This article is about the 1972 film.

For the novel the film is based on, see The Godfather (novel). For other uses, see Godfather.The Godfather Theatrical release poster Directed by Francis Ford Coppola Produced by Albert S. Ruddy Screenplay by Mario Puzo Francis Ford Coppola Based on The Godfather by Mario Puzo Starring Marlon Brando Al Pacino James Caan Richard S. Castellano Robert Duvall Sterling Hayden John Cazale Diane Keaton Music by Nino Rota Carmine Coppola (additional music) Cinematography Gordon Willis Editing by William H. Reynolds Peter Zinner[1] Studio Paramount Pictures Alfran Productions Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date(s) March 15, 1972 (US) Running time 175 minutes Country United States Language English Sicilian Budget $6.5 million[2] Box office $286 million The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy from a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Based on Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name, the film stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacin o as the leaders of a powerful New York crime family. The story, spanning the ye ars 1945 to 1955, centers on the transformation of Michael Corleone (Pacino) fro m reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss while also chronicling the Co rleone family under the patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando). The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema[3] a nd as one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre.[4] Now rank ed as the second greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the A merican Film Institute,[5] it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990.[6] The film was for a time the highest grossing picture ever made, and remains the box office leader for 1972. It won three Oscars that year: for Best Picture, for Best Actor (Brando) and in the category Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Co ppola. Its nominations in seven other categories included Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. The succ ess spawned two sequels: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part I II in 1990. Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Cast

3 Production 3.1 Coppola and Paramount 3.2 Casting 3.3 Filming 3.3.1 Locations 3.3.2 Music 4 Reception 4.1 Box office performance 4.2 Critical response 4.3 Awards 4.3.1 Marlon Brando and Al Pacino boycott 4.3.2 Score controversy 4.3.3 Honors 4.3.4 Current rankings 4.3.4.1 American Film Institute 5 Legacy 5.1 Cinematic influence 5.2 In popular culture 5.3 In film 5.3.1 In television 6 Releases for television and video 6.1 Restoration 6.2 Video game 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Plot[edit source | editbeta] On the day of his only daughter's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his r ole as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, M ichael, in a Marine Corps uniform, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his family at the sprawling reception. Vito's godson Johnny Fontane, a popular singe r, pleads for help in securing a coveted movie role, so Vito dispatches his cons igliere, Tom Hagen, to the abrasive studio head, Jack Woltz, to secure the casti ng. Woltz is unmoved until the morning he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion. Shortly before Christmas 1945, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Corleones' rivals, the Tattaglias, asks Vito for investment in the emerging drug trade and protection through his political connections. Vito disapproves of drug dealers, so he sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. The family then receives two fish wrapped in Brasi's vest, imparting he "sleeps with the fi shes". An assassination attempt by Sollozzo's men lands Vito in the hospital, so his eldest son, Sonny, takes command. Sollozzo kidnaps Hagen to pressure Sonny to accept his deal. Michael thwarts a second assassination attempt on his father at the hospital, but is accosted by corrupt police captain McCluskey, who break s his jaw; Sonny retaliates by having Tattaglia's son killed. Michael comes up w ith a plan to hit Sollozzo and McCluskey that his brother approves over Hagen's objections: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael lures the pair to a restaurant, retrieves a planted handgun and murders them. Despite a clampdown from the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfar e and the brothers fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and Fr edo Corleone is sheltered by associate Moe Greene in Las Vegas. Sonny attacks hi s brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister Connie. When it happ ens again, Sonny speeds for her home but assassins ambush him at a highway toll booth and riddle him with machine gun fire. Vito is saddened to learn that, despite his hopes, Michael has become involved i n the family business. However, Michael has fallen in love with Apollonia Vitell

