (1976)
Dark ComedyComedyCrimeThriller

Two small-time hoodlums plot to get even with a treacherous boss who is intent on monopolizing all criminal activity within Rome.Two small-time hoodlums plot to get even with a treacherous boss who is intent on monopolizing all criminal activity within Rome.Two small-time hoodlums plot to get even with a treacherous boss who is intent on monopolizing all criminal activity within Rome.

  • Director
    • Fernando Di Leo
  • Writers
    • Fernando Di Leo
    • Peter Berling
  • Stars
    • Jack Palance
    • Al Cliver
    • Harry Baer
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Fernando Di Leo
    • Writers
      • Fernando Di Leo
      • Peter Berling
    • Stars
      • Jack Palance
      • Al Cliver
      • Harry Baer
    • 19User reviews
    • 32Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos42

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    Top cast45

    Edit
    Jack Palance
    Jack Palance
    • Manzari
    Al Cliver
    Al Cliver
    • Rick
    Harry Baer
    Harry Baer
    • Tony
    Gisela Hahn
    Gisela Hahn
    • Clara
    Enzo Pulcrano
    • Peppe
    Carmelo Reale
    • Luca
    • (as Roberto Reale)
    Edmund Purdom
    Edmund Purdom
    • Luigi Cerchio
    Vittorio Caprioli
    Vittorio Caprioli
    • Vincenzo Napoli
    Rosario Borelli
    • Actor
    Pietro Ceccarelli
    • Horseman
    Salvatore Billa
    Salvatore Billa
    • Mugger
    Peter Berling
    Peter Berling
    • Enrichetto
    Raul Lovecchio
    • Manzari Goon
    • (as Raul Lo Vecchio)
    Giulio Baraghini
    • Manzari Goon
    Erigo Palombini
    • Manzari Goon
    • (as Enrico Palombini)
    Spartaco Battisti
    • Gambler
    Fernando Cerulli
    Fernando Cerulli
    • Debtor
    Luciano Bottin
    • Young Rick
    • Director
      • Fernando Di Leo
    • Writers
      • Fernando Di Leo
      • Peter Berling
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews19

    6.11.2K
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    Featured reviews

    6Coventry

    Macho fistfights, explosive vendettas and …. Homo-eroticism?!?

    Writer/director Fernando Di Leo chronologically made three of the most stupendously amazing "Poliziottesco" (hardcore Italian cop/gangster thrillers) milestones with "Milano Caliber .9", "La Mala Ordina" and "Il Boss". I respectively granted those films with rating 10/10, 9/10 and 9/10 … just to indicate how powerful and overwhelming they are. Di Leo honestly was a brilliant but sadly underrated director who really knew how to make hardcore-to-the bone action movies. There are no good or loyal characters in Fernando Di Leo's depiction of the Italian mafia… There are only vicious and emotionless gangsters that would butcher their own parents in order to climb one small step up the ladder of power & influence. Although nearly not as brilliant as the aforementioned trio, Di Leo's later films keep featuring the same story elements. "Rulers of the City" – the literally translated title which I vastly prefer over "Mister Scarface" – is another mafia flick full of ultra-sadistic characters, nasty double-crossings, merciless executions, brutal bare-knuckle fistfights and explosive vendettas.

    Tony is a smooth and handsome but insignificant guy who works as a debt collector for Luigi Cherico; the number #2 gangster boss of Naples. He wants to make an impression on his boss and ingeniously plunders 10 million Lire from the absolute biggest crime lord in town, the feared and relentless Scarface. Tony unwillingly evokes a mafia war in Naples and finds himself in between the two camps. Luckily he receives help from an elderly Mafiosi and a mysterious blond shooting expert with an old personal vengeance to settle. "Rulers of the City" has a well- written and fast-paced script, and all the fistfight battles and shootout sequences are exhilarating and brute. The film also benefices from neat camera-work and a terrific score provided by Di Leo's regular composer Luis Bacalov. Still, "Rulers of the City" suffers from two serious defaults that simply cannot be neglected. First of all, everything is done to make it seems like the entire film orbits around Jack Palance and his character Mr. Scarface, but his role honestly isn't that extended or fundamental. The DVD-cover image that I own illustrates Jack Palance looking bewildered and firing off a machine gun, but never at one point during this movie he takes the effort of even picking up a weapon. Secondly, what's with the homo-erotic undertones in this film? It isn't too abnormal that there generally aren't many female lead roles in Italian gangster movies, but this one exaggerates! The only women in this film are secretaries, prostitutes and walking eye-candy on the sidewalk. Furthermore the hints at homosexuality are downright bizarre and misplaced. The older Mafiosi Vincenzo Napoli is obviously gay, with his pink scarves and feminine gestures the entire time, but even the two lead actors could easily pass for a cute couple. Whenever they're driving around the city in Tony's flamboyant buggy, they look like an advertisement campaign for coming out of the closet and the only thing missing is a slogan on the bottom of the screen saying "it's okay to be gay".
    4Bezenby

