NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Arrow Blu-ray (April 2024): Arrow have transferred Phil Karlson's The Scarface Mob to Blu-ray. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The image quality is remarkably good - very clean with hardy a speckle, grain, and superb contrast with rich black levels. It is consistent in 1080P. NOTE: The reduced (850 pixels wide) screen captures below can show an odd vertical banding when viewed on some monitors. I don't know why - it's an incredibly rare effect. If you click to see the larger resolution captures this phenomenon is not present. This Blu-ray image is pristine. 

NOTE: We have added 68 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arrow use a DTS-HD Master track (24-bit) in the original English language. The Scarface Mob has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth and score by Wilbur Hatch (who worked in a lot of TV series including Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible) - many will recognize Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin played in the nightclub. It all sounds clean and consistent in the lossless transfer. Arrow offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Arrow Blu-ray offers a brand new video essay by critic David Cairns on the film and the career of noir-cinema craftsman, director, Phil Karlson (Tight Spot, 5 Against the House, Kansas City Confidential, 99 River Street, The Brothers Rico) entitled Gang Busters running over 23-minutes. Arrow also give us another brand new 20-minute video essay - this time with film critic Philip Kemp, on the career of Eliot Ness and his depictions on film, including The Scarface Mob. There is a theatrical trailer and stills gallery of original posters, lobby cards and publicity photos provided by The Scarface Mob and The Untouchables archivist Kelly Lynch. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer Dionisio, six postcard-sized lobby card reproductions, a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dionisio plus a 44-page illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw (author of Historical Noir: The Pocket Essential Guide to Fiction, Film & TV) and liner notes on The Untouchables by Dan Lynch and Kelly Lynch.

Film noir specialist Phil Karlson's The Scarface Mob was originally screened as two-episodes of 1959's Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse television program which ran from 1958-1960. The two part 'pilot' was edited together and released theatrically as a stand-alone feature film in the US three years later. This also happened with Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's founded 'Desilu' produced The Big Train (as Alcatraz Express theatrically) and The Unhired Assassin (The Gun of Zangara theatrically) - both two-part episodes of the crime drama The Untouchables, based on the Eliot Ness memoirs. However, The Scarface Mob was always planned to be shown in Europe as a feature film - which it was in 1959 (see many Euro posters above.) Four days after the series aired, the ABC network offered Desilu $3.6 million to make 32 episodes entitled The Untouchables with the TV corporation and Desilu holding shared interest. It ran from 1959 to 1963. The Scarface Mob has deep-voiced and handsome Robert Stack (Bullfighter and the Lady, The Tarnished Angels, Great Day in the Morning) as Federal investigator and Prohibition agent Eliot Ness - the 'incorruptible crime fighter' battling powerful and vicious crime lord Al Capone (played here by Neville Brand.) Karlson was a versatile director moving from westerns, war films, plenty of noir gems (Tight Spot, 5 Against the House, Kansas City Confidential, 99 River Street, The Brothers Rico) and doing an Alistair MacLean 'spy' effort, an Elvis Presley vehicle (Kid Galahad), adventures, bio-pics, two Matt Helm's - The Silencers and The Wrecking Crew, and the 1972 horror movie, Ben. He was the first choice to direct the initial James Bond film Dr. No. Phil Karlson concluded his directing career with popular Walking Tall, and Framed (both with Joe Don Baker.) The Scarface Mob is part of the primordial cinematic soup of Brian De Palma's memorable The Untouchables. Fascinating. The Arrow Blu-ray package has the noir-leaning film looking impeccable, two new video essays, a reversible sleeve, lobby card reproductions, a double-sided fold-out poster and an illustrated booklet. Certainly recommended.

Gary Tooze