i and married her in Sicily. His euphoria is shattered when a car bomb intended for him takes the life of his new wife. To end the feuds, Vito meets with the heads of the Five Families, withdrawing hi s opposition to the Tattaglias' heroin business and swearing to forgo revenge fo r Sonny's murder. He deduces that the Tattaglias were under orders of the now do minant Don Emilio Barzini. With his safety guaranteed, Michael returns home and over a year later marries Kay. His father at the end of his career and his survi ving brother too weak, Michael takes the reins of the family and promises his wi fe to make it legitimate within five years. Biding his time, Michael allows rival families to pressure Corleone enterprises even as he plans to move family operations to Nevada, while delegating New York operations to members who stay behind. Hagen, upset when Michael replaces him wi th Vito, is mollified by the older man's reassurance about their long-range plan s for him. When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the fa mily's casinos, Greene derides the Corleones as a fading power. To add injury to insult, Michael sees Fredo falling under Greene's sway. Vito collapses and dies in his garden while playing with Michael's son, Anthony. At the funeral, caporegime Salvatore Tessio arranges a meeting between Michael and Don Barzini, signalling his treachery as Vito had warned. The meeting is set for the same day as the christening of Connie's son, to whom Michael will stand as godfather. As the christening proceeds, Corleone assassins, acting on Michae l's orders, murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is told that M ichael is aware of his betrayal and taken off to his death. After Carlo is quest ioned by Michael on his involvement in setting up Sonny's murder and confesses h e was contacted by Barzini, caporegime Peter Clemenza kills him with a wire garr ote. Michael is confronted by Connie, who accuses him of having her husband kill ed. He denies killing Carlo when questioned by Kay, an answer she accepts. As Ka y watches warily, Michael receives his capos, who address him as the new Don Cor leone. Cast[edit source | editbeta] Al Pacino as Michael Corleone and Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone. Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, formerly known as Vito Andolini, who is the Don (the "boss") of the Corleone family. He is a native Sicilian married to Carmela Corleone. Vito is the father of Santino (Sonny), Federico (Fredo), Michele (Mich ael) and Costanza (Connie). Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the Don's youngest son, recently returned from Wo rld War II. The only college-educated member of the family, Michael initially wa nts nothing to do with the "family business". He is the main protagonist of the story and his evolution from doe-eyed outsider to ruthless boss is the key plotl ine of the film. James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Don Corleone's hot-headed eldest son. As underboss, he is being groomed to succeed his father as head of the Corleone fa mily. Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza, a caporegime for the Corleone family. H e is also an old friend of Vito Corleone and Salvatore Tessio. Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's informally adopted son, he is the fam ily lawyer and consigliere (counselor). Unlike the Corleones, he is of German-Ir ish descent, not Sicilian. Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone, initially Michael's non-Italian girlfriend a nd then his second wife and the mother of his two children. John Cazale as Fredo Corleone, the middle son of the Corleone family. Deeply ins ecure and not very bright, he is considered the weakest of the Corleone brothers . Talia Shire as Costanza "Connie" Corleone, the youngest child and only daughter of the Corleone family. She marries Carlo Rizzi at the beginning of the film. Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, a caporegime for the family. He is also an old f

riend of Vito Corleone and Peter Clemenza. Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, a heroin dealer associated with the T attaglia family. He asks Don Corleone to protect the Tattaglia family's heroin b usiness through his political connections. Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi, Introduced to the Corleone family by Sonny; became Connie's husband. Ultimately he betrays Sonny to the Barzini family. Sterling Hayden as Captain McCluskey, a corrupt police captain on Sollozzo's pay roll. Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, a loyal enforcer utilized by Vito Corleone. Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini, Don of the Barzini family. Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, a world-famous popular singer and godson of Vito, loosely based on Frank Sinatra. John Marley as Jack Woltz, a powerful Hollywood producer. Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, a longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel, based on Bugsy Siegel. Morgana King as Carmela Corleone, Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michae l, and Connie, and adoptive mother to Tom Hagen. Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, an old friend of Vito Corleone, who shelters Mic hael during his exile in Sicily. Johnny Martino as Paulie Gatto, a soldier under Peter Clemenza and Vito's driver . Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia, Don of the Tattaglia family. Tony Giorgio as Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss. Sonny Corleone has him assas sinated in retaliation for the shooting of Vito Corleone. Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, a young girl Michael meets a nd marries while in Sicily. Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi, Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit. Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, a soldier under Clemenza who eventually becomes a c aporegime in the Corleone family. Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, a soldier in the Corleone family. Richard Bright as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's personal bodyguard who eventually becomes a caporegime. Julie Gregg as Sandra Corleone, the wife and, later, widow of Sonny. Jeannie Linero as Lucy Mancini, Sonny's mistress. Sofia Coppola (uncredited) as Michael Francis Rizzi, godchild of Michael Corleon e. Production[edit source | editbeta] Coppola and Paramount[edit source | editbeta] Coppola was not Paramount Pictures' first choice to direct. Italian director Ser gio Leone was offered the job first, but he declined in order to direct his own gangster opus, Once Upon a Time in America, which focused on Jewish-American gan gsters.[7] Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer and made What's Up, Doc? instead. Robert Evans, head of Paramount at the time, s pecifically wanted an Italian-American to direct the film because his research h ad shown that previous films about the Mafia that were directed by non-Italians had fared dismally at the box office, and he wanted to, in his own words, "smell the spaghetti".[8] When Coppola hit upon the idea of making it a metaphor for A merican capitalism, coupled with his Sicilian and Italian heritage, he was offer ed the assignment. In the interview in 1997 which accompanies the 25th Anniversa ry Edition box set[9] Coppola comments, "They wanted to make it at a very inexpe nsive budget, which was probably why I was hired. I was young; I had two childre n and a baby on the way. I didn't have any money really. So, I was swept along ( pause) by the studio basically wanting to make this film." At that time, Coppola had directed five feature films, the most notable of which was the adaptation o although he had also received an Academy Aw f the stage musical Finian's Rainbow ard for co-writing Patton in 1970.[10] Coppola was in debt to Warner Bros. for $ 400,000 following budget overruns on George Lucas's THX 1138, which Coppola had produced, and he took The Godfather on Lucas's advice.[11][12]

