Forgetten Rebel, Ann Dvorak

scarface in 1932 was one of the first film with the primitive perspective to dig into the anti-hero american dream.....perhaps partially spoiled by its moralistic ending, but subtled by its several metaphoric index such as the x sign which stands for toni camonte that is utilized as hommage by martin scorsesse's latest flick "the departed"....and also the cocktail glittering neon logo which says "the world is yours" that symbolizes camonte's greedy ambition to take it all....besides each time scarface tony camonte commits a murder, the sign of x in various forms would appear as some mystic forshadowing, even at camonte's demise. during several scenes, as camonte casts his covetous eye upon his boss' mistress puppy, he frequently utters words like "expensive? huh?" or "this is hot!" or showing off his extravagent leisure robe which is a token of wealth then. the man's concepts of success mainly base on materialistic conquest of interior decoration and daily accessory gadgets or imitating the taste of upper class by attending some refined drama show....but his trynnical inference over his younger playful sister manifests his crude and barbarian side that is the catalysis of his doom. as mentioned earlier, camonte terms his success by the materialistic conquest, so his ultimate success would be the conquest of boss's mistress puppy, he reaches his pinnacle of gangster career as he officially possess puppy who is the symbol of his american dream. camonte embraces puppy while pointing his finger to the cocktail sign "the world is yours" with a conspicuous demeanor.(same as the fitzgerald novel "the great gatsby", gatsby's term of success is to win rich girl daisy's love), then he flops into the lowest when his brutal obessession over his sister emerges upon the surface that is his tragic flaw....except paul muni as the legendary scarface whose character is drawed upon the notorious mobkiller al copone....george raft made his leap of fame by impersonifying camonte's good pal vs top hitman guino. (his trademark would be the mindless toying of a dime.).....the 30s scarface might not be as provocative and thrilling as al pacino's 1983 version but definitely riddled with more reading-into-mind sign language.

"three on a match" is a tragic fable of urbanite incurrences upon three females. the major conspicuous performances are from ann dvorak who plays the nymphmaniac sister of paul muni in "scarface"...that was promoted by joan crawford who introduced her the chance to meet howard hughes then she got the role. dvorak is one of the most underrated and undertreated actresses in cinematic history, used to be frequently casted leading lady in the 30s at warner bro.

dvorak plays a weary housewife who takes her luxurious marital ease for granted, yearning for the thrill and gayety of life...then her considerate and generous lawyer husband arranges a extravagent cruise trip alone to alleviate her dreariness, then she goes astray into degenerated adultery with a sweet-tongued crook on the ship....thus her doom begins.

on the other hand, her other two pals, played by joan bondell and bette davis. bondell is the prodigal playgirl who squanders her adolescence in reform school, conformed to the right track by marrying dvorak's deserted husband, demonstrating great scale of maternality to dvorak's son. bette davis appears almost as oblivion, being characterless as a diligent stenographer and a pleasant friend at her early stage of warner bro. after all, it's not a davis movie but dvorak's.

dvorak is usually typecasted as the rebellious do-wronger who descends into depravity, provided with roles to showcase her flapper burlesque which is also in "g-men" and "scarface"....there's a scene she dances frivolously upon the hotel room desk to a lesser standard. dvorak's part involves the gloomy sequence of decaying, accentuated by her traumatized catastrophe that would be the highlight of dvorak's career.

"three on a match" is inevitably melodramatic as the rot in the dark alley during the depression period. it features cameos of bette davis and humprey bogart who would later be smashing hollywood legends. the major star who exerts herself has been forgotten for good.