The Godfather is a 1972 American
crime film directed by
Francis Ford Coppola and produced by
Albert S. Ruddy from a screenplay by
Mario Puzo and Coppola. Based on Puzo's 1969
novel of the same name, the film stars
Marlon Brando and
Al Pacino as the leaders of a powerful New York crime family. The story, spanning the years 1945 to 1955, centers on the ascension of
Michael Corleone (Pacino) from reluctant family outsider to ruthless
Mafia boss while also chronicling the
Corleone family under the patriarch
Vito Corleone (Brando).
The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the
greatest films in world cinema[4][unreliable source?] – and as one of the most influential, especially in the
gangster genre.
[citation needed] Now ranked as the
second greatest film in American cinema (behind
Citizen Kane) by the
American Film Institute,
[5] it was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry in 1990.
[6] The film's success spawned two sequels:
The Godfather Part II in 1974, and
The Godfather Part III in 1990.
The film was for a time the
highest grossing picture ever made, and remains
the box office leader for 1972. It won three
Oscars that year: for
Best Picture, for
Best Actor (Brando) and in the category
Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Coppola. Its nominations in seven other categories included Pacino,
James Caan and
Robert Duvall for
Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for
Best Director.
Plot
On the day of his only daughter's wedding,
Vito Corleone (
Marlon Brando) hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the
Don of his New York crime family. Vito's youngest son
Michael (
Al Pacino), on military leave, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams (
Diane Keaton), to his family at the sprawling reception. Vito's godson
Johnny Fontane (
Al Martino), a popular singer, pleads for help securing a coveted movie role, so Vito dispatches his
consigliere Tom Hagen (
Robert Duvall) to the abrasive studio head,
Jack Woltz (
John Marley), to secure the casting. Woltz is unmoved until the morning he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized
stud horse.
Shortly before Christmas 1945, drug baron
Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo (
Al Lettieri),
backed by the Tattaglia family, asks Vito for investment and protection
through his political connections, but Vito declines and voices his
disapproval of drug dealers. Instead, he sends his enforcer,
Luca Brasi (
Lenny Montana) to spy on them, but the Corleone family receives a fish in Brasi's vest confirming he "
sleeps with the fishes". Sollozzo's assassination attempt on Vito lands Vito in the hospital, so eldest son,
Sonny (
James Caan),
takes command. Sollozzo kidnaps Hagen to pressure Sonny to accept his
deal. Michael thwarts a second assassination attempt on his father at
the hospital, but is accosted by corrupt police Captain McCluskey (
Sterling Hayden), who breaks his jaw.
Sonny retaliates by having Bruno, Tattaglia's son, killed. Michael
comes up with a plan to hit Sollozzo and McCluskey that his brother
approves over Hagen's objections. On the pretext of settling the
dispute, Michael lures the pair to a restaurant, retrieves a planted
handgun and murders them. Despite a clamp down from the authorities, the
Five Families erupt in open warfare and the brothers fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in
Sicily, and
Fredo (
John Cazale) is sheltered by associate
Moe Greene (
Alex Rocco) in
Las Vegas. Sonny attacks his brother-in-law
Carlo on the street for
abusing his sister
Connie (
Talia Shire).
When it happens again, Sonny speeds for her home but assassins ambush
him at a highway toll booth and riddle him with machine gun fire.
Vito is saddened to learn that, despite his hopes, Michael has become
involved in the family business. However, Michael has fallen in love
with
Apollonia Vitelli (
Simonetta Stefanelli) and married her in Sicily. His peace is shattered when a car bomb intended for him takes the life of his new wife.
To end the feuds, Vito meets with the heads of the Five Families,
withdrawing his opposition to the Tattaglias' heroin business and
swearing to forego revenge for Sonny's murder. He deduces that the
Tattaglias were under orders of the now dominant Don
Emilio Barzini (
Richard Conte).
With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home and over a year later
marries Kay. Seeing his father at the end of his career and his
surviving brother too weak, Michael takes the reins of the family and
promises his wife to make it
legitimate within five years.
Biding his time, Michael allows rival families to pressure Corleone enterprises and plans to move family operations to
Nevada,
while delegating New York operations to members who stay behind.
Michael also replaces Hagen with his father as his consigliere; Vito
explains to an upset Hagen that they have long range plans for him and
the family. Later, Michael travels to Las Vegas, intending to buy out
Greene's stake in the family's casinos. Instead, Greene derides the
Corleones as a fading power, and Michael's anger is fueled when Fredo
falls under Greene's sway.
Vito collapses and dies in his garden in 1955 while playing with Michael’s son
Anthony. At the funeral, Salvatore Tessio (
Abe Vigoda)
arranges a meeting between Michael and Don Barzini, signalling his
treachery as Vito had warned. The meeting is set for the same day as the
christening of Connie and Carlo's son, to whom Michael will stand as
godfather. As the christening proceeds, on Michael's orders, Corleone
assassins murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is told
that Michael is aware of his betrayal and taken off to his death. After
Carlo is questioned by Michael on his involvement in setting up Sonny's
murder and confesses he was contacted by Barzini, he is escorted to a
car whereupon Clemenza kills him with a
garrotte.
