Posted on 12/07/2010 12:06:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
Al Pacino has told how he was nearly fired from his iconic role as Michael Corleone in The Godfather and said he hasn't defeated his alcoholism, but 'just doesn't drink'.
The 70-year-old Oscar winner also told CNN's Larry King how Marlon Brando's support helped keep him in the career-making Godfather film.
Talking about working with Brando and nearly being fired from The Godfather, he said, 'Brando was a source of inspiration.
'It was unnerving playing with him in Godfather. But he was good to me. He was sensitive to me.
'They thought I was wrong for Michael and they were going to let me go.
'Francis said, 'You're not cutting it for me kid'.
'What kept me in was the restaurant scene.
'They kept me after the shooting.'
Talking about his battle with drink, he said, 'I didn't defeat it that's all you can say. I just don't drink.'
“Hard for me to believe that Streep found him attractive.”
That’s visa versa for me.
yup...
He’s buried in Holy Cross cemetery in Malden, MA not far from my Grandparents. And Fredo was right about Moe Green.
I remember around that time Meryl was in “The Holocaust” mini-series, I thought back then she was beautiful, I had no idea she would turn out to be the moonbat that she was.
Tom’s anger after Sonny got killed? I missed that. He gets choked up when he tells the Godfather.
I suspect that with the current Chicago mob in office this film could be delayed.
Amazing. Very good track record. I forgot he was in Dog Day. I need to rent Deerhunter again. A bit too intense. I am not that crazy about DeNiro a lot but he and Chris Walken together in that film were great. The whole poor Pennsylvania coal country added so much too. A very underrated movie like The Conversation.
His loyalty wasn’t in doubt. Sonny found him on the street and he was unofficially adopted by the Corleone’s and lived with them. His character wasn’t congruent with that IMO, that he was raised in that house as one of them. Maybe more of his back story would have helped.
interesting. and a documentary. Will probably only be at one theater in NE Ohio, the Cedar Lee. That is why I have not seen trailers, I have not been there often in past couple months with mom’s decline. It is a long distance from my home & the other commercial theaters are about 5 miles
I hear ya. Choo know y'r movies, mang!
thanks for both links. I dont recall him but did not really follow much of the gang stories.
I will try to do the movie & do some reading ahead of time
OH, I think all we have seen so far is the sell to hollywood.
These are just promos to the film guys.
I read recently what John Marley, who played Jack Woltz, said about the horse head scene. In the rehearsals a prop was used, but in the scene we see in the movie Coppola substituted a real horse’s head, without Marley’s knowledge, obtained from a dog food company. Marley says his scream was real.
The title has changed 3 times in the past year.
I’ve always said that one flashback scene is better than a lot of other full movies! Also interesting to note how many characters in that scene are dead by the end of GF II, a number due to orders from Michael (Fredo, Tessio, Carlo).
‘I think the old drunk is hallucinating, the shooting scene in the restaurant {if shot in order} was after the wedding, the shooting of Vito, the hospital scenes, the fish in the vest, the “going to the mats”, in other words, too far into the movie to replace Michael.’
If there is one thing we know for sure is that The Godfather was NOT shot in sequence. When you have actors that appear for two minutes every half hour in the movie, they do not shuttle them (and the sets they appear in) in and out of the studio.
Weird place to grow up.
I was offered a job once with a nice greek faction of the racketeers.
Oh they didn’t word it that way, but it was bad ju ju.
I walked away.
Notice all the successful ones in the last 20 years are in cahoots with the gubmint?
Still. Fascinating stuff when it comes to character psychology.
‘Some people on this thread think Italians only look like Pacino. Some do look like Caan...’
That is true, but how many Sicilians look like Caan? In the novel Sonny is a bull-like man, swarthy, with dark black hair.
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