Geno Silva in Scarface (1983)
Vitals
Geno Silva as “The Skull”, stealthy cartel killer
Miami, Spring 1983
Film: Scarface
Release Date: December 9, 1983
Director: Brian De Palma
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
A silent but significant role in Scarface was the otherwise unnamed cartel assassin “The Skull” portrayed by actor Geno Silva, who died five years ago today on May 9, 2020.
Born in New Mexico in 1948, Silva’s filmography across movies and TV began with Thomasine & Bushrod (1974), followed by appearances in 1941 (1979), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Amistad (1997), The Lost World (1997), Mulholland Drive (2001), and TV shows like The A-Team, Miami Vice, and Walker, Texas Ranger.
In Brian De Palma’s 1983 remake of Scarface, Silva’s taciturn triggerman that appears sooner than audiences may remember, first spotted when Tony Montana (Al Pacino) meets with Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar) at his Bolivian estate.
The Skull’s first appearance is hardly notable, blending in among Sosa’s silent bodyguards, unless you’re already familiar with his role in the film’s final act.
The Skull stands alert in the periphery, wearing a tan three-piece suit with the same wraparound sunglasses he would later wear when paying a fateful visit to Tony’s Miami mansion after his business relationship with Sosa has irreparably eroded.
What’d He Wear?
Leaving his professional business suits back in Bolivia, the Skull dresses tactically when leading Sosa’s gunmen in their assault on Tony Montana’s compound, blending military-like olive drab gear with his trademark sunglasses and a black ribbed turtleneck—a stealthy favorite of screen spies from Roger Moore’s debut as James Bond to Sterling Archer’s “tactile-neck”.
Over his turtleneck, the Skull wears a hip-length nylon blouson jacket in a military-informed shade of olive-green. (While the “swish” of nylon may be a little loud for a true tactical advantage, it doesn’t seem to matter when your coked-out target is already performing his own symphony of automatic 5.56mm gunfire and the occasional 40mm grenade.) The cut, details, and styling are characteristic of ’80s windbreakers, with a self-strip sewn across the chest, double-layered standing collar, and an elasticized waistband. Bellows pockets over the hips provide flexible storage, presumably for the Skull to keep extra 12-gauge shells he can easily access to reload his shotgun. The jacket closes with a straight-zip front, covered by a short storm fly that snaps closed at the top and bottom. The set-in sleeves are finished with single-snap cuffs.
Silent but deadly.
The Skull’s flat-front trousers are a slightly lighter shade of olive that offers a subtle contrast against the jacket, and they appear to be made from a chino-cloth cotton rather than the cotton sateen or ripstop fabric blends used for fatigue pants. The trousers have a fitted waistband, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms that break over the tops of his brown sueded leather derby-laced ankle boots.
Corey Hart may have been inspired by the Skull when he recorded “Sunglasses at Night” the year after Scarface was released, as not only does Silva’s character wear sunglasses throughout the entirety of the nighttime raid, they don’t seem to impede his tactical abilities at all.
The contoured rectangular lenses and wraparound design of his black-framed sunglasses suggest the Ray-Ban Balorama, a sleek model introduced in 1967 and favored on screen by Clint Eastwood’s fellow armed badass “Dirty Harry” Callahan.
He also wears dark-brown leather gloves with straps that slide through silver-toned buckles, adjusting the fit over each wrist.
The Gun
While many of Sosa’s gunmen storm Tony’s mansion with submachine guns and automatic battle rifles, the Skull’s stealth and precision require no more intense firepower than a cut-down double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun that he uses to great effect on behalf of his boss.
Hammerless side-by-side shotguns are generally identical in appearance, but—thanks to a listing on The Golden Closet—we know that Geno Silva’s screen-used shotgun was made by the lower-end Spanish brand Zabala Hermanos, S.A. with serial number #192739, rented for the production by Ellis Mercantile. The shotgun was modified for maneuverability and concealment with a sawed-off stock and barrels.
You can read more about the shotgun and the rest of Scarface‘s on-screen weaponry at IMFDB.
How to Get the Look
Geno Silva in Scarface (1983)
The Skull’s killer style blends ’80s-informed casual jacket and trousers in shades of army green with a sleek black “tactile-neck” and wraparound shades that harmonize to communicate to audiences (rather than the victims who never see him) that he is a man to be taken seriously.
- Olive-green nylon windbreaker with standing collar, straight-zip/fly front, bellows hip pockets, and set-in sleeves with snap-fastened cuffs
- Black ribbed turtleneck
- Light-olive trousers with fitted waistband, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Brown suede derby-laced ankle boots
- Black-framed wraparound sunglasses
- Dark-brown leather gloves with wrist straps
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
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