Posted on 11/25/2010 6:22:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
Everyone knows everything about the Godfather trilogy. Its quotability, alone, is astounding: legions of fans know every line, plot, subplot, and sub-subplot and can mimic the mannerisms of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. But as familiar as the trilogy may be, there are still plenty of nuggets of Godfather goodness that may surprise you. Here are ten things you may not have known about Francis Ford Coppola's epic triptych.
1. Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Robert Duvall enjoyed mooning the cast and crew. The trio of actors engaged in a mooning competition during the course of the Godfather shoot. Brando pulled the ultimate moon on the 44th day of filming, pulling down his pants in the midst of a giant wedding-reception scene. For his dubious valor, he received a belt buckle with the engraving "Mighty Moon King."
2. Actors researched their roles by hanging out with real mobsters. Brando prepared for his role by meeting with a Bufalino gangster. Pacino, Caan, and Duvall have all acknowledged meetings with mobsters, as well, with Caan becoming especially familiar with Carmine "The Snake" Persico and noting "how they're always touching themselves. Thumbs in the belt. Touching the jaw. Adjusting the shirt. Gripping the crotch."
3. Don Vito Corleone's cat-petting in the opening scene was improvised. When we first meet Don Corleone in the opening scene, he's sitting at his desk with a gray cat in his lap, stroking away as he listens to a plea for help. The effective image was, in fact, purely serendipitous: when a stray cat wandered onto the set, Brando incorporated it into the scene. Another act of improvisation can be found in a later scene: the orange-peel fangs that Corleone bares at his grandson were entirely Brando's own idea.
4. Brando was the studio's last choice for the role of Don Vito Corleone. Executives refused to consider Brando for the role of Don Corleone, given the difficult actor's reputation. Among the other actors considered were Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, Anthony Quinn, and Ernest Borgnine. But at the insistence of Coppola and Godfather author Mario Puzo, Brando was finally hired on the condition that he work only for a percentage of the profits and that he agree to a screen test -- his first since 1953.
5. The Godfather script was offered to numerous directors before Coppola. Elia Kazan, Arthur Penn, Costa-Gravas, and Richard Brooks are a few of the filmmakers Paramount first approached to adapt Puzo's best-selling novel. The studio finally agreed to offer the job to Coppola, partly because of the director's Italian heritage, and Coppola, whose first impression of Puzo's novel was negative, initially declined. Eventually, though, he agreed, and the rest is history.
6. Michael Corleone was the toughest role to cast. Coppola saw Pacino in a Broadway play and instantly knew he had found his Michael Corleone, but at the time Pacino was an unknown and didn't perform well when he tested for the role. The studio insisted on casting a big name, like Warren Beatty or Jack Nicholson. But options waned, and with the start date looming the studio caved to Coppola's wishes.
7. Coppola didn't want to direct a sequel. Coppola was burned out by The Godfather and resisted the sequel. "It sounded like a tacky spin-off," he later told Playboy. After much coaxing, he agreed on the condition that producer Robert Evans, who had hounded him during The Godfather, stay out of his hair and that he get to name the movie The Godfather: Part II.
8. Al Pacino made peanuts in The Godfather. Given his obscurity at the time, Pacino earned a relatively paltry $35,000 for the first film. However, after the success of The Godfather, as well as lauded performances in Scarecrow and Serpico (for which he received an Oscar nomination), he landed a $600,000 salary for The Godfather: Part II, as well as a 10 percent cut of the movie's adjusted-gross income.
9. Coppola didn't want to cast his sister, Talia Shire, as Connie Corleone Rizzi. Coppola cast various family members in minor roles but was against casting his sister, Talia Shire, as Connie. He thought she was too beautiful to play a woman who was supposed to be homely. But Shire's screen test came off brilliantly, and Coppolla relented, not wanting to deny her the opportunity of a lifetime.
10. The Italian-American Civil Rights League protested The Godfather. At the time, the Italian-American Civil Rights League, which held a lot of sway in New York City, objected to the movie's negative depiction of Italians. As a concession, a producer offered to donate some of the proceeds to the league's hospital fund and to give some of the league's members small roles in the movie. But the offer was withdrawn after negative press.
Clemenza was the highest paid actor in I. Asked for too much in II, so they canned him.
Hyman Roth was based on Meyer Lanksky.... Russian Jew mobster who financed Italian Mafioso. Bugsy Siegel is Moe Green. 80-90% of the movie was barely re-written truth based on well-known Mafioso. The Cuban scene happened; cut real short in the movie. Great Havana casino was built and thrived with Hollywood performers for a short bit. Sinatra et al were in on it. That's where all those beautiful old 50s cars came from. Cuba was incredibly ritzy for a year; lawless city of decadence.
Castro came in with his uprising; seized it all, banned gambling...etc.
One other obscure piece of GF trivia, Abe Vigoda is still alive
What permission slip, nick?
The field trip was way back in 1972. The theater was the Langley in Adelphi, MD. Just a short bus ride from my High School.
Jack.
I'll disagree with you again, although I think you're right on target with most all of your other insights.
The screenplay shows Michael saying "How did they get their hands on Pantangeli?
Hagen responds "Roth engineered it, Michael. He made Pentangeli think you hit him. Deliberately letting him get off alive. Then the New York detectives turned Frankie over to the FBI...."
I've even heard that the part where "Superman" performed at the XXX club (where Michael learns of Fredo's betrayal) was based upon reality.
It is possible that the intent was not to murder Frankie in the bar. The cop walking into the bar led to total bedlam. When you see Frankie lying on the floor, he is barely alive. He could have been seconds away from dying.
The Rossato brothers were accomplished at killing people, not almost killing people.
The other thing that makes me think that they intended to kill Frankie was that if Roth wanted to turn Frankie into a rat for the feds, sure, it would have taken Michael down, but Frankie probably knew where the other families buried their bodies. Frankie turning state’s evidence would have exposed the other families as well.
I think that the hit was set up to make it look like Michael was behind it to weaken his stake in the New York family.
I just think that when you wrap that piano wire around someone’s neck, it was to affect the ultimate goal. The conversation you reference shows that Michael was not behind the hit. I think that the cop walking into the bar had the unintended consequence of turning Frankie to state’s evidence.
indeed, many of these are common knowledge to those who love The Godfather... imo, GF and GF2 are the best movies of all time... "leave the gun, take the cannoli..." gosh, i love that!
11. I was working for the company that suppplied the animals for Godfather - Part II and worked as an extra on the set one day. Got a free lunch and a pay check from both the animal company and Paramount.
Maybe Michael did let him off the hook for old time's sake after all. ;)
“The character Moe Greene was modeled after Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel”
I was thinking Meyer Lansky.
Whoops, I was thinking Hyman Roth could of been based on lansky,not Moe Green.
The book fills in a lot of gaps. Apparently Sonny had a huge penis. At the wedding reception one of the girls sees Sonny and gestures with her hands how “big” he is.
That’s why Clemenza “dies” between I and II. Notice the black armband Pentangeli wears on his sleeve. Castellano wanted too much $ for the sequel and was written out. Same with Duvall for III.
Godfather 1 followed the book exactly....don't like Brando, but he was perfect for the part...can't think of another actor that could do it as well as he did...
I read somewhere that the actor who tried to garrote Pentangeli was the guy from the Sopranos, who played Paulie Walnuts.
Leave the gun, take the cannolli.....
Very surprising...
My personal favorite.....
Many thought the film depicted Damone (some say Sinatra) as Fontane. The actor who actually played Johnny Fontane was Al Martino.
Just saw a "mobster" episode on Marvin Lansky via History Channel. Hyman Roth for sure.
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