The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
Director:
Writers:
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Mario Puzo
Gordon Willis
Cinematography:
Producers:
Gray Frederickson
Albert Ruddy
Production Design:
Dean Tavoularis
Cast:
Don Vito Corleone
Michael Corleone
Kay Adams Corleone
Peter Clemenza
Tom Hagen
Santino "Sonny" Corleone
Constanzia "Connie" Corleone Rizzi
Police Captain McCluskey
Jack Woltz
Don Emilio Barzini
Sollozzo "The Turk"
Sal Tessio
Carlo Rizzi
Frederico "Fredo" Corleone
Ottilio Cuneo
Johnny Fontane
Mama Corleone
Luca Brasi
Paulie Gatto
Bonasera the Undertaker
Al Neri
Moe Greene
Bruno Tattaglia
Nazorine the Baker
Theresa Hagen
Phillip Tattaglia
Lucy Mancini
Sandra Corleone
Mrs Clemenza
Apollonia Corleone
Fabrizio
Don Tommasino
The Godfather Info
Marlon Brando
Al Pacino
Diane Keaton
Richard S Castellano
Robert Duvall
James Caan
Talia Shire
Sterling Hayden
John Marley
Richard Conte
Al Lettieri
Abe Vigoda
Gianni Russo
John Cazale
Rudy Bond
Al Martino
Morgana King
Lenny Montana
John Martino
Salvatore Corsitto
Richard Bright
Alex Rocco
Tony Giorgio
Vito Scotti
Tere Livrano
Victor Rendina
Jeannie Linero
Julie Gregg
Ardell Sheridan
Simonetta Stefanelli
Angelo Infanti
Corrado Gaipa
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Plot Synopsis
Don Vito Corleone is the head of a New York Mafia "family". Problems arise when a
gangster supported by another Mafia family, Sollozzo, announces his intentions to start
selling drugs all over New York. Don Vito hates the idea of drugs, although he is quite
happy with the gambling/protection rackets that make him money, so an attempt is made
on his life. Sollozzo then kidnaps one of Don Vito's advisors, and tries to make him force
Don Vito's son to agree to sell drugs, but the plan goes wrong when Sollozzo finds out that
Don Vito is still alive.
The Godfather is essentially the story of a Mafia family. Don Corleone is the head of the
family, or Godfather, as he likes to be called. All of his sons, with the exception of
Michael (Al Pacino) are involved in the family business. Sonny (James Caan) is the hotheaded, adulterous older brother who hopes to take over the family one day. Fredo (John
Cazale) is the hapless black sheep, never taken seriously by anyone but desperate to be
included in family business. Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) is the adopted son, the family
lawyer and contender for Consiglieri, the closest adviser to the Don. They have a sister,
Connie (Talia Shire- Coppola’s sister) whose wedding provides the opening scenes of the
film. Connie marries a feckless opportunist Carlo Rizzi, who is desperate to join the
powerful family for his own gains but beats his new wife.
Michael, the youngest son (Al Pacino) wants to get on with his life outside the family,
joining the army and going to university, but he is his father’s favourite and the Don wants
him to take over the family business. He even wants to marry a non- Sicilian outsider, Kay
Adams, a respectable school teacher (Diane Keaton). When an attempt is made on Don
Corleone’s life, Michael changes his mind and murders his would be assassin and the
corrupt police chief who assisted him. Now a wanted man, he hides in Sicily, the family’s
ancestral home, and marries a local Sicilian girl, Apollonia. When Apollonia is killed by the
Corleone family’s enemies, Michael returns home to take over the reins of the family
business after his father dies of a heart attack.
The Godfather Trilogy
The Godfather trilogy is the complete story of the Corleone dynasty. After the success
of The Godfather, The Godfather Part 2 tackled the dual narrative of the young Don Vito
Corleone's (Robert De Niro) arrival in America and his journey from poor immigrant to
Mafia boss, and the narrative of Michael Corleone as he takes over the family business
after Don Corleone’s death.
The Godfather Part 3 was released in 1990 and is for many Godfather fans the weakest
film of the three. It centres on Michael Corleone’s guilt and his attempt to legitimise the
family’s business.
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Francis Ford Coppola and The Godfather
The Godfather was the film that catapulted Francis Ford Coppola into the super-league of
hot new directors in Hollywood. He was a maverick, part of a new independent breed of
film makers, which included Steven Spielberg, Hal Ashby, George Lucas (Coppola’s
protégé), Robert Towne, Robert Altman, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorcese and Warren
Beatty amongst others.
Many other directors had been offered The Godfather, but had passed it over; it was then
that Coppola took the project on. The Godfather broke box office records and made
Coppola a multi-millionaire, allowing him to finance his own production company, American
Zoetrope, which would go on to produce Apocalypse Now, which the studios would not
finance.
From Book to Film
The Godfather novel was written by Mario Puzo, who was almost bankrupt prior to his novel
being acquired for film adaptation. Puzo also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola and
went on to write both sequels. Coppola did not like the book originally, he did not like the
large sections of the novel that took place in the underworld of Las Vegas; he felt they
were too meandering and long. What he did like was the power of Don Corleone, the
psychology of the character and the strange sense of honour he lived by.
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