    Droolers of the city

    What went wrong here? Fernando Di Leo drops the ball in a meandering crime film that takes almost fifty minutes to get anywhere and doesn't feature any particularly interesting characters. All Jack Palance does is scowl with a cigarette in his mouth, something you've seen him do in a dozen other films.

    It starts out with a kid witnessing his father being killed by Jack Palance, then we fast forward to the present (seventies Rome), where Tony works for local mob guy Luigi (played by a very pale Edmund Purdom). Tony wants to work the big leagues and ends up teaming up with Al Cliver, a guy who until recently worked for Palance. I guess the mystery is figuring out which one of them was the kid at the start of the film.

    The first two thirds of the film concentrate on these two scamming Palance while also fighting with Purdom's second in command, and the main problem is neither of the leads are that interesting. The only character with any depth is the old Neopolitan pickpocket who gets caught up in the all the madness. For some reason though his character has an over the top Italian accent whilst everyone else is dubbed American.

    Most of the action takes place in the last half hour of the film, where finally everyone gets their guns out. This is where Al Cliver shines as he's not the best at being emotional, but at least he looks cool gunning people down. The whole film seems a bit tired and it's as if Di Leo didn't know where to take the story, and as there's about a million Eurocrime films from 1976, this one doesn't quite cut it.
    3Chase_Witherspoon

    Mister Scarface is no Tony Montana

    Energised to some degree by some inspired acting, this violent little crime caper has a young, carefree protection collector (Baer) swindling a big-time hood (Palance) out of 10 million Lira only to discover that his "good deed" has deadly consequences for all concerned. His alliance with a former gang member of the hood (Cliver) may be the only chance he has to clear his debts, and survive, but there's another motivation for Cliver's expert assistance.

    Palance is wasted talking out the corner of his mouth while he incessantly chews on a durry filter, while poor old Edmund Purdom really has things tough in this film. His character is publicly emasculated and betrayed by his own favoured son. The role isn't especially prominent, nor key to the plot, so Purdom's appearance in it is both unusual (for such a distinguished actor) and ultimately frivolous. Baer is likable as the charismatic "enforcer", who attracts as much attention from the ladies as he does from those attempting to kill him. Rotund funny-man Caprioli as the wily old Purdom gang member over-indulges in the humour, becoming a parody. Overall, it's very hit and miss.

    There's not much to recommend; lots of fisticuffs, gun-fights, car-chases and the like, but the tongue-in-cheek element is never consistently applied, and consequently, the tone is confusing, the film itself a dull experience.
    6Bunuel1976

    MISTER SCARFACE (Fernando Di Leo, 1976) **1/2

    I had first watched this on the big screen as part of the Italian B-movie retrospective held during the 2004 Venice Film Festival (where 6 features by Di Leo were shown); back then, I didn't like it - rating it ** and feeling that it was rather unbalanced by the vulgar comedy relief (though typical of Italian films during this era), especially when compared to the director's other relatively more sober stuff (which had proved my first encounter with his work)!

    Watching it again as part of a mini-tribute to its star, Jack Palance (who passed away recently), I found myself a lot more receptive to it; Di Leo dabbled most often in the crime genre and, as can be deduced from the title, this one falls into that category: the plot, dealing with a gang war (one faction controlled by Palance and the other by Edmund Purdom), is no great shakes but, at its centre is a revenge plan involving Palance and young misfit Al Cliver (whose identity is unknown to the 'boss'); this element gives it an undeniable edge, and the exciting climax takes place at a massive abandoned slaughterhouse - where an old betrayal and murder had taken place.

    As is typical of the director, the action is pretty constant and always dynamic - aided by a fine eclectic score by Luis Enrique Bacalov; there's a discreet amount of nudity and, as I said, a slight overdose of comedy: however, as I watched more films by Di Leo (totaling nine so far), I realized that this was basically an idiosyncrasy of his (evident even in a straight melodrama such as LA SEDUZIONE [1973]) but, in any case, I generally appreciated its style of humor now - especially when delivered by Di Leo regular Vittorio Caprioli (my favorite bit occurs towards the end, when he shoots the bad guys at close range with a bunch of guns he purchased for an eventual showdown but, constantly missing the mark, reasons to himself that the weapons must be defective and, therefore, he ought to return them and file a complaint to boot!).

