Look at my post number 80. Also Casablanca is only one short movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/quotes
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.
I am not so sure of that. The only two common ones I can think of from Casablanca are “Play it again Sam” and “Round up the usual suspects”
As opposed to “Bada Bing” “Leave the gun, bring the Canoli”
“It is time to go to the mattresses” “He made him an offer he couldn’t refuse” “Luca Brazzi sleeps with the fishes” and probably a lot more.
Of all the gin joints.....
Heres looking at you kid....
Play it again Sam.....
I'm Shocked.....
etc.
Are you sure you got your permission slip signed?
“You always had a thing for guys that get killed at toll booths, right?”
LOL!
The Godfather really is a great movie. Hubby and I stumbled onto it the other day and we just sat there a watched it through to the end.
And there I am, when Sonny is doomed, going NO NO NO, don’t let this happen....just like every time I see it.
Of course, if Sonny would have just shot Carlo when they had the fight on the street, that would have solved a lot of their problems.
Look at my post number 80. Also Casablanca is only one short movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/quotes
Frankie was still the only high level mob boss who had been willing to rat Michael out. By keeping Frankie sequestered was the only leverage that the government had against Michael.
Eventually, the Fed would have tried to understand why Frankie had reneged on his testimony and would have attempted to overcome the obstacles and have Frankie testify against Michael in the future. Not being a court of law, double-jeopardy was not an issue.
This is why even though Frankie recanted before congress, Michael still wanted him dead to prevent him from testifying at some future time.
Also Frankie believed that it was Michael who tried to have him killed, remember when the Rosato Brother came up behind him and said, “Michael Corleone Says Hello”.
The question is, did they intentionally stop short of killing Pentageli, knowing then he would turn against Michael.
I liked Frankie "Five Angels", but Clemenza would have been better - but he (Richard Castellano) insisted on allowing his girlfriend the ability to edit his lines in Godfather II, and Coppola refused and wrote the part out of the script and replaced him with Pentangeli.
Maybe. I think it more likely that it was simply the necessary punishment for breaking omerta.
Watch Tattaglia during the meeting - he gives glances to Barzini indicating that there is some coordination there, and it's pretty clear that Barzini wants them involved in the drug trade.
Vito also had little respect for Tattaglia ("Tattaglia's a pimp. He could have never outfought Santino.") and knew someone else had to be backing him.
When I saw the movie in the theater I couldn’t believe the audience clapping at the end as the good guy mafia shot the bad guy mafia
People are so easily swayed
And the scene in III where the helicopters machine gun the room in the heart of a big city was plain absurd
If it had not been the toll-booth, Sonny would have been killed some other way. The whole point of Sonny’s character was to show what happened to a mobster who let emotion rule the day. In part II and Rothstein was explaining about Moe Green’s death, he kept saying that he knew that it was only business.
If you got emotional as a mobster, then you would never become an old mobster, as Sonny did not.
In part I when the Don and Michael are in the garden talking about the other families moving against Michael, the Don avowed as to how he knew that Santino would be a bad Don. He was unable to separate the business from the emotional.
Never said Play it again Sam
It was just play it Sam
And the line about of all the Gin Joints was plain corny for that type of venue
And the end line about This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship was even cornier
I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.
Are my eyes really brown?
We'll always have Paris
I remember every detail. The Germans wore grey. You wore blue.
I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
He knew Sonny was not fit because he opened his mouth too much, like when he opened up his mouth during the original meeting with the Turk ("Never tell anyone outside the Family what you're thinking again."). He unknowingly exposed Don Corleone, because the Turk figured with Vito out of the way, Sonny would be willing to make the deal. Vito probably never forgave Sonny for that.
Frankie didn’t die in the bar because the cop walking a beat came through the front door.
I believe that the other family wanted to torture Frankie with the final thought before his death that the head of his own family had turned on him.
Definitely my absolute favorite line from the movie. My father-in-law and I always joke about it when we go by an Italian bakery.
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