Michael is confronted by Connie, who accuses him of having her husband
killed. He denies killing Carlo when questioned by Kay, an answer she
accepts. As Kay watches warily, Michael receives his capos, who address
him as the new Don Corleone.
Cast
- Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, formerly known as Vito Andolini, who is the Don (the "boss") of the Corleone family. He is a native Sicilian
married to Carmela Corleone. Vito is the father of Santino (Sonny),
Federico (Fredo), Michele (Michael) and Constanzia (Connie).
- Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the Don's youngest son, recently returned from World War II.
The only college-educated member of the family, Michael initially wants
nothing to do with the "family business". He is the main protagonist of the story and his evolution from doe-eyed outsider to ruthless boss is the key plotline of the film.
- James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Don Corleone's hot-headed eldest son. As underboss, he is being groomed to succeed his father as head of the Corleone family.
- Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is also an old friend of Vito Corleone and Salvatore Tessio.
- Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's informally adopted son, he is the family lawyer and consigliere (counselor). Unlike the Corleones, he is of German-Irish descent, not Sicilian.
- Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone, Michael's non-Italian girlfriend and, ultimately, his second wife and the mother of his children.
- John Cazale as Fredo Corleone,
the middle son of the Corleone family. Deeply insecure and not very
bright, he is considered the weakest of the Corleone brothers.
- Talia Shire as Constanzia "Connie" Corleone, the youngest child and only daughter of the Corleone family. She marries Carlo Rizzi at the beginning of the film.
- Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, a caporegime for the family. He is also an old friend of Vito Corleone and Peter Clemenza.
- Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, a heroin dealer
associated with the Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone to protect
the Tattaglia family's heroin business through his political
connections.
- Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi, Connie's husband. He becomes an associate of the Corleone family, and ultimately betrays Sonny to the Barzini family.
- Sterling Hayden as Captain McCluskey, a corrupt police captain on Sollozzo's payroll.
- Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, a loyal enforcer utilized by Vito Corleone.
- Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini, Don of the Barzini family.
- Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, a world-famous popular singer and godson of Vito, loosely based on Frank Sinatra.
- John Marley as Jack Woltz, a powerful Hollywood producer who is implied to be a pedophile.
- Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, a longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel, based on Bugsy Siegel.
- Morgana King as Carmela Corleone, Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie, and adoptive mother to Tom Hagen.
- Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, an old friend of Vito Corleone, who shelters Michael during his exile in Sicily.
- Johnny Martino as Paulie Gatto, a soldier under Peter Clemenza and Vito's driver.
- Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia, Don of the Tattaglia family.
- Tony Giorgio as Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss. Sonny Corleone has him assassinated in retaliation for the shooting of Vito Corleone.
- Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, a young girl Michael meets and marries while in Sicily.
- Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi, Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit.
- Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, a soldier under Clemenza who eventually becomes a caporegime in the Corleone family.
- Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, a soldier in the Corleone family.
- Richard Bright as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's personal bodyguard who eventually becomes a caporegime.
- Julie Gregg as Sandra Corleone, the wife and, later, widow of Sonny.
- Sofia Coppola as Michael Francis Rizzi, godchild of Michael Corleone.
Production
Coppola and Paramount
Coppola was not
Paramount Pictures' first choice to direct. Italian director
Sergio Leone was offered the job first, but he declined in order to direct his own gangster opus,
Once Upon a Time in America, which focused on Jewish-American gangsters.
[7] Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer and made
What's Up, Doc? instead. According to
Robert Evans,
head of Paramount at the time, Coppola also did not initially want to
direct the film because he feared it would glorify the Mafia and
violence, and thus reflect poorly on his
Sicilian
and Italian heritage; on the other hand, Evans specifically wanted an
Italian-American to direct the film because his research had shown that
previous films about the Mafia that were directed by non-Italians had
fared dismally at the box office, and he wanted to, in his own words,
"smell the spaghetti".
[8] When Coppola hit upon the idea of making it a metaphor for American capitalism, however, he eagerly agreed to take the helm.
[9] At the time, Coppola had directed five feature films, the most notable of which was the adaptation of the stage musical
Finian's Rainbow – although he had also received an Academy Award for co-writing
Patton in 1970.
[10] Coppola was in debt to
Warner Bros. for $400,000 following budget overruns on
George Lucas's
THX 1138, which Coppola had produced, and he took
The Godfather on Lucas's advice.
[11] Years later, he said that Paramount chose him because he was a young director, turning 31 just a month after shooting began.
[12]
There was intense friction between Coppola and Paramount, and several
times Coppola was almost replaced. As early as the first week, Coppola
was nearly fired when Pacino was badly injured, delaying production.
Paramount maintains that its skepticism was due to a rocky start to
production, though Coppola believes that the first week went extremely
well. The studio thought that Coppola failed to stay on schedule,
frequently made production and casting errors, and insisted on
unnecessary expenses, and two producers unsuccessfully tried to convince
another filmmaker to take Coppola's place. The producers scapegoated
the other filmmaker when their attempt to fire Coppola became known.
Because the producers told him that the other filmmaker had attempted a
coup, Coppola says he was shadowed by a replacement director, who was
ready to take over if Coppola was fired. Despite such intense pressure,
he managed to defend his decisions and avoid being replaced.
