Though Brian De Palma's Scarface followed Howard Hawks' version by more than 50 years, both films used organized crime to comment on drastic changes in American society. In 1976, Mister Scarface used organized crime as a conduit for a different sort of social observation, by warning of the dangers that ensue when horrifically scarred crook Jack Palance is allowed to terrorize poorly dubbed Italians. Harry Baer co-stars as his nemesis, a tough young Italian hood first seen witnessing his father's brutal slow-motion murder at the hands of a sneering Palance. Baer eventually recovers enough to become a collector for a brutal mob kingpin, a job he approaches with a hands-on attitude that involves resorting to violence at every conceivable opportunity. But Baer's wit is as formidable as his punishing fists, as a defeated bad guy learns when he finds himself on the receiving end of the quip, "You might be Marquis De Sade, but I don't swing like that." Baer's sassiness gets him into trouble, however, when he again encounters Palance. Upon spying the crime boss at a casino, Baer makes inquiries with an ascot-sporting, linguistically challenged chum, who responds, "That'sa Scarface. He'sa bad news. I can tell you justa looking at him makesa my asshole twitch." That asshole-twitching soon proves prescient, when Palance steals $3 million from Baer's boss. Though Baer helpfully volunteers to get the money back, his colleagues are less than supportive. "I spit all over you. You won't even get through the front door," sneers a particularly pessimistic coworker. Proving his naysayer wrong, Baer steals back the $3 million without a hitch, but in the process sets off a brutal battle of wills involving bloodshed and more atrocious dubbing, after which he drives his dune buggy into a brighter, Palance-free future.
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