25 facts on the manufacture of "the godfather" that you have never known

There are many traditions behind the drama of organized crime and its two suites.


You come to me, my daughter's wedding day, and ask for anecdotes on The Godfather movies? We can force. In fact, here is a little Trivia to start: Marlon Brando Don Corleone does not really say these exact words in this often quoted moment. The line in the Masterpiece from 1972 is really: "You come to my house the day my daughter must be married."

The Godfather and its suite, Part II of the godfather , of the director Francis Ford Coppola , are widely considered as two of the best films never made - otherwise the best films ever made. Epic crime dramas that follow the rise and the decline in a crime dynasty organized in the 1940s and 50s, the first two Sponsorship are full of emblematic moments and large cinema stars, including Brando, Al Pacino ,, Robert de Niro ,, James Caan , And Diane Keaton . The third film in the trilogy, made a decade and a half later, is not as much appreciated as the first two, but it is always the conclusion of one of the most important stories in the history of cinema.

As you can expect, there are a lot of interesting bits of these three seminal films. Read more to learn 25 facts on The Godfather The trilogy, including many production problems, has demystified urban and fascinating legends "What if?"

In relation: The 15 films that won the most Oscars .

1
Paramount bought the rights of the book even before its end.

The Godfather by Mario Puzo on a shelf in a bookstore
Hamdi Bendali / Shutterstock

Peter Bart , the vice-president of production at Paramount, bought the rights of the 1969 novel The Godfather Two years before its release, or even finished. The executive had heard this author Mario Puzo Worked on a book on the mafia, and he thought he had potential, tearing him away when he was still only an overview. The agreement - which is dramatized in the recent Paramount + series on Behindstones of The Godfather ,, The offer - had $ 12,500 for the book option and an additional $ 80,000 if the film ended up being made. Puzo would have accepted in part because he had debts of play which he had to pay.

2
The book was a record bestseller.

Mario Puzo signing books in 1996
Ron Galella, Ltd./ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Puzo The Godfather was a huge success when he was released in 1969. He had been on the list of bestsellers for more than a year, selling nine million copies in his first two years of exit. This is now one of the best -selling fiction books of all time, after having sold north of 21 million copies . This also led to a series of complete books.

3
Several people were almost dismissed during the shooting.

Francis Ford Coppola in 1970
Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images

Coppola was not Paramount's first choice to run the film, and he was almost dismissed in the middle of the shooting when the managers of the studio were not delighted with the way some of the first scenes took place. In a decision that the mafia could approve, The director has taken pre -empty measures , licensed his deputy director and other threats or potential traitors. Then, he reshapes the scenes that the bosses did not like, by ensuring that he would be the one that would hold it at the end of the production.

Pacino was not the first choice of the studio either (they wanted Robert Redford ), and he also almost obtained the ax. He said The Washington Post that He was almost dismissed three times .

4
It was hardly a period of the time.

Still from The Godfather
Paramount pictures / Fotos International / Getty images

Paramount feared that manufacturing The Godfather a period of the time would cost more than defining it the then present day of the 1970s. Coppola convinced them to spend additional money, and the final film extends over the decade from 1945 to 1955.

5
Frank Sinatra hated The Godfather .

Frank Sinatra performing in 1986
Mark Reinstein / Shutterstock

Johnny Fontaine, the character of the singer who owes his professional success to the Mafia, was modeled after Frank Sinatra , because there were allegations according to which the blue eyes had links with organized crime. Sinatra confronted Puzo , who also co-written the scenario and the singer Al Martino , who played Fontaine in the film, said he had received threats warning him of not playing the role.

In relation: 7 Best films under the Radar of the 70s that you have to watch .

6
Brando stuffed cotton on his cheeks for hearing.

Marlon Brando in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

Brando was not the first choice of Paramount for the role of Don Corleone, because they feared that he was a problem on the set. But Coppola wanted him and helped him get the role by turning a hearing band. Brando wanted Corleone to be "like a bulldog" and He stuffed his cheeks with cotton balls To obtain this effect in hearing. Despite the popular belief, he did not do the same during the shooting. A dentist did it A special prosthetic spokesperson to carry.

