The Annotated Godfather: The Complete Screenplay with Commentary on Every Scene, Interviews, and Little-Known Facts
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ANATOMY OF A SCENE: GENCO ABBANDANDO’S DEATHBED
On April 21, at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, the production filmed a significant scene that was written into the shooting script prior to production, but does not appear in the 1972 movie. After the wedding, Vito Corleone, along with his sons and Johnny Fontane, visit the Don’s ailing wartime consigliere Genco Abbandando, played by Franco Corsaro. In the novel, young Vