What You Probably Didn't Know About The Godfather

 

Holy shit! I just realize my last What You Probably Didn't Know About was two years ago. So I think it's high time I make a new one. And what better way for a return then telling you things about one of the top classics.

1. The cat that Marlon Brando held in the opening wasn't in the script. It was actually a stray that director Francis Ford Coppola found while on the Paramount Pictures lot. Another fun fact is the cat's purring muffled some of Brando's lines and as a result most of his dialogue had to be looped.

2. The slap that Vito gives Johnny was another moment not in the script. Brando improvised it thus Al Martino's reaction was real. James Caan would later say "Martino didn't know whether to laugh or cry".

3. Francis Ford Coppola insisted on the film being titled "Mario Puzo's The Godfather" instead of just "The Godfather". The reason being his original screenplay draft was so faithful to the novel, he thought Mario Puzo deserved credit as well.

4. The line of "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli" was ab-libbed by Richard S. Castellano.

5. Stanley Kubrick thought the film had the best cast ever and could be the best movie ever made.

6. To add a sense of realism to the wedding scene, Coppola had the cast act out freely and improvise in the background. Another facts are they were only two days to shoot that scene and Coppola shot specific vignettes amongst the action.

7. George Lucas was the one would put together the crime montage aka the "Mattress Sequence" as a favor to Francis Ford Coppola for helping him fund American Graffiti. He would also ask not to be credited.

8. Francis Ford Coppola was reluctant to let his sister Talia Shire audition for the role of Connie. He felt like she was too pretty for the role and didn't want to be accused of nepotism. But the author of The Godfather himself Mario Puzo requested she get a chance to audition.

9. According to Richard S. Castellano, when he once defended Gordon Willis during a disagreement with Francis Ford Coppola, Coppola got revenge on him [Castellano] by having him do twenty takes of the shots of Clemenza walking up four flights of stairs.

10. Sergio Leone, best known for directing The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, was once approached to direct the film. But he turned it down because he felt like a story that glorified the Mafia wasn't interesting enough. He would later regret his decision, but did go on to direct his own critically acclaimed gangster film, Once Upon a Time in America.

11. Paramount Pictures originally wanted to make the movie a low-budget gangster film set in the present rather then a period piece set in the 1940s and 1950s. But Coppola rejected this along with Mario Puzo's original script based on this idea.

12. The scenes of Michael and Kay's wedding at the beginning were actually shot at night. Due to the rushed schedule, Coppola had to direct their scenes in the bag. Also during this time cinematographer Gordon Willis furious at having to set up so many lights.

13. The only comment Robert Duvall made about his performance was the he wished "they would have made a better hairpiece" for his character.

14. The immortal line of "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse", has made its way into each Godfather movie one way or another.

15. Coppola would hold improvisational rehearsal sessions that would have the main cast in character for a family meal. The actors and actresses couldn't break character, Coppola saw this as a way for the cast to organically establish the family roles in the film.

16. Orson Welles lobbied to get the role of Don Vito Corleone, he even offered to lose a good amount of weight in order to get the role. While Francis Ford Coppola is a Welles fan he had to turn him down not only because he already cast Marlon Brando in mind, but also felt like Welles wouldn't have been right for the role.

17. Peter Bart (a Paramount executive) bought the film rights to Mario Puzo's The Godfather before it was even finished. At that point it was still only a 20-page outline. His book would later be published in 1969 with filming commencing in March of 1971.

18. Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount Pictures had a huge amount of tension between them. The reason being is Paramount would frequently try to replace Coppola because they felt like he had an inability to stay on schedule, had unnecessary expenses, along with production and casting errors. In actuality Coppola had completed filming ahead of schedule and did it under budget.

19. One of the reasons why Coppola finally agreed to direct the movie was because he was in debut to Warner Bros. following a $400,000 budget overruns on George Lucas' THX 1138. George Lucas urged him to take the job.

20. Mario Puzo had no prior film experience. So after winning two Oscars for co-writing both The Godfather & The Godfather Part II, he went out and bought a screenwriting book so he could properly learn the craft. He found out that the book's first chapter told readers to "study The Godfather". He would later toss it aside.

I hoped you enjoyed this. Hopefully I can make more later on during this year. But that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Feb 14th, for my review of the newest animated movie, Goat. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.