If a Cuban refugee to America doesn’t know a thing or two about Cuban Cigars, then who does? Bad tempered, dangerous gangster, and an avid aficionado, Al Pacino’s portrayal of infamous Tony Montana in 1983’s Scarface has been adored by both public and critics, being a classic in its genre for over four decades. A phenomenon of the silver screen, in today’s post we dive into the latest Scarface film, taking a closer look at its creation, pop culture influences, and strong connection with the world of Cuban sticks.
THE NOVEL – Following Hollywood’s successful recipe, Scarface was based on the American crime novel Scarface written by Armitage Trail in 1929. The novel was inspired by real-life gangster Al Capone who was widely known by his nickname “Scarface”. Nevertheless, other than using Al Capone as a major influence, the film adaptations of Trail’s novel differ massively from the original book.
Left: Print Poster of Scarface back in 1932, Right: Scene from 1932's Scarface starring Paul Muni, George Raft, and Boris Karloff
“SCARFACE NARRATES THE STORY OF A CUBAN REFUGEE”
FIRST FILM ADAPTATION – Not many are aware that Al Pacino’s Tony Montana wasn’t created out of thin air. The character was based on Hawks and Rosson’s first on-screen adaptation of Trail’s novel. The first Scarface film, also known as The Shame of a Nation, was released in 1932, starring Paul Muni as the notorious Antonio “Tony” Camonte, joined by other big Hollywood stars of that era, like Anna Dvorak, Karen Morley, and Boris Karloff. Overall, 1932’s Scarface was based on the rise and fall of Al Capone with the film characters remaining greatly similar to the ones introduced by the novel.
AL PACINO’S SCARFACE – Over half a century after the release of Scarface, the film got a remake and a major modernization. Starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, Scarface was directed by Brian De Palma in 1983 while, soon after its release, the film became a global sensation - adored by both audience and film critics worldwide. Al Pacino’s Scarface narrates the story of a Cuban refugee who arrives in Miami and rises as a powerful drug king from nothing. However, there’s more to the film than just Tony’s transformation into a powerful drug lord.
TONY MONTANA – “Say hello to my little friend”. Whether you are a fan of the film or not, we are pretty sure that you are aware of this popular line used by Tony Montana. One thing’s for sure, Al Pacino’s Scarface was certainly not playing by the book. In particular, Tony works his way up in the Miami underworld one filthy job at a time. Starting from committing murders to sealing drug deals, Scarface reaches slowly yet efficiently the top of Miami’s mob. Regardless of its intense violence scenes, there’s more to Scarface than great acting and plot. The film touches on important political and sociological issues that define our society to this day, addressing phenomena like the Cuban immigration and drug trafficking.
Left: Al Pacino posing as Tony Montana while smoking a cigar, Right: Al Pacino as Tony Montana in 1983's Scarface
“TONY’S MILITARY PAST AND HIS COHIBA STICKS”
CUBAN CIGARS - Amongst the character’s many aspects, Tony was also portrayed as an avid Cuban Cigars Online smoker. Al Pacino's Scarface puffs cigars not once or twice, but multiple times throughout the film. What cigars he smoked you may ask? Well, that’s not a difficult question to answer. As a Cuban refugee in America, there’s no room for doubt that Tony would have his hands on some of the Best Cuban Cigars around. Of course, Scarface had all the means to get a hold of some of the best cigars to come from premium Cuban cigar brand, like Montecristo, Ramon Allones, or Partagas Cigars, however, there’s a very interesting theory behind Tony’s smokes that ultimately points at one specific brand; Cohiba. Although not much is known about Tony’s past, taking into consideration the fact that he served as a soldier in the Cuban army sometime in the 1970s, there’s a good chance that Tony was amongst the lucky ones to exclusively smoke Cohiba Cigars since the brand was originally available only for the Cuban government, army, and communist party officials.
Despite your feeling about the film, you cannot deny that Tony seemed to have an excellent taste in smokes. Known as one of the most successful Habano brands on the market, you can never go wrong with a Cohiba stick. Short yet mighty in flavours, the Cohiba Exquisitos Cigar is totally handmade – totalmente a mano - using tobacco leaves sourced from the premium Vuelta Abajo region. Exquisitos makes the perfect morning smoke due to its slick and slender format. Coming in a beautiful Secretos vitola that measures at 110 mm long by a ring gauge of 40, Secretos is packing heaps of flavour in a relatively short smoke. That's not all though. We saved the best for last. The Cohiba Talisman Edicion Limitada 2017 Cigar is one of the most sought after puros on the market. Although Talisman has been aged for two years, the seco and ligero leaves used for this smoke have undergone an additional eighteen months’ fermentation, adding to the already rich flavours of these Limited Edition sticks.
Scarface’s Tony Montana has been serving as a pop culture influence for many decades. From his rise to the Miami underworld up until his assassination, Al Pacino’s character was portrayed as an avid aficionado, having a weak spot for great Cuban Cigars for Sale Online. Check out more from our Cuban Cigar Blog and find out everything there is to know about the cigar industry.