[12] Coppola would later recollect:
[13]
The Godfather was a very unappreciated movie when we were
making it. They were very unhappy with it. They didn't like the cast.
They didn't like the way I was shooting it. I was always on the verge of
getting fired. So it was an extremely nightmarish experience. I had two
little kids, and the third one was born during that. We lived in a
little apartment, and I was basically frightened that they didn't like
it. They had as much as said that, so when it was all over I wasn't at
all confident that it was going to be successful, and that I'd ever get
another job.
Paramount was in financial trouble at the time of production and was
desperate for a "big hit" to boost business, hence the pressure Coppola
faced during filming. They wanted
The Godfather to appeal to a
wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "violence coach" to make the
film more exciting. Coppola added a few more violent scenes to keep the
studio happy. The scene in which Connie smashed kitchen dishes after
finding out Carlo was cheating was added for this reason.
[12]
The film was originally budgeted for $2 million, and was scripted as a
modern adaptation. However, when Coppola got his hands on the script,
he was adamant that it be set in the same time period as the book, from
1945 to 1955. This required a large number of
second unit shots, some of which embarrassed Coppola at the time.
[12]
Screenwriter
Robert Towne did uncredited work on the script, in particular the Pacino-Brando tomato garden scene.
[14]
Casting
Coppola's casting choices were unpopular with studio executives at Paramount Pictures, particularly
Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone. Coppola's first two choices for the role were both Brando and
Laurence Olivier,
but Olivier's agent refused the role, saying, "Lord Olivier is not
taking any jobs. He's very sick. He's gonna die soon and he's not
interested" (Olivier lived 18 years after the refusal). Paramount, which
wanted
Ernest Borgnine,
originally refused to allow Coppola to cast Brando in the role, citing
difficulties Brando had on recent film sets. One studio executive
proposed
Danny Thomas
for the role citing the fact that Don Corleone was a strong "family
man. " At one point, Coppola was told by Paramount president
Charles Bludhorn
that "Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture". After
pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if
he appeared in the film for much less salary than his previous films,
perform a screen-test, and put up a bond saying that he would not cause a
delay in the production (as he had done on previous film sets).
[15]
Coppola chose Brando over Borgnine on the basis of his screen test,
which also won over the Paramount leadership. Bludhorn in particular was
captivated by Brando's screen test; when he saw it, he exclaimed, "What
are we watching? Who is this old guinea?" Brando later won an
Academy Award for his portrayal, which he refused to accept in order to call attention to harmful Hollywood stereotypes of
Native Americans.
[16][17]
The studio originally wanted
Robert Redford or
Ryan O'Neal to play
Michael Corleone, but Coppola wanted an unknown who looked like an Italian-American, whom he found in
Al Pacino.
[12]
Pacino was not well known at the time, having appeared in only two
minor films, and the studio did not consider him right for the part,
[15] in part because of his height.
Jack Nicholson,
Dustin Hoffman,
Warren Beatty,
Martin Sheen, and
James Caan also auditioned.
[15] At one point, Caan was the first choice to play Michael, while
Carmine Caridi
was signed as elder brother Sonny. Pacino was given the role only after
Coppola threatened to quit the production; Caan stated that Coppola
envisioned Michael to be the Sicilian-looking one and Sonny was the
Americanized version. The studio agreed to Pacino on the condition that
Caan was cast as Sonny instead of Caridi, despite the former's Jewish
heritage and the latter closely matching the character in the novel (a
six-foot-four, black-haired Italian-American bull). Coppola and Puzo
would subsequently create a role for Caridi in the sequels.
[18]
Bruce Dern,
Paul Newman, and
Steve McQueen were considered for the role of
Tom Hagen that eventually went to
Robert Duvall.
Sylvester Stallone auditioned for Carlo Rizzi and Paulie Gatto,
Anthony Perkins for Sonny, and
Mia Farrow auditioned for Kay.
William Devane was seen for the role of Moe Greene.
Mario Adorf was approached for a role as well. A then-unknown
Robert De Niro auditioned for the roles of Michael, Sonny, Carlo, and Paulie. He was cast as Paulie, but Coppola arranged a "trade" with
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to get Al Pacino from that film. De Niro later played the young Vito Corleone in
Part II, winning an
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the role.
To some extent, the film was a family affair for Francis Ford Coppola.
Carmine Coppola,
his father, who had a distinguished career as a composer, conductor and
arranger, wrote additional music for the film and appeared in a bit
part as a piano player, and Carmine's wife, Italia Coppola, was an
extra. The director's sister,
Talia Shire, was cast as
Connie Corleone, and his infant daughter,
Sofia, played Connie's and Carlo's newborn son, Michael Francis Rizzi, in the climactic baptism scene near the movie's end.
[19]
Coppola also cast his sons as Tom Hagen's sons, Frank and Andrew. They
are seen in the Sonny-Carlo street fight scene and behind Pacino and
Duvall during the funeral scene.
Filming
Most of the principal photography took place from March 29, 1971 to
August 6, 1971, although a scene with Pacino and Keaton was shot in the
autumn. There were a total of 77 days of shooting, fewer than the 83 for
which the production had budgeted.
