Vito Corleone is a crime boss who grants favors to anyone who asks for them. Vito is also a family man. Almost the whole Corleone family is a Mafia gang.
Blaine: Producer Albert S. Ruddy was asked by the President of Paramount Pictures if he was interested in producing “The Godfather” and he wasn’t sure because he hadn’t read the book. Albert said yes to producing the project and lied saying “The Godfather” was his favorite book. Albert quickly bought a copy of “The Godfather” novel and got hooked to it while reading it. “The Godfather” was author Mario Puzo’s fifth and most successful novel. Close friends and relatives of Mario’s knew “The Godfather” would attract a lot of people to it before it was published. Mob movies weren’t popular around the early 70s. There was a movie a few years earlier that was a complete disaster. Gangster movies were more B types, but Mario Puzo’s novel was something that would take that genre to a new level. Francis Ford Coppola wasn’t a popular director yet, but he was a man with talent and he was interested in making movies just for the artistic and independent side of things. Francis was also a gifted writer. At the age of 27, Francis put together a production company, that would show the love for filmmaking, called American Zoetrope. Francis loved cinema, he wasn’t interested in being a Hollywood director. Francis had no interest in adapting “The Godfather” when he was offered the job by the production chief at Paramount Pictures, but he had no choice because his company was going broke and he needed a job. If Francis was going to make “The Godfather” into a film he was going to do it his way. He went through the novel and underlined whatever was important to use in the screenplay. Author Mario Puzo helped Francis in developing the screenplay. Mario told Francis the story for “The Godfather” was inspired by real life mobsters who operated out of New York City. Another inspiration was these three different Godfathers, Carlo Gambino, Frank Costello and Joe Profaci. Francis went to the library and checked out four books on the mafia. One of the things Francis learned out of those books was that there were five American Mafia families. “The Godfather” is about a family who are in the crime business.
Francis wanted to cast actors based on their talent instead of having movie stars. The only star Francis hired was Marlon Brando as the Godfather himself, Vito Corleone. Paramount didn’t want Marlon Brando because they thought he mumbled a lot and he couldn’t pass for an Italian mobster, but Francis wanted him. The first time they said no to Marlon Brando, Francis nearly fainted, but he managed to convince the executives to change their minds, on condition that Marlon would do the movie for free because they wanted to make “The Godfather” cheap. Francis said alright to that. Eventually Marlon did get paid for the work he had done. They also wanted Marlon to do a screen-test and put up a million dollar bond so if any misbehaving happened on set Marlon would be the one to pay for it. Francis would do anything to get Marlon Brando in “The Godfather” and so he accepted all three conditions, but he did it without discussing it with Brando first. Francis didn’t even meet Marlon Brando until after that. Francis talked to Marlon over the phone and one of the things Francis told him was maybe he would want to try out something new like playing an Italian American. Marlon said yes to that. Francis did the screen-test at Marlon’s house. Marlon thought Vito Corleone should look like a bulldog. During the screen-test, Marlon put a napkin in his mouth and then made the same noises he does in the film. Francis said it was the birth of that character. Francis never showed the executives at Paramount the footage he shot of Marlon during his screen-test because he knew they would have hated it. Francis got the opinion from a guy he knew at another company. He thought it looked terrible, but then another guy came into the office and thought the footage of Marlon Brando was incredible. That guy’s opinion was good enough for Francis. Marlon was 47 at the time and they did a lot of makeup tests to make him look like he was in his 60s. Marlon Brando didn’t like to talk about how he was going to act in a movie, he was more interested in knowing where the camera was going to be and what position he should be in.
Another actor Francis had to argue over with the studio was Al Pacino. The screen-tests Al Pacino did were terrible because he kept cracking up whenever he screwed up a line and he wasn’t convincing. Francis wanted Al to play Michael, the youngest son of Vito Corleone, but Al thought he was more suitable for Sonny, the oldest son, because he seemed easier to play. The studio wanted more of a good looking guy like Robert Redford to play Michael, but Francis wasn’t looking for good looks, he was looking for someone who could pass as an Italian and that was Al Pacino. Francis knew Al Pacino was meant to play Michael and Al couldn’t understand why, but it made him happy that he got the job. The studio did not like that Francis Ford Coppola had put together an ensemble of unknown actors. Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo wanted to show the vulnerable human side to the characters in “The Godfather”, which other mob films didn’t have. Being Italian America himself and knowing special occasions with family, Francis put his own personal experiences with his family into the story.
