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.
Yeah, The Godfather was one of my dad’s favorite movies, and we used to watch it at least once a week on VHS.
What’s with the oranges? Every time an orange appeared you knew somebody was going to get it.
ping
no I didn’t. thank you!
watched I and II this afternoon.
Didn’t know any of these. Interesting.
Mmmm, what were they protesting, again?
I always loved Tom’s reaction at the beginning when he hears Sonny banging the bridesmaid.
Thanks for the interesting post Nick and give my regards to Jimmy Gatz and other West Eggers. :-)
The Godfather Parts I and II are those rare movies you can watch over & over and still notice something different every time.
Godfather III was the best of the bunch
I just got through watching Godfather I and II. I thought they were both very good and the second one even better than the first.
The one part of the second one which struck me as totally unbelievable was the stupid Senator. I honestly think they put that part in just so they could show some anti Italian bigotry.
Although I don’t care for him personally DeNiro was really good.
One thing they forgot the third one sucked....
The role of Hyman Roth (played by Lee Strasberg) is one of my favorites in the trilogy.
I realize that former Ronald Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan has lost her bearing but her analysis of Roth's memorable "Moe Green" monologue makes for interesting reading.
That kid's name was Moe Green. And the city he invented was Las Vegas.
This was a great man, a man of vision and guts. And there isn't even a plaque or a signpost or a statue of him in that town.
Someone put a bullet through his eye. No one knows who gave the order. When I heard it, I wasn't angry. I knew Moe, I knew he was headstrong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he turned up dead, I let it go.
And I said to myself, this is the business we've chosen. I didn't ask who gave the order. Because it had nothing to do with business.
I never knew it was a trilogy. Are they counting Part II as two films?
The worst part of Godfather II was Michael’s devoted henchman. His character just seems to pop up out of nowhere without any explanation.
What?!?!? A contrarian in our midst? Are you perchance a democrat? :-) :-) :-)
All kidding aside, although III doesn't reach the lofty standards of its predecessors (II is my favorite of the trio), I personally like it a lot.
It's become de rigueur to throw GFIII under the proverbial bus. I think it finishes out the trilogy well and, if nothing else, it ensures no more Roman Numerals for the Godfather sequence (unlike the Rocky series).
Plus it gave us the memorable quote from Michael Corleone: "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."
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