List of Scarface characters
This is a list of characters who appeared in the 1932 film Scarface, and its 1983 remake Scarface, as well as the quasi-sequel video game to the 1983 film, Scarface: The World Is Yours.
1932 film[]
Tony Camonte[]
Antonio "Tony" Camonte is main character in Scarface and the novel of the same name, written by Armitage Trail. Portrayed by Paul Muni, Tony is loosely inspired by on Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone.
1983 film and The World Is Yours[]
Tony Montana[]
Antonio "Tony" Montana is the main character in Scarface and the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours, portrayed by Al Pacino in the film and by André Sogliuzzo in the video game. Oliver Stone came up with the name by combining the last name of his then-favorite football player (Joe Montana) and the first name from the main character of the 1932 film version, Tony Camonte, played by Paul Muni.
In the film's ending Tony Montana's mansion was raided by Alex Sosa's (Alejandro Sosa's) gang in retribution for not killing a Bolivian anti-drug journalist with his wife and children, resulting in his death, but in the video game Tony Montana could survive the assault, regain his criminal empire and exact revenge on Sosa.[1][2] In the game and the movie, Tony carries an M16 rifle with an M203 grenade launcher strapped to the barrel.
Alejandro Sosa[]
Alejandro "Alex" Sosa is a Bolivian drug lord. He was portrayed by Paul Shenar. Sosa is called Alex by Tony Montana and Gaspar Gomez. He serves as Tony's chief nemesis. Sosa is portrayed by Paul Shenar in the film and voiced by Robert Davi in the game.[3] He is based on the Bolivian drug trafficker Roberto Suárez Goméz.[4]
Manny Ribera[]
Manolo Ribera (credited as "Manny Ray") is best friends with Tony Montana who rises with him to the top of the cocaine business in Miami during the early 1980s. He was portrayed by Steven Bauer, the only actual Cuban-American in the main cast. Manny is Tony‘s childhood friend and of the many Cubans to arrive to America via the Mariel Boatlift, along with Tony, Angel Fernandez and Chi-Chi. After assisting Tony with the murder of an enemy of Frank Lopez, they are granted green cards, and thus are released from their refugee camp. The four friends began their new life of crime under Lopez's criminal empire. Along the way Angel is brutally killed during a drug deal gone-bad; Manny manages to save Tony's life in the same incident, however. Eventually, Manny falls in love with Tony's sister, but the latter harshly warns him to stay away from her.[5] Tony later finds the two together and kills Manny in a fit of rage, not knowing that he had recently married Gina.
Frank Lopez[]
Frank Lopez is an aging Miami-based drug lord (leading the Lopez Cartel), who asks Tony Montana and Manny Ribera to kill a former political aide to Fidel Castro. Frank Lopez is portrayed by Robert Loggia. At first, Frank is fond of his new men, but is later killed by Tony Montana after he suspects that Frank was responsible for the botched hit on his life.
Chi Chi[]
Chi Chi is one of Tony's best friends and henchmen as he rises to power. He was portrayed by Ángel Salazar.[6]
Hector the Toad[]
Hector, nicknamed The Toad, is a Colombian cocaine dealer and presumably an associate of Omar Suarez. He was portrayed by Al Israel.
Gaspar Gomez[]
Gaspar Gomez is a Mexican drug kingpin partnering with Alejandro Sosa. Gaspar Gomez appears in the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours, but is murdered at the end of the game by Montana along with George Sheffield and Sosa. He was portrayed by Robert Vandenberg in the film, and voice by Cheech Marin in the video game. Gomez is only mentioned by name in the film.
Alfonso Diaz and Edgar Diaz[]
The Diaz Brothers are only mentioned in the film but never seen. Many fans mistake the two assassins that Frank sends to kill Tony as the Diaz brothers, but it is made clear numerous times that not only is this not the case, but that the Diaz brothers in fact run a rival cartel to the Lopez cartel. The scene where Tony informs Frank of the deal he made with Sosa has Frank asking Tony what the Diaz Brothers, along with Nacho Contreras and Gaspar Gomez, will do when the Lopez cartel starts moving that volume of product. After the assassination attempt on Tony, Frank also tries to blame the Diaz Brothers, stating he will get revenge on them for Tony. In one more scene, where Tony and Manny are discussing security after Tony has taken over the Lopez Cartel, Tony reveals that he fears the Diaz brothers may be plotting against him. The final scene where they are mentioned is proof that they remain alive and well many months after the assassination attempt on Tony. After Tony survives Sosa's raid on his island mansion, he seeks revenge on him and also begins trying to get his old businesses back from Gaspar Gomez, Nacho "El Gordo" Contreras, Edgar, and Alfonso themselves. The brothers kill Tony's mother, and send assassins after him in the Babylon Club. Tony kills all but one who reveals the Diaz's had the older lady. In revenge, Tony stages an attack on the Diaz car dealership. Edgar is slain in the back halls of the building. Alfonso is killed in a car chase.
