In Richard Wilson's "Al Capone", there is a commodore who arrives to Capone's mansion in Florida. He seems to be a "distinguished" citizen, probably a member of the local aristocracy; and he is glad to be associated with Capone. The character —introduced by scriptwriters Henry F. Greenberg and Marvin Wald— is not paid too much attention, but he is a key figure if one tries to make a deeper analysis of the economy of any society or country. In the end, Greenberg and Wald opt for moralizing, and warn about an economic pattern Capone supposedly introduced in American society, which is still in effect. Nothing is said about those hidden "commodores" who use people as ruthless as Capone —in favor of or opposed to the law—, persons who are only "wild cards", jokers in a game the "commodores" of the world play from the top, where ordinary people seldom see them. So, "Al Capone" results an interesting and entertaining piece of filmmaking, made efficiently by Wilson with top professionals (cinematographer Lucien Ballard, art director Hilyard Brown, composer David Raksin, and an impressive cast), and a script that tries to be as faithful as possible to facts more or less known by the audience, but superficial in its study of the man, and the main variables that influenced his life, from a bio-psycho-social perspective. It is in the same vein as Howard Hawks' "Scarface", although, as declared by Hawks, he was not trying to make a biography of Capone, but rather show how the world of gangsters resembled the behavior and logic of children's play.