    Palance is suitably sinister and imposing - even if he probably spends more time being had, so to speak, than dishing it out! In the end, what's missing from the film vis-a'-vis Di Leo's other genre work is a strong hero (i.e. a credible opponent to Palance) in the vein of Gastone Moschin (from THE CONTRACT [1972]), Mario Adorf (from THE Italian CONNECTION [1972]) and Henry Silva (from WIPEOUT! [1973])...
    10ZeddaZogenau

    "Supertypen" like Harry BAER and Al CLIVER

    Italian gangster film from cult director Fernando Di Leo

    This film, which is well worth seeing and is also known as "I padroni della citta" or "Mister Scarface", was released in Italian cinemas on December 3rd, 1976 and in West German cinemas on December 9th, 1977. "ZWEI SUPERTYPEN RÄUMEN AUF / Two Super Guys Clean Up" is the last film from the very innovative production company Daunia 80, which, with director Fernando Di Leo, produced such classics of the Italian gangster film (poliziotteschi) as "Milano Caliber 9" (1972), "La mala ordina / The Mafia Boss - They Kill Like Jackals " (1972) - by the way, both with a magnificent and uninhibited EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Mario Adorf - and of course "Il Boss / Der Teufel führt Regie" (1973) brought to the cinema.

    This film is about Tony (Harry Baer), a young mafia money collector who, although he can casually cruise around Rome in his buggy, is not satisfied with his position in the mafia hierarchy. The likeable and actually rather slight rascal is such a sophisticated pugilist that he can beat any opponent to the ground, which can also be seen in detail. One day the opportunity arises to get one over on one of the big names in the underworld (delightfully nasty: the future Oscar winner Jack Palance as Manzari or Mister Scarface). Tony promptly gets caught up in the conflict between various gangs, which he tries to outsmart together with the experienced underworld agent Vincenzo Napoli (Vittorio Caprioli). They get support from another cool kid named Ric (Al Cliver), who isn't particularly into beatings, but can shoot remarkably well and still has a mysterious score to settle from the past. The beautiful Clara plays a smaller role (played by the enchanting Gisela Hahn, who also gets to sing a song herself here - probably T'amo lo stesso), who is good friends with both guys. What's worth noting is that Tony and Ric could also pass as a couple. Slight homoerotic undertones can definitely be heard. Edmund Purdom and Peter Berling, who also co-wrote the script, can also be seen in other roles.

    This film is really fun! Great atmosphere, lots of action, hearty fights and a sophisticated villain! Not quite as strong as Di Leo's three masterpieces mentioned above, but definitely worth seeing!

    An astonishing discovery is the German actor Harry Baer in one of the main roles, who fights his way through the underworld in a cool and charming way that you can't help but be amazed by. Born in 1947, Baer worked a lot at the beginning of his career with successful director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (e.g. "Götter der Pest" (1970) and many others), but is still present and has also appeared in "Feuchtgebiete" (2012 ) played along.

    The beautiful Gisela Hahn (born 1943) is known for her appearances alongside Brad Harris (KOMMISSAR X / SIE NANNTEN IHN ZAMBO).

    Peter Berling (1934-2017) could also be seen alongside the powerful Giancarlo Prete in the beating suit "Alle für einen - Prügel für alle" (1973), for which he also wrote the screenplay, and in the classics "The Marriage of Maria Braun" (1979), "The Name of the Rose" (1986) and "Homo Faber" (1991).

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Introductory line to the title character's introductory scene, upon Scarface's entry into the club: That's "The" Scarface. He's bad news, I can tell you. Just looking at him and my asshole twitches.
    • Goofs
      In the final chase scene, the passenger fires a gun through the windshield, at the motorcycle they are chasing. The window is not shattered after many shots fired through it.
    • Quotes

      Vincenzo Napoli: [upon Scarface's entry into the club] That's "The" Scarface. He's bad news, I can tell you. Just looking at him and my asshole twitches.

    • Alternate versions
      German VHS version was cut by ca. 8 minutes.
    • Connections
      Featured in Italian Gangsters (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      T'amo lo Stesso
      Composed by Silvano Spadaccino

      Sung by Gisela Hahn

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    FAQ13

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 3, 1976 (Italy)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • West Germany
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Rulers of the City
    • Filming locations
      • Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Cineproduzioni Daunia 70
      • Seven Star Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 28m(88 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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