Nacho Contreras[]
Nacho Contreras, nicknamed El Gordo, is a large drug baron in charge of cocaine distribution in Downtown. In the film, Frank Lopez points him out in the Babylon Club to Tony Montana and says he's a real "chazzer", which is a Yiddish word meaning pig. Besides being extremely obese, the insulting term refers to Nacho's greed, which means that "he don't fly straight no more." In the movie he is depicted as the richest man in Miami. In the video game, Nacho Contreras is killed, while attempting to escape Tony by swimming to a boat, but he is shot causing him to bleed and attract a great white shark to attack him.
Gina Montana-Ribera[]
Gina Montana-Ribera is Tony Montana's beloved 20-year-old sister as well as Georgina Montana's daughter. She attends community college and works part-time at a beauty salon. She was portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. In the game, Tony often calls out to Gina that he hopes she is in Heaven, and he can also purchase her cremated remains in an urn, along with the remains of her husband Manny. Gina was treated like a child by Tony. She could never do anything she wanted because Tony would not allow it.
Georgina Montana[]
Georgina Montana was Tony and Gina's mother. She sees Tony as a bad influence on Gina and disapproves of Tony's criminal lifestyle. She was portrayed by Míriam Colón.
Mel Bernstein[]
Mel is a corrupt cop and the Detective of the Miami Police Department. Bernstein was a corrupt cop who offered Tony two choices: pay him a large undisclosed amount of money every month in exchange for coming under the semi-protection of Bernstein's task force, or go to jail for his past crimes. Montana agrees. Later, Bernstein was in a meeting with Frank Lopez after Lopez arranged for Montana to be assassinated at the Babylon Club. Bernstein was against Montana's killing and tried to advise Lopez not to do it, as Montana was a solid earner. At that moment, a wounded and armed Montana confronts Lopez in his office, accompanied by Chi Chi and Manny. Lopez asks Bernstein for help when he realizes they are going to kill him. Bernstein refuses and tells Lopez that "it's your tree, Frank, you're sittin' in it." After Manny kills Lopez on Montana's order, Bernstein remains nonchalant and tells Montana that he tried to talk Lopez out of the hit. Montana realizes that Bernstein is nothing but a corrupt cop and killing him would be of no consequence. He shoots Bernstein in the belly. Bernstein moans, "You can't shoot a cop!" Montana replies, "Who ever said you was one?", then finishes him off after Bernstein curses him. He was portrayed by Harris Yulin.
Angel Fernandez[]
Angel Fernandez was one of Tony's closest friends, besides Chi Chi and Manny. Angel was dismembered by a chainsaw and was killed. He was portrayed by Pepe Serna.
Nick the Pig[]
Nick the Pig was an underling of Tony and was portrayed by Michael P. Moran. Despite the fact that Tony doesn't treat him that well (in fact he openly insults him on a regular basis) and nicknames him "the pig" because of his obesity, Nick stayed loyal to Tony and stood his ground during the final assault on the mansion.
Omar Suarez[]
Omar Suarez was Frank Lopez's right hand man. Omar had ordered Montana and Manolo to kill Emilio Rebenga while at the detention center. After succeeding, Tony and Manny were both offered green cards and jobs in Miami. He was killed by Alejandro Sosa's henchmen by hanging him from a helicopter once Sosa found out that he was an informant. He was portrayed by F. Murray Abraham.
Elvira Hancock[]
Elvira Hancock was formerly Frank Lopez's girlfriend and later became Tony Montana's wife. Tony nicknames her "Elvie". Elvira Hancock came from Baltimore, Maryland. Elvira was portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer.[7]
The Skull[]
The Skull is Alejandro Sosa's professional henchman and chief assassin. The Skull murders Tony by shooting him in the spine with a single shot from his 12-gauge shotgun.[8] He was portrayed by Mexican-American actor Geno Silva.
In Scarface: The World Is Yours, the Skull attempts to assassinate Tony at the beginning of the game's story, but Tony escapes after turning around and killing the assassin.[9]
Alberto the Shadow[]
Alberto, nicknamed The Shadow, is also one of Alejandro Sosa's professional henchmen. Alberto was portrayed by Mark Margolis.