The opening shot is a long, slow pullback, starting with a close-up
of Bonasera, who is petitioning Don Corleone, and ending with the
Godfather, seen from behind, framing the picture. This move, which lasts
for about three minutes, was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens
designed by Tony Karp.
[20]
The scene of Michael driving with McCluskey and Sollozzo avoided the
cost of back-projection. Instead, technicians moved lights behind the
car to create the illusion.
The cat in the opening scene used to hang around the studio, and was
simply dropped in Brando's lap at the last minute by the director.
[21][22]
One of the movie's most shocking moments involved the real severed head of a horse.
Animal rights
groups protested the inclusion of the scene. Coppola later stated that
the horse's head was delivered to him from a dog food company; a horse
had not been killed specifically for the movie.
[12][15]
In the novel, Jack Woltz, the movie producer whose horse's head is put in his bed, is also shown to be a
pedophile
as Tom Hagen sees a young girl (presumably one of Woltz's child stars)
crying while walking out of Woltz's room. This scene was cut from the
theatrical release but can be found on the DVD (though Woltz can still
briefly be seen kissing the girl on the cheek in his studio in the
film).
The shooting of Moe Greene through the eye was inspired by the death of gangster
Bugsy Siegel. To achieve the effect, actor
Alex Rocco's glasses had two tubes hidden in their frames. One had fake blood in it, and the other had a
BB
and compressed air. When the gun was shot, the compressed air shot the
BB through the glasses, shattering them from the inside. The other tube
then released the fake blood.
The equally startling scene of McCluskey's shooting was accomplished
by building a fake forehead on top of actor Sterling Hayden. A gap was
cut in the center, filled with fake blood, and capped off with a plug of
prosthetic flesh. The plug was quickly yanked out with monofilament
fishing line, making a bloody hole suddenly appear in Hayden's head.
The most complicated shooting was the death of Sonny Corleone at the toll plaza. Inspired by the final scene in
Bonnie and Clyde, James Caan's suit was rigged with 127 squibs of fake blood that exploded in a simulation of machine-gun hits.
Locations
Locations
[23] around New York City were used for the film, including the then-closed flagship store of
Best & Company on
Fifth Avenue,
which was dressed up and used for the scene in which Pacino and Keaton
are Christmas shopping. At least one location in Los Angeles was used
also (for the exterior of Woltz's mansion), for which neither
Robert Duvall nor
John Marley
were available; in some shots, it is possible to see that extras are
standing in for the two actors. A scene with Pacino and Keaton was
filmed in the town of
Ross, California. The Sicilian towns of
Savoca and
Forza d'Agrò outside of Taormina were also used for exterior locations. Interiors were shot at
Filmways Studio in New York.
A side entrance to
Bellevue Hospital was used for Michael's confrontation with police Captain McCluskey.
[24]
As of 2007, the steps and gate to the hospital were still there but
victim to neglect. The hospital interiors, when Michael visits his
father there, were filmed at the
New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on
14th Street, in Manhattan, New York City.
The scene in which Don Barzini is assassinated was filmed on the steps of the
New York State Supreme Court building on
Foley Square in Manhattan, New York City.
[25]
The wedding scene at the Corleone family compound was shot at 110 Longfellow Avenue in the Todt Hill section of
Staten Island.
The numerous Tudor homes on the block gave the impression that they
were part of the same "compound. " Paramount built a Plexiglas "stone
wall" which traversed the street – the same wall where Santino smashed
the camera. Many of the extras in the wedding scene were local
Italian-Americans who were asked by Coppola to drink homemade wine,
enjoy the traditional Italian food, and participate in the scene as
though it were an actual wedding. Food was catered by "Demyan's Hofbrau"
a restaurant on Van Duzer Street which is no longer in existence. The
wedding cake was prepared by a bakery on Port Richmond Avenue.
Two churches were used to film the baptism scene. The interior shots were filmed at
Old St. Patrick's in New York. For the baptism,
Bach's
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 was used, as were other Bach works for the
pipe organ. The exterior scenes following the baptism were filmed at The Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne in the
Pleasant Plains
section of Staten Island. In 1973 much of the church was destroyed in a
fire. Only the façade and steeple of the original church remained, and
were later incorporated into a new structure.
The funeral scene was filmed at
Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens.
[26] The toll booth scene was filmed at the then construction site of
Nassau Coliseum in
Uniondale, New York on
Long Island. It also utilized the former
Mitchel Field, and the roadway used was once a runway.
Music
The film's famous score was composed by
Nino Rota. Francis Coppola's father
Carmine Coppola contributed to the music performed in the film's wedding scene.
[27] Later, his son would call on him to compose additional music for the score of
The Godfather Part II (1974) and most of the score for
The Godfather Part III (1990).
Reception
Box office performance
The Godfather was a
huge financial success, breaking many box office records to become the
highest grossing film of 1972. It earned at least $75 million in
theatrical rentals in North America, displacing
Gone with the Wind, which had earned $72.9 million, becoming the
highest grossing film of all time,
[28] until the debut of
Jaws in 1975.
[29] It was also the first film in history to reach $100 million in North America,
[28] and according to an article in
The Sunday Telegraph, the worldwide box office for the film was $114 million by August 1972.
[28] Profits were so high for
The Godfather that earnings for
Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., which owned
Paramount Pictures, jumped from seventy-seven cents per share to three dollars and thirty cents a share for the year, according to a
Los Angeles Times article, dated December 13, 1972.
[28]
The film ultimately grossed nearly $135 million at the domestic box
office and $133 million in international markets, bringing its worldwide
earnings to $268,500,000.
[3]
Critical response
Since its release,
The Godfather has received universal critical acclaim.
[30] Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 100% of 74 critics gave the film a positive review, with
an average score of 9.1/10. The website's critical consensus for the
film was "
The Godfather gets everything right; not only did the
movie transcend expectations, it established new benchmarks for American
cinema, " and the film was lauded as "one of Hollywood's greatest
critical and commercial successes".
[31] Metacritic, another
review aggregator,
assigned the film a perfect weighted average score of 100 (out of 100)
based on 14 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "universal
acclaim".
[30]
The Godfather is now greatly respected among international critics and the public and is routinely listed as one of the
greatest films ever made.
[4] It was voted greatest film of all time by
Entertainment Weekly,
[32] and was voted at No. 1 on
Empire magazine's list of
The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time in November 2008.
[33] The Godfather was ranked as the third greatest American film in the
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies. It is now ranked as the second greatest film in American cinematic history – behind
Citizen Kane – in the
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) by the
American Film Institute.
[5] In the 2002
Sight & Sound poll of international critics,
The Godfather (along with
The Godfather Part II) was ranked as the fourth best film of all time.
[34] Both
The Godfather and
The Godfather Part II were selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry in 1990 and 1993.
The
soundtrack's main
theme by
Nino Rota was also critically acclaimed; the main theme ("
Speak Softly Love") is well-known and widely used (see
Score Controversy for more information).
Director
Stanley Kubrick believed that
The Godfather was possibly the greatest movie ever made, and had without question the best cast.
[35]
Previous
Mafia movies had looked at the gangs from the perspective of an outraged outsider.
[36] In contrast,
The Godfather presents the gangster's perspective of the Mafia as a response to corrupt society.
[36]
Although the Corleone family is presented as immensely rich and
powerful, no scenes depict prostitution, gambling, loan sharking or
other forms of racketeering.
[37]
Some critics argue that the setting of a criminal counterculture allows
for unapologetic gender stereotyping, and is an important part of the
film's appeal ("You can act like a man!", Don Vito tells a weepy Johnny
Fontane).
[38]
Real-life gangsters responded enthusiastically to the film, with many
of them feeling it was a portrayal of how they were supposed to act.
[39] Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the former Underboss in the
Gambino crime family,
[40]
stated: "I left the movie stunned... I mean I floated out of the
theater. Maybe it was fiction, but for me, then, that was our life. It
was incredible. I remember talking to a multitude of guys,
made guys, who felt exactly the same way. " According to
Anthony Fiato after seeing the film,
Patriarca crime family members Paulie Intiso and Nicky Giso altered their speech patterns closer to that of Vito Corleone's.
[41]
Intiso would frequently swear and use poor grammar; but after the movie
came out, he started to articulate and philosophize more.
[41]
Remarking on the 40th anniversary of the film's release, film critic
John Podhoretz praised
The Godfather as "arguably
the great American work of popular art" and "the summa of all great moviemaking before it".
[42]
Awards
The Godfather won three
Academy Awards for
Best Picture,
Best Actor for
Marlon Brando and
Best Adapted Screenplay for both
Mario Puzo and
Francis Ford Coppola. The film had been nominated for eight other Academy Awards, including
Best Supporting Actor for
Al Pacino,
James Caan, and
Robert Duvall,
Best Director for Coppola,
Best Costume Design,
Best Film Editing, and
Best Sound.
[43] The film also had a
Best Original Score nomination but was disqualified when found out that
Nino Rota had used a similar score in another film. Despite having three nominees for the Best Supporting Actor award, they all lost to
Joel Grey in
Cabaret. It also lost the Best Director, Best Sound and Best Film Editing to
Cabaret.
The film won five
Golden Globes out of seven nominations. It won the Golden Globe for
Best Picture – Drama,
Best Director,
Best Screenplay,
Best Score and
Best Actor – Drama for Brando. It received two nominations for
Best Actor – Drama for Pacino and
Best Supporting Actor for Caan.
Nino Rota won the
Grammy Award for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture or TV Special for the
film's soundtrack.
At the
BAFTA Awards,
Nino Rota won the
Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music while Brando, Duvall and Pacino received nominations for
Best Actor,
Best Supporting Actor and
Most Promising Newcomer, respectively. Anna Hill Johnstone was also nominated for
Best Costume Design.
Marlon Brando and Al Pacino boycott
Marlon Brando won the
Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but turned down the Oscar, becoming the second actor to refuse a Best Actor award (the first being
George C. Scott for
Patton). Brando boycotted the
Academy Award ceremony, sending instead American Indian Rights activist
Sacheen Littlefeather,
who appeared in full Apache dress, to state Brando's reasons, which
were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians
[44] by Hollywood and television.