There was intense friction between Coppola and Paramount, and several times Copp ola was almost replaced. As early as the first week, Coppola was nearly fired wh en Pacino was badly injured, delaying production. Paramount maintains that its s kepticism was due to a rocky start to production, though Coppola believes that t he first week went extremely well. The studio thought that Coppola failed to sta y on schedule, frequently made production and casting errors, and insisted on un necessary expenses, and two producers unsuccessfully tried to convince another f ilmmaker to take Coppola's place. The producers scapegoated the other filmmaker when their attempt to fire Coppola became known. Because the producers told him that the other filmmaker had attempted a coup, Coppola says he was shadowed by a replacement director, who was ready to take over if Coppola was fired. Despite such intense pressure, he managed to defend his decisions and avoid being replac ed.[12] Coppola would later recollect:[13] The Godfather was a very unappreciated movie when we were making it. They were v ery unhappy with it. They didn't like the cast. They didn't like the way I was s hooting it. I was always on the verge of getting fired. So it was an extremely n ightmarish experience. I had two little kids, and the third one was born during that. We lived in a little apartment, and I was basically frightened that they d idn't like it. They had as much as said that, so when it was all over I wasn't a t all confident that it was going to be successful, and that I'd ever get anothe r job. Paramount was in financial trouble at the time of production and was desperate f or a "big hit" to boost business, hence the pressure Coppola faced during filmin g. They wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola added a few mor e violent scenes to keep the studio happy. The scene in which Connie smashes cro ckery after finding out Carlo has been cheating was added for this reason.[12] The film was originally budgeted for $2 million, and was scripted as a modern ad aptation. However, when Coppola got his hands on the script, he was adamant that it be set in the same time period as the book, from 1945 to 1955. This required a large number of second unit shots, some of which embarrassed Coppola at the t ime.[12] Screenwriter Robert Towne did uncredited work on the script, in particular the P acino-Brando tomato garden scene.[14] Casting[edit source | editbeta] Coppola's casting choices were unpopular with studio executives at Paramount, pa rticularly Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone. Coppola's first two choices for t he role were Brando and Laurence Olivier, but Olivier's agent refused the role, saying, "Lord Olivier is not taking any jobs. He's very sick. He's gonna die soo n and he's not interested" (Olivier lived 18 years after the refusal). Paramount wanted Ernest Borgnine and refused to accept Brando because he had delayed prod uction on his recent films. Coppola was told by Paramount president Stanley Jaff e that "Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture." One studio exec utive proposed Danny Thomas for the role since Don Corleone was a strong "family man". After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando on ly if he accepted a lower salary than for his previous films, performed a screen -test, and put up a bond insuring that he would not cause any delays in producti on.[15] Coppola chose Brando over Borgnine on the basis of his screen test, whic h also won over the Paramount leadership. Charles Bluhdorn in particular was cap tivated by Brando's screen test; when he saw it, he exclaimed, "What are we watc hing? Who is this old guinea?" Brando later won an Academy Award for his portray al, which he refused to accept in order to call attention to harmful Hollywood s tereotypes of Native Americans.[16][17] The studio originally wanted Robert Redford or Ryan O'Neal to play Michael Corle

one, but Coppola wanted an unknown who looked like an Italian-American, whom he found in Al Pacino.[12] Pacino was not well known at the time, having appeared i n only two minor films, and the studio did not consider him right for the part,[ 15] in part because of his height. Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Warren Beatty , Martin Sheen, and James Caan also auditioned.[15] At one point, Caan was the f irst choice to play Michael, while Carmine Caridi was signed as elder brother So nny. Pacino was given the role only after Coppola threatened to quit the product ion; Caan stated that Coppola envisioned Michael to be the Sicilian-looking one and Sonny was the Americanized version. The studio agreed to Pacino on the condi tion that Caan was cast as Sonny instead of Caridi, despite the former's Jewish heritage and the latter closely matching the character in the novel (a six-footfour, black-haired Italian-American bull). Coppola and Puzo would subsequently c reate a role for Caridi in the sequels.[18] Bruce Dern, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen were considered for the role of Tom H agen that eventually went to Robert Duvall. Sylvester Stallone auditioned for Ca rlo Rizzi and Paulie Gatto, Anthony Perkins for Sonny, and Mia Farrow auditioned for Kay. William Devane was seen for the role of Moe Greene. Mario Adorf was ap proached for a role as well. A then-unknown Robert De Niro auditioned for the ro les of Michael, Sonny, Carlo, and Paulie. He was cast as Paulie, but Coppola arr anged a "trade" with The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight to get Al Pacino from that film. De Niro later played the young Vito Corleone in Part II, winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the role. To some extent, the film was a family affair for Francis Ford Coppola. Carmine C oppola, his father, who had a distinguished career as a composer, conductor and arranger, wrote additional music for the film and appeared in a bit part as a pi ano player, and Carmine's wife, Italia Coppola, was an extra. The director's sis ter, Talia Shire, was cast as Connie Corleone, and his infant daughter, Sofia, p layed Connie's and Carlo's newborn son, Michael Francis Rizzi, in the climactic baptism scene near the movie's end.[19] Coppola also cast his sons as Tom Hagen' s sons, Frank and Andrew. They are seen in the Sonny-Carlo street fight scene an d behind Pacino and Duvall during the funeral scene.