George Sheffield[]
- In the film
In the movie, George Sheffield is Tony's lawyer when he gets arrested by undercover police for laundering money. In a deleted scene, Sheffield is shown being bribed, explaining how he became Tony's lawyer.
- In the game
In the game, after Tony Montana survives the raid on his island mansion, he tracks Sheffield to the Babylon Club. In the middle of the game, Sheffield is possibly bribed by Sosa and betrays Montana. He is murdered by Montana.
The Sandman[]
The Sandman (real name unknown) is an Afro-Latin American drug dealer working in The Islands. In some missions throughout the video game, Montana will have to protect this character. The Sandman is voiced by Steven Bauer, who played Manny Ribera in the Scarface movie. The Sandman also runs his own drug cartel that rivals Sosa's, and allies his cartel with Tony's, as Sosa is also at war with the Sandman as he is with Tony.
Ernie[]
Ernie works security and as a bodyguard for Frank Lopez; after Manny and Tony kill Frank and Mel, Tony offers him a similar job. Working for Tony proves to be a similar experience as working for Frank. In the movie, Ernie was played by Texan actor Luis Arnaldo Santana.[10]
References[]
- ^ Mohamed, Hamza (August 29, 2013). "Why I love … the confident evil of Tony Montana". Theguardian.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ^ Haines, Lester (November 6, 2015). "Scarface's explosive 'Little Friend' goes under the hammer". The Register. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- ^ Kasper, Eric; Kozma, Troy (2015). Machiavelli Goes to the Movies: Understanding The Prince through Television and Film. Lexington Books. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7391-9595-6.
- ^ "El Rey Blanco" [The White King] (in Spanish). Pagina 12. March 10, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
- ^ Kasper, Eric; Kozma, Troy (24 March 2015). Machiavelli Goes to the Movies: Understanding The Prince through Television and Film. Lexington Books. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-7391-9595-6.
- ^ Winkeljohn, Matt (2012). Tales from the Atlanta Falcons Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Falcons Stories Ever Told. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. pp. 96–. ISBN 978-1-61321-216-5.
- ^ Kurtz, Jason (June 4, 2012). "Michelle Pfeiffer on her role in "Scarface": "I was hungry ... I was playing a coke addict and I couldn't eat"". CNN. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
- ^ "The Skull - The Best Style Moments in "Scarface"". Complex. June 5, 2013.
- ^ Stevenson, Damian (2015). Scarface: The Ultimate Guide. Lulu.com. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-329-30523-6.
- ^ https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1CAZYZD_enUS936&sxsrf=ALeKk03xxcEji8GKIJudU1Eu1Olt2kmgZw:1629086434579&q=Arnaldo+Santana&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAOPgE-LSz9U3yEhOrjSrUIKzzY21TLKTrfTTMpNLMvPzEnPiS_Myy1KLilORhJIzEosSk0tSi6wKchIrU1MUkioXsfI7FgHlUvIVghPzShLzEnewMgIAkolc5GUAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiw4fbx07TyAhWJJTQIHdUIDeEQmxMoATApegQIKxAD&biw=1366&bih=617
Further reading[]
- Bogue, Ronald (Winter 1993). "De Palma's Postmodern" Scarface" and the Simulacrum of Class". Criticism. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. 35 (1): 115–129. JSTOR 23113595.
- Hodgson, David S. J.; Mylonas, Eric (2006). Scarface: The World is Yours : Prima Official Game Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 978-0-7615-5050-1.
- Labombarda, Arnaud (2010). Scarface, ou le fantasme du paradis [Scarface, or the fantasy of paradise] (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-296-22424-7.
- McAvennie, Michael (2007). Say Hello to My Little Friend!: The Quotable Scarface (TM). Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-6846-9.
- Pape, Alexander Christian (2010). Drogen in den Filmen "Scarface" und "Maria, llena eres de gracia": Mediale Darstellung, Problemvermittlung und gesellschaftliche Hintergründe [Drugs in the films "Scarface" and "Maria, llena eres de gracia": multimedia presentation, problem mediation and social backgrounds] (in German). GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-640-75514-1.
- Stevenson, Damian (2015). Scarface: The Ultimate Guide. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-329-30523-6.
- Tucker, Ken (2008). Scarface Nation: The Ultimate Gangster Movie and How It Changed America. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4299-9329-6.
- Wilczynski, Stefan (2010). Subtexte in erfolgreichen Spielfilmen – am Beispiel des Films Scarface [Subtexts in successful feature films – using the example of the film Scarface] (in German). GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-640-66386-6.
- Lists of film characters
- Scarface (1983 film)