Production on “The Godfather” began on March of 1971. The first scene they shot was the wedding. The Corleone residence was shot at 110 Longfellow Avenue in Staten Island, New York. The owner of that house documented everything as the cast and crew were making “The Godfather”. She also wrote down everything that was happening on set in her diary. The set designers added another room to the house, which is where people go to see The Godfather asking him for favors. They also added a tall wall around the house that closed off the outside. Francis Ford Coppola took things very seriously on set because he was under a lot of stress with the studio interfering. The studio didn’t like Francis’ direction on “The Godfather”. They were disturbing Francis the whole time he was shooting the film. The studio was thinking about firing Francis because he was making “The Godfather” dark and boring. Francis Ford Coppola felt hurt that a lot of people didn’t believe in “The Godfather”. Paramount didn’t like “The Godfather” during it’s screen-test. They thought “The Godfather” had too much talk in it and was boring, but that was their opinion. It was up to the public to decide on what they thought of “The Godfather”. “The Godfather” is a character driven film because it’s about getting to know these characters who are in the family and seeing what kind of business they do.
Michael starts off as this war hero who is a regular guy and is an outsider to the family business. But then goes through changes and becomes what he wasn’t supposed to be in the first place. Michael wants to honor and avenge his father, after men try to kill him while he’s on the street. Vito manages to survive, but ends up in a hospital. Vito Corleone is everything to Michael and Vito loves him so much that he never wanted Michael to be in the business. Vito wanted something better for Michael instead of being a criminal like him. Michael himself didn’t want that kind of life either. Everything Vito does is for his family. Michael won’t stand by and let the two guys who put a hit on Vito get away with it. Michael kills them in from of people at a restaurant. I’m sure Michael has killed people in battle, but he hardly has had any experience in taking out men in his own country. Michael has to escape and hide in Sicily because of that. He did something without thinking about how he was going to get away with it first. He just let anger and vengeance take over. While Michael is hiding, he meets a beautiful Italian woman named Apollonia. It’s love at first site when they meet, even though Michael was already involved with another woman, Kay, back in America. But Apollonia, it’s more like Michael has found his soulmate. Michael is deeply in love with Apollonia. They get married in Italy, which feels like a secret wedding because no one from Michael’s family is there. They didn’t even know Michael was married. So sad that a marriage like that had to end so soon. Michael was beginning to start a new life with Apollonia, but she gets herself blown up after someone puts a bomb in her car. Michael is devastated and realizes he can never have a happy life. Michael decides to go back to America and goes to his former lover, Kay, asking for her hand in marriage, which is weird. The relationship between Michael and Apollonia I like better. Michael’s not the same person he was in the beginning. He’s been through a lot.
The oldest son, Sonny, is quick tempered, tough guy, but also caring person. James Caan, who played Sonny, thought of some lines for the character to say and Francis was ok with him saying them in the movie. Sonny looks after and defends his younger sister, Connie, from her abusive husband, Carlo Rizzi. In those days there were no rules about beating a guy up in public and in one scene Sonny goes after Connie's husband and beats him up just to teach him a lesson in messing with his sister. That scene wasn’t well done because it obviously looks fake as Sonny is beating Carlo. It doesn’t look like James Caan is touching Gianni Russo. “The Simpsons” made it look more real when they decided to do a parody of that scene. Anyway, Carlo doesn’t learn anything. He just continues to beat Connie and give her black eyes and bruises. Connie informs Sonny and he is furious. What Sonny doesn’t know is he is being lured into a trap. Carlo puts a hit on Sonny and he gets shot numerously. That was big for James Caan because it was so violent. The makeup department attached these things on James beneath the makeup on his skin and the clothes he was wearing and they would blow up to make it looked like bullets from a shot gun were going through him. That scene was supposed to be a reminder to the audience that the Corleone family live and operate in a violent world. A lot of things are turning in a new direction as “The Godfather” goes on. One member of the Corleone family is dead, the other is a changed man and then the father, Vito, dies of a heart attack while playing with his grandson. Michael takes over his father’s position as Godfather and takes care of enemies of the Corleone family. Michael has gone down a dark path. All of the enemies are taken care of, but there is still one more kill and that is Connie’s husband, Carlo. Carlo would hit Connie, yell at her, and then he had Sonny killed. Michael finishes Sonny’s job by having Carlo killed.
Francis Ford Coppola was afraid “The Godfather” would be a disaster, but when it opened it got rave reviews. “The Godfather” was really something for the audience. Steven Spielberg was still doing television at that time and “The Godfather” made him think he should quit directing because he was so impressed with Francis Ford Coppola’s direction that he felt he couldn’t do anything as good as that. Francis really made a name for himself. People were lining up outside the theater and making a lot of money. It became a movie a lot of people would talk about. Little did Francis Ford Coppola know was “The Godfather” was going to start it’s own legacy.
My rating on “The Godfather” is five out of five stars
