Posted on 09/22/2009 4:15:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Just like the film, the making of 'The Godfather was an ugly story of fear and dysfunction.
What was the formula that made The Godfather one of the most successful films of all time? Surely it would take an unusually harmonious combination of talents working in concert, a rare balance of commercial entertainment and artistic challenge, a run of luck those involved couldnt miss.
Related Articles The Godfather - memorable lines But all wasnt plain sailing on Francis Ford Coppolas film in 1972. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, winning three, and on its $6 million budget grossed $101million for Paramount within 18 weeks of release. As the film gets a welcome cinematic re-release in a beautiful restoration, it is timely to dive into the swirling mists of legend and recall how far it was from a sure thing. It was the most miserable film I can think of to make, declares its producer, Al Ruddy. Nobody enjoyed one day of it. Coppola agrees: It was just non-stop anxiety and wondering when I was going to get fired. The novel by Mario Puzo could easily not have been written: eight publishers passed on the outline for a would-be best-seller pitched by a middle-ranking, mid-forties writer with a bad gambling habit and big debts. Only bumping into a friend had led to his actually writing The Godfather. Its 67 weeks topping the New York Times best-seller list surprised everyone.
Paramount bought an option when Puzo had only written 100 pages, for a mere $12,500, rising to $50,000 if the novel was filmed. But maybe if were to credit Paramounts head of production Robert Evans Paramount very nearly didnt acquire it. There was a bidding war: they were one day away from Burt Lancaster buying The Godfather, and Burt wanted
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
It was so bad the commissary made him eat the gun, and let the cannoli go to waste.
"In between his stints in Washington, Emanuel got rich working as an investment banker. He once sat on the board of Freddie Mac and recuses himself from any Congressional votes on the mortgage giant."
"Has been known to send out cheesecakes from Eli's Bakery in Chicago to campaign donors and the many Democratic candidates he has recruited over the years. Once, when a pollster made him angry, Emanuel sent him a dead fish."
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856965,00.html
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(Sonny opens a package to find two fish wrapped in Luca's bulletproof vest.)
Sonny: What the hell is this?
Pete Clemenza: It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Godfather
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YouTube video clip: "Leave the gun. Take the cheesecake cannoli" (8 second clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EJnEXuUR54&NR=1
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[prosecutor] Fitzgerald: "In the governor words -- governor's words, quote, 'Fire all those bleeping people. Get them the bleep out of there. And get us some editorial support', close quote."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/us/politics/09text-illinois.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
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MICHAEL CORLEONE:
Tom, wait a minute. I'm talking about a cop -- that's mixed up in drugs. I'm talking about a... a dishonest cop -- a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him. That's a terrific story. And we have newspaper people on the payroll, don't we, Tom?
[Hagen nods in the affirmative]
http://www.jgeoff.com/godfather/gf1/transcript/gf1transcript.html<
ping
I love that movie and part II. Part III I’ve seen, and I admit I enjoyed it, but it probably shouldn’t have been made.
bookmark
The movie was great, but the book was even better. I’ll bet I read it three or four times.
The best line in the book never made it to the movie. The Godfather: “A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.”
It holds up well.
The AMC in town plays classics in the fall. The Godfather is on the list of movies. I’m very excited.
One thing from the article. I thought the surviving test footage of Robert De Niro was him testing for Sonny and not Michael.
It is funny to think that this is from the age of directors having more control over the films they made compared to today.
A crazy thing about the Godfather book is the long plot element about a woman with a distressing genital issue. (Sonny’s the only one in the world gifted enough to help her - nudge nudge, wink wink.)
It was briefly alluded to in a wordless way in the movie, during the wedding reception.
Well, Coppola was certainly wrong on that part about her being "too pretty".
The real reason she got the part, according to Jenny Jones excellent book, "The Godfather: The Annotated Complete Script", was that Coppola thought he was going to be fired, so he gave her the part so as to keep a few bucks in the family.
Sounds like another (great) Coppola film, Apocalypse Now.
Ya shudda come to me first, I cudda helped you.
Like the scene in the garden when Godfather dies - he puts the orange peel in his mouth and scares the grandson by making a face. That was completely ad lib and the kid's reaction is genuine. That's why Brando swoops him up in his arms so quickly.
The picture you posted above, for example. The cat was a stray that was on the set. The crew began feeding it and Brando used it to give him a touch of tenderness.
Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) below. He was an ex professional wrestler watching them shoot on location. Coppola thought he was one scary looking guy and put him in the movie. In the scene pictured below was accomplished at Montana's suggestion. He is doing a training exercise he learned as a wrestler. The part of him practicing his lines? That was real, he was not a pro and was nervous.
There are literally dozen's of other little things like those mentioned here that added up to the two best movies ever, IMHO.
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