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.
Welcome to the punch bowl.
From Casablance, don't you remember:
"Of all the gin joints in all the world, she walks into mine."
"Here's looking a you kid."
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"We'll always have Paris."
"Play it Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'.
. . . and your "Round up the usual suspects."
"Play it again, Sam" is never said in the movie. Bogart says "If she can stand it, I can. Play it!" . . . "Play it again, Sam" comes from the Woody Allen movie.
And that list leaves out memorable lines, such as "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here."
"I remember every detail. The Germans wore grey. You wore blue."
"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."
"If it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?" "I'm only a poor corrupt official."
And who can forget:
"I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy mixed-up world. Someday you'll understand that."
* * * * *
I left out all of the two-party quotes, like:
"What is your nationality?"
"I'm a drunkard."
* * * * *
Although the fact I'm obsessed with Casablanca and have seen it 72 times, ten of those times on the big screen at the Brattle Street Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, may have something to do with it.
I'd match Casablanca up against The Godfather for quotes still in use . . . despite the fact it's 30 years older, and 72 minutes shorter.
The Godfather's a great and quotable movie. But Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and Gone with the Wind are likely quoted more often.
"There's no place like home," "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too," and "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain", from The Wizard of Oz probably eclipse the top four quotes from The Godfather, wouldn't you think?
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.
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Which was too bad. Clemenza was the most “human” character in G1, the guy I’d most like to party with (”Hey Paulie, more wine!”), with some of the most memorable, but subtle moments:
5) Teaching Michael how to “cook for a lotta guys”.
4) Teaching Michael in the basement how to take out Sollazzo and McCluskey in the restaurant(”Better yet, ya ask for permission...then you come out blastin’. Two shots in the head apiece. Then whaddya do?”)
3) “Yeah, well, think about it while you’re driving - I wanna get there sometime this MONTH”.
2) “Hello, Carlo”.
and, of course, at Number One (drum roll):
1) “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Although, I will say, absent Castellano himself in G2, I enjoyed Bruno Kirby’s depiction of the younger Clemenza in the early days.
I think Monty Python’s Holy Grail or Blazing Saddles get quoted more, but the Godfather quotes are much juicier.
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Put “Full Metal Jacket” up there.
You might want to watch ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ sometime.
Also when Clemenza was telling Michael, “Mikey, why don’t you tell that nice girl you love her? ‘I love you with all-a my heart, if I don’t see-a you again soon, I’m-a gonna die.’”
Also,
“Oh Paulie, you won’t see him no more.”
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Yes, excellent. I forgot those.
I also even liked “Da gun’ll be deah!”. I could imagine Clemenza the Captain making this happen with his troops. Woe to the guy who would screw THAT detail up.
Coulda made it a Top Ten.
I’ll take Godfather quotes for $800, Alex.
Answer: “Da gun’ll be deah!”.
What was Clemenza’s answer to Sonny’s great line “I want him to come outta there with more than his dick in his hand.”
The casting of Lee Strasberg as Roth was particularly interesting given that I believe it was Strasberg's film debut. And he might have been the best actor in Godfather II. John Cazale's role was also memorable.
The actor was Danny Aiello. Not ‘Paulie Walnuts’.
His character gets a number of pages in the book, as being a cop who gets busted out of the force for killing a guy who had come at him with a knife, and who is bitter at the perceived raw deal until Don Corleone hires him into the family. There's a lot from the book that they had to cut from Godfather I. A lot of it made it into Godfather II, but there still was a lot cut.
One factoid I heard (but I dont know if its true), that the reason why you dont hear the word “mafia” in the first godfather is because the real mafia threatened them to have the word taken out. So it was.
Dang! You’re right. I thought Paulie W. had a small role, though.
Check out “Thief” someday. Caan calls it the best movie he’s ever been involved with (and this was after he did “The Godfather”). Great movie, and Caan is superb.
I’ll try it. Sounds like something hubby would enjoy also.
Delta - Respectfully, I don’t agree with the explanation of the Frankie Pentangeli issue, at least as far as the Feds keeping him sequestered. First, Frankie would have been sworn under oath before Congress, so even though “jeopardy” wasn’t an issue, even the worst defense attorney could entirely discredit his testimon in a subsequent trial. Further, even if he wasn’t sworn, Frankie would’ve been a totally useless witness later on. (I know this because I used to be a prosecutor). Once Frankie screwed up the Congressional testimony, he was utterly useless as any kind of witness later on, in any proceeding. In reality, had he done that he would’ve spent the rest of days in solitary.
I can understand why Michael wanted him dead, and basically struck the same bargain with him - die and we will take care of your family - as he did in the novel with the death row inmate who confessed to shooting McCluskey the police captain, thus getting Michael off the hook.
But this leads to another thing that didn’t make sense - after the Congressional hearing debacle the Feds would’ve never let Frankie Pentangeli have a private meeting with Tom Hagen (where Tom proposed the “deal” that led to Frankie committing suicide). Think about it, Tom was not Frankie’s attorney, but rather the attorney for the target of the investigation. No way in hell that happens.
That was exactly the first thing I thought when I first saw the movie. Why are they letting Tom Hagen see him at all, much less in private.
That’s why they did have Clemenza in the second part...and that guy stole the movie..
“grab the canolis...leave the gun...”
Danny Alliello was one of the thugs who tried to kill Frankie!!
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