Al Pacino also boycotted the Academy Award ceremony, as he was insulted at being nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
award, noting that he had more screen time than his co-star and Best
Actor winner Marlon Brando and thus he should have received an Academy
Award nomination for
Best Actor.
[45]
Score controversy
Nino Rota's score was removed at the last minute from the list of 1973
Academy Award nominees when it was discovered that he had used the theme in
Eduardo De Filippo's 1958 comedy
Fortunella. Although in the earlier film the theme was played in a brisk, staccato and comedic style, the melody was the same as the
love theme from The Godfather, and for that reason was deemed ineligible for an Oscar.
[46] Despite this,
The Godfather Part II won a 1974 Oscar for
Best Original Score, although it featured the same love theme that made the 1972 score ineligible.
Honors
Current rankings
American Film Institute
Legacy
Cinematic influence
Although many
films about gangsters had been made before
The Godfather,
Coppola's sympathetic treatment of the Corleone family and their
associates, and his portrayal of mobsters as characters of considerable
psychological depth and complexity
[52] was hardly usual in the
genre. This was even more the case with
The Godfather Part II,
and the success of those two films, critically, artistically and
financially, opened the doors for more and varied depictions of mobster
life, including films such as
Martin Scorsese's
Goodfellas and TV series such as
David Chase's
The Sopranos.
The image of the Mafia as being a feudal organization with the Don
being both the protector of the small fry and the collector of
obligations from them to repay his services, which
The Godfather helped to popularize, is now an easily recognizable cultural
trope, as is that of the Don's family as a "royal family". (This has spread into the real world as well – cf.
John Gotti
– the "Dapper Don", and his celebritized family.) This portrayal stands
in contrast to the more sordid reality of lower level Mafia "familial"
entanglements, as depicted in various post-
Godfather Mafia fare, such as Scorsese's
Mean Streets and
Casino, and also to the grittier
hard-boiled pre-
Godfather films.
In the 1999 film
Analyze This, which starred
Robert De Niro and
Billy Crystal, many references are made both directly and indirectly to
The Godfather.
One dream scene is almost a shot by shot replica of the attempted
assassination of Vito Corleone (Crystal playing the Don and De Niro
playing Fredo). In the 1990 comedy
The Freshman,
Marlon Brando plays a role reminiscent of Don Corleone. And one of
those most unlikely homages to this film came in 2004, when the
PG-rated, animated family film
Shark Tale was released with a storyline that nodded at this and other movies about the Mafia. Similarly,
Rugrats in Paris, based on a
Nickelodeon children's show, began with an extended parody of
The Godfather.
The 2005
Indian film
Sarkar, directed by
Ram Gopal Varma, with
Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role as a "Don" and his son
Abhishek Bachchan as the equivalent of Michael, is modeled on
The Godfather with due credits appearing at the beginning of the film.
In the DVD commentary for
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,
George Lucas stated that the interwoven scenes of
Anakin Skywalker killing Separatist leaders and
Palpatine announcing the beginning of the
Galactic Empire was an homage to the christening and assassination sequence in
The Godfather.
In popular culture
The Godfather, along with the other films in the trilogy, had a
strong impact on the public at large. Don Vito Corleone's line "I'm
gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" was voted as the second most
memorable line in cinema history in
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes by the
American Film Institute.
[53] The line actually originates in the French novel
Le Père Goriot, by
Honoré de Balzac, where
Vautrin tells
Eugène that he is "making him an offer that he cannot refuse".
An indication of the continuing influence of
The Godfather and
its sequels can be gleaned from the many references to it which have
appeared in every medium of popular culture in the decades since the
film's initial release. That these
homages, quotations, visual references, satires and
parodies continue to pop up even now shows clearly the film's enduring impact. In the television show
The Sopranos,
Tony Soprano's topless bar is named Bada Bing after the line in
The Godfather
when Sonny says, "You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing!
You blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. "
The Simpsons makes numerous references to
The Godfather, including one scene in the episode "
Strong Arms of the Ma" that parodies the Sonny-Carlo streetfight scene, with
Marge Simpson
beating a mugger in front of an animated version of the same New York
streetscape, including using the lid of a trash can during the fight.
The "
All's Fair in Oven War" final scene shows
James Caan being ambushed by hillbillies (
Cletus
relatives) at a toll booth, a parody of the scene when Sonny Corleone
(portrayed by Caan) is shot and killed. The later episode "
The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" parodies the film's ending scene, with
Lisa Simpson taking Kay Adams' role and
Fat Tony's son Michael standing in for Michael Corleone.
The
Warner Bros. animated show
Animaniacs featured several segments called "
Goodfeathers, " with pigeons spoofing characters from various
gangster films. One of the characters is "The Godpigeon", an obvious parody of Brando's portrayal of Vito Corleone.
John Belushi appeared in a
Saturday Night Live sketch as Vito Corleone in a therapy session trying to properly express his inner feelings towards the
Tattaglia Family, who, in addition to muscling in on his territory, "also, they shot my son Santino 56 times. "
In
You've Got Mail, Joe Fox, played by
Tom Hanks quotes
The Godfather, positing:
- The Godfather is the I-ching.