7
Don Corleone's famous cat was actually a wandering.

Marlon Brando petting a cat in the Godfather
Paramount pictures

The famous seated and purring cat on Don Corleone's knees The Godfather The opening scene was not in the script. Actually, The cat was a mistake It was hanging on the set, and Coppola decided that it could be a nice detail. He plunged it on Brando's lap, obviously to the cat satisfaction - it purred so hard that they feared that they could not hear the dialogue in the final images.

8
Brando has read its lines of landmark cards (for a good reason).

Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando in The Godfather
John Springer / Corbis / Corbis collection via Getty Images

Brando won an Oscar for his role in The Godfather , even if he has sadly used landmarks rather than fully memorizing all of his lines. He said it was not too lazy to learn them, but rather that He loved spontaneity It came to see his lines as he needed to say, because in real life, people tend not to repeat and know everything they will say before saying.

9
Luca Brasi's Flubs when they speak to the donation were real.

Lenny Montana in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

Lenny Montana was thrown to play the belonging of Corleone, Luca Brasi, although he is a professional wrestler and not an actor. Due to his inexperience, he was stumbled and struck his lines in front of Brando when his character had to pay tribute. Rather than taking up the stage, Coppola added a new scene in which Brasi practices nervously what he will say - a detail that shows that even the big guy is intimidated by the boss.

10
The horse's head was real.

John Marley in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

The cut horse head that Hollywood producer Jack Woltz ( John Marley ) Wakes up alongside - a clear threat of the corleones - was not an accessory, because Coppola did not like what they looked like. Instead, he found a horse that looked like the precious stallion of Woltz which was already to be shot In a dog food factory . He told them to send their heads when they killed the horse, and he arrived in a box full of dry ice.

In relation: Marlon Brando and Jackie Kennedy had a two -night affair, books of books .

11
The scene of Sonny Corleone's death was the most expensive in the whole film.

James Caan in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

The eldest son with the head played by James Caan, Sonny, meets a macabre ending when he is killed in his car by a rival family on the roadway of Jones Beach. THE The scene cost $ 100,000 to shoot —A decent part of the total budget of $ 6 million. Caan wore 127 explosive squib filled with blood and there were 200 squibs drilled in the continental of Lincoln. Everyone left to simulate the hail with deadly shots.

12
"Leaving the weapon, taking the cannoli" has been improvised.

Still from The Godfather cannoli scene
Paramount pictures

One of the most famous lines of this very targeted film was an AD-LIB, as in the book and the Clemenza script, one of the applicators of the corleones, says simply "leave the weapon". Actor Richard Castellano added the "take the cannoli" on the Suggestion of his wife and co-star ,, Ardell Sheridan , who had the idea of ​​referring to a previous scene where Clemenza is invited to collect the desert.

13
Castellano was the best paid person in the film.

Still from The Godfather
Paramount pictures

Castellano - Not Brando, Pacino or Caan - Had The highest salary anyone in the distribution of the original Godfather . His salary requires - as well as with a request that Sheridan wrote Clemenza's dialogue - led to his written character.

14
The oranges were supposed to lighten the dark whole, not to foreshadow death.

Robert Duvall sitting at table with oranges in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

There are many oranges in The Godfather , and criticism and fans noted that they tend to present themselves before violence occurs, which makes death of death. It was not the original intention, however. Production designer Dean Tavoularis I simply chose to include oranges because the citrus fruits have added A touch of shiny and contrasting color to a very dark film.

15
The score was nominated for an Oscar but later disqualified.

The Godfather score vinyl album
Blueee77 / Shutterstock

Nino Rota's emblematic score for The Godfather received an Oscar appointment. He was disqualified However, after being revealed that part of the music was initially composed for the Italian comedy of 1958, Fortunella .

In relation: Amazing 30 Star wars Facts even fans do not know .

