The author of The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear, brings us another sensational Hollywood tell-all celebrating the 40th anniversary of Brian De Palma’s legendary 1983 gangster film, while also showcasing its broader appeal across the past century by confronting the equally controversial legacy of its 1932 predecessor.
When Brian DePalma’s operatically violent Scarface debuted in 1983, the film drew almost as much fire as the relentless gunfire in the film itself. Starring Al Pacino as Cuban refugee-turned-crime-boss Tony Montana, Steven Bauer as his best friend Manny, and Michelle Pfeiffer as an Eighties gangster’s moll, the movie revamped the original 1932 film for a new era of drugs, sex, and graphic violence. Attacked as both a celebration of cocaine-fueled excess and a condemnation of it, the film’s reputation continued to rise over the years. But the real story of its success started nearly a century ago—when Hollywood first fell in love with the American gangster . . .
Hollywood’s infatuation with money, power, and organized crime has captured the public’s imagination and made Scarface one of its most enduring modern myths. From a 1912 gangster film by D.W. Griffith to the 1932 hit Scarface starring Paul Muni, to Brian DePalma’s 1983 shocker, the antihero’s rise and fall exposes the dark side of the American Dream—whether it’s Prohibition Era bootleggers or modern-day drug dealers. When actor Al Pacino got the idea of doing a remake of Scarface after screening the original, a legend was (re)born—and the rest is history.
Filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, untold tales from Old and New Hollywood, and sixteen pages of eye-popping photos, Say Hello to My Little Friend is the ultimate guide to everything Scarface. With guns blazing and chainsaws whirring, movie biz writer Nat Segaloff tears into this pop culture phenomenon with fascinating insights, stunning revelations, and a true fan’s glee. This is a must-have book for movie buffs, crime lovers, and culture vultures everywhere.