The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to
any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? "Leave the gun,
take the cannoli. " What day of the week is it? "Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, Wednesday. "
Releases for television and video
The theatrical version of
The Godfather debuted on network television in 1974 with only minor edits. The next year, Coppola created
The Godfather Saga expressly for American television in a release that combined
The Godfather and
The Godfather Part II
with unused footage from those two films in a chronological telling
that, because it toned down the violent, sexual, and profane material,
received a rating of
TV-14 for its
NBC debut on November 18, 1977. In 1981, Paramount released the
Godfather Epic
boxed set, which also told the story of the first two films in
chronological order, again with additional scenes, but not redacted for
broadcast sensibilities. Coppola returned to the film again in 1992 when
he updated that release with footage from
The Godfather Part III and more unreleased material. This home viewing release, under the title
The Godfather Trilogy 1901–1980,
had a total run time of 583 minutes (9 hours, 43 minutes), not
including the set's bonus documentary by Jeff Werner on the making of
the films, "The Godfather Family: A Look Inside".
The Godfather DVD Collection was released on October 9, 2001 in a package
[54]
that contained all three films—each with a commentary track by
Coppola—and a bonus disc that featured a 73-minute documentary from 1991
entitled
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside and other miscellany about the film: the additional scenes originally contained in
The Godfather Saga;
Francis Coppola's Notebook
(a look inside a notebook the director kept with him at all times
during the production of the film); rehearsal footage; a promotional
featurette from 1971; and video segments on Gordon Willis's
cinematography, Nino Rota's and Carmine Coppola's music, the director,
the locations and Mario Puzo's screenplays. The DVD also held a Corleone
family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award
acceptance speeches.
[55]
The restoration was confirmed by Francis Ford Coppola during a question-and-answer session for
The Godfather Part III, when he said that he had just seen the new transfer and it was "terrific".
Restoration
After a careful restoration of the first two movies,
The Godfather movies were released on DVD and
Blu-ray Disc on September 23, 2008, under the title
The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration. The work was done by
Robert A. Harris
of Film Preserve. The Blu-ray Disc box set (four discs) includes
high-definition extra features on the restoration and film. They are
included on Disc 5 of the DVD box set (five discs).
Other extras are ported over from Paramount's 2001 DVD release. There
are slight differences between the repurposed extras on the DVD and
Blu-ray Disc sets, with the HD box having more content.
[56]
Paramount lists the new (HD) extra features as:
- Godfather World
- The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
- ...when the shooting stopped
- Emulsional Rescue Revealing The Godfather
- The Godfather on the Red Carpet
- Four Short Films on The Godfather
- The Godfather vs. The Godfather, Part II
- Cannoli
- Riffing on the Riffing
- Clemenza
Video game
In March 2006, a video game version of
The Godfather was released by
Electronic Arts. Before his death,
Marlon Brando
provided voice work for Vito; however, owing to poor sound quality from
Brando's failing health, only parts of the recordings could be used. A
sound-alike's voice had to be used in the "missing parts".
James Caan,
Robert Duvall, and
Abe Vigoda lent their voices and likenesses as well, and several other
Godfather cast members had their likeness in the game. However,
Al Pacino's likeness and voice (
Michael Corleone) was not in the game as Al Pacino sold his likeness and voice exclusively for use in the
Scarface
video game. Francis Ford Coppola said in April 2005 that he was not
informed and did not approve of Paramount allowing the game's
production, and openly criticized the move.
[57]
References
- Notes
- ^ Marc Laub and Murray Solomon are listed as uncredited editors by some sources; see Allmovie Production credits
- ^ Francis Ford Coppola's commentary on the 2008 DVD edition "The Godfather – The Coppola Restoration"
- ^ a b "The Godfather, Box Office Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
- ^ a b Georgaris, Bill. "The 1,000 Greatest Films The Top 500 (1–25)". They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
- ^ a b "Citizen Kane Stands the test of Time". American Film Institute.
- ^ "The National Film Registry List – Library of Congress". loc.gov. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ^ Frayling, Christopher, 1981. In Spaghetti Westerns. Routledge Kegan & Paul. p. 215. ISBN 0-7100-0503-2. Google Book Search. Retrieved on January 6, 2009.
- ^ http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/03/godfather200903 "Smell the Spaghetti"
- ^ The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002), documentary film about Evans' life
- ^ Jon E Lewis, ed. (1998). New American Cinema. Duke University Press. pp. 14–17.
- ^ Hearn, Marcus (2005). The Cinema of George Lucas. New York City: Harry N. Abrams Inc.. p. 46. ISBN 0-8109-4968-7.
- ^ a b c d e f The Godfather DVD commentary featuring Francis Ford Coppola, [2001]
- ^ "An Interview with Francis Ford Coppola". Retrieved October 18, 2010.
- ^ Turan, Kenneth (November 27, 1988). "Robert Towne's Hollywood Without Heroes". The New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ^ a b c d The Godfather DVD Collection documentary A Look Inside, [2001]
- ^ "Only the most talented actors have the nerve to tackle roles that push them to their physical and mental limits". The Irish Independent. November 26, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2011.