16
The word "mafia" does not appear in The Godfather .

Al Pacino in The Godfather
Paramount pictures

Despite its subject, the word "mafia" is never pronounced in The Godfather . In 1971, before the start of filming, the Italo-American Civil Rights League Launched a campaign asking producers not to include the word in the film. (The campaign was led by a man whose father was involved in organized crime.)

17
Coppola did not initially want to direct part II.

Francis Ford Coppola with his Oscars in 1975
Ron Galella Collection / Ron Galella via Getty Images

At the beginning, Coppola was not interested in directing the continuation of 1974. He suggested Martin Scorsese , who at that time was a promising filmmaker that Coppola thought it was "so natural". He gave in, however, and finally directed Part II himself.

18
Coppola wanted Brando to play the young version of Vito Corleone.

Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II
Paramount pictures

Initially, Coppola wanted Brando, who was 49 years old at the time, played in Vito Corleone, 25, Part II flashback scenes. He even sent letters to Brando offering him the opportunity to resume the role. He refused, however, and from Niro, 30, obtained the role.

19
De Niro auditioned to play Sonny in the first Godfather .

Robert De Niro in the early 70s
Angelo Deligio / Mondadori via Getty Images

In the early 1970s, from Niro began just as an actor, and he Auditioned to play Sonny Corleone first Godfather . The game ended up going to Caan, but obviously, Coppola remembered Niro's work.

20
Brando and Niro are some of the only actors to win the Oscars for playing the same character.

Robert De Niro in 1975
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Two actors won the Oscars for their representations of Vito Corleone, Brando winning a better actor Oscar for The Godfather and Niro picking up an Oscar support actor for Part II . Less than a dozen pairs of actors have received appointments for playing the same character, and only Big book And Joaquin Phoenix , which played different versions of the Joker, also won. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

In relation: Godfather Star was the first person to be banned from Oscars - here is why .

21
The boat that the young Vito Corleone takes in America is now a restaurant in Philadelphia.

Moshulu ship restaurant in Philadelphia
Lapaiirkrapai / Shutterstock

The boat that Vito takes in America has A story that is wilder that everything in The Godfather . Originally built in Scotland in 1904, the large cutting-edge ship was seized by the United States during the First World War and renamed "Moshulu", after an Amerindian tribe, by the First Lady Edith Wilson . Finland bought it in the 1930s, then the Nazi pirates captured it during the Second World War. The Finlands recovered it in the late 1940s, and the United States bought it in 1974, after which it appeared in Part II of the godfather . It is currently a floating restaurant in Philadelphia.

22
Part II of the godfather was one of the last Technicolor films.

Still from The Godfather Part II
Paramount pictures

Part II of the godfather holds the distinction of being one of the last major films to make with The Technicolor film process , as the vibrant dye printing method has given way to others in the 70s,

23
Coppola didn't want to do Part III of the godfather .

Still from The Godfather Part III
Paramount pictures

The filmmaker admitted that he did not want to do Part II -leave alone Part III . But he agreed to direct the consequences because he needed help " Get out of [his] financial hole . ""

Duvall was written from Part III For wage reasons.

Robert Duvall in 1981
Ron Galella Collection / Ron Galella via Getty Images

A major character who survived at the end of Part II but did not appear in Part III was Tom Hagen de Duvall, an adoptive member of the Corleone family and their faithful consultation. The actor chose not to come back For the third film on wage disputes.

"I said that I would easily work if they paid Pacino twice what they paid me, that's good. Not three or four times , that's what they did, "Duvall told CBS in 2004.

Winona Ryder almost played Mary Corleone.

Winona Ryder in 1990
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

Coppola caught a lot of flak for his decision to throw his daughter, Sofia Coppola , like Mary Corleone Part III . However, it was not the original plan. Walk actor Winona Ryder was initially thrown into the role , even while traveling towards filming. However, she withdrew due to exhaustion and other problems with her arrow career. (A 1990 Vanity The article described its situation as a " nervous collapse . ) The future award -winning filmmaker Sofia, who had read the role in rehearsals while Ryder was busy finishing another film, intervened.


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