- ^ Pinsker, Beth. "An Offer He Could Refuse". EW.com. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ^ Mark Seal (2009-03). "The Godfather Wars". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
- ^ Sofia Coppola played roles in the later Godfather movies. In Part II, she plays a nameless immigrant girl on the ship that brings Vito Corleone to New York. In Part III, she played the major speaking role of Michael Corleone's daughter Mary.
- ^ ""Doing the impossible – Part 1 – The Godfather" – Art and the Zen of Design". Artzen2.com. June 24, 2007. Archived from the original on June 3, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2012.
- ^ Cowie, Peter (1997). The Godfather Book. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-19011-1.
- ^ Lebo, Harlan (2005). The Godfather Legacy. Fireside. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-7432-8777-7.
- ^ "THE GODFATHER: Scene Locations". Thegodfathertrilogy.com. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ "Photo of Bellevue side entrance". Douging. smugmug.com. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ "NY State Supreme Court steps". Douging. smugmug.com. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ Jones, Jenny M. (2007). The Annotated Godfather. Black Dog & Leventhal. p. 214. ISBN 1-57912-811-4.
- ^ http://www.thegodfathertrilogy.com/gf_suite.shtml
- ^ a b c d "The Godfather (1972) – Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ Dirks, Tim. "Top Films of All-Time: Part 1 – Box-Office Blockbusters". AMC FilmSite.org. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
- ^ a b "The Godfather". Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- ^ "The Godfather" on Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ a b Burr, Ty. The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. Time-Life Books. ISBN 1-883013-68-2.
- ^ a b "Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Empire magazine. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
- ^ "'BFI Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 – Critics Top Ten 2002". bfi.org.uk. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
- ^ Michael Herr for Vanity Fair
"He watched The Godfather again the night before and was reluctantly
suggesting for the tenth time that it was possibly the greatest movie
ever made and certainly the best-cast".
- ^ a b De Stefano, p. 68.
- ^ De Stefano, p. 119.
- ^ De Stefano, p. 180.
- ^ Sifakis, Carl (1987). The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York City: Facts on File. ISBN 0-8160-1856-1.
- ^ De Stefano, p. 114.
- ^ a b Smith, John L. (July 7, 2004). "In mob world, life often imitates art of Marlon Brando's 'Godfather'". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ Podhoretz, John (March 26, 2012). "Forty Years On: Why 'The Godfather' is a classic, destined to endure". The Weekly Standard., p. 39.
- ^ "The 45th Academy Awards (1973) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ "American Indians mourn Brando's death – Marlon Brando (1924–2004)". MSNBC. February 7, 2004. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ Grobel; p. xxi
- ^ Kris Tapley (January 21, 2008). "Jonny Greenwood's 'Blood' score disqualified by AMPAS". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
- ^ "Metacritic: Best Reviewed Movies". Retrieved April 13, 2007.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes: Top Movies: Best of Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved April 13, 2007.
- ^ "Film Four's 100 Greatest Films of All Time". Film4. Published by AMC Filmsite.org. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time". Entertainment Weekly. Published by AMC Filmsite.org. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time". Entertainment Weekly. Published by Harris County Public Library. Retrieved August 17, 2010.
- ^ CBSnews.com "CBS". CBS News. Archived from the original on December 20, 2007.
- ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes"
- ^ "DVD review: 'The Godfather Collection'". DVD Spin Doctor. July 2007.
- ^ The Godfather DVD Collection [2001]
- ^ "Godfather: Coppola Restoration", September 23 on DVD Spin Doctor
- ^ ""Coppola Angry over Godfather Video Game", April 8, 2005". Retrieved August 22, 2005.
- Bibliography
- Further reading
External links
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| Credits |
- Patton (writer, 1970)
- THX 1138 (executive producer, 1971)
- American Graffiti (producer, 1973)
- The Great Gatsby (writer, 1974)
- The Black Stallion (executive producer, 1979)
- Kagemusha (executive producer for the international version, 1980)
- Hammett (producer, 1982)
- Koyaanisqatsi (producer, 1982)
- The Black Stallion Returns (executive producer, 1983)
- Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (producer, 1985)
- Tough Guys Don't Dance (executive producer, 1987)
- Lionheart (executive producer, 1987)
- Powaqqatsi (executive producer, 1989)
- Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (appearance, 1991)
- The Junky's Christmas (producer, 1993)
- Frankenstein (producer, 1994)
- Don Juan DeMarco (producer, 1995)
- Lani Loa – The Passage (producer, 1998)
- The Florentine (producer, 1999)
- The Virgin Suicides (producer, 1999)
- Sleepy Hollow (producer, 1999)
- CQ (executive producer, 2001)
- Jeepers Creepers (executive producer, 2001)
- Lost in Translation (executive producer, 2003)
- Jeepers Creepers 2 (executive producer, 2003)
- Kinsey (executive producer, 2004)
- The Good Shepherd (executive producer, 2006)
- Marie Antoinette (executive producer, 2006)
- Somewhere (executive producer, 2010)
- On the Road (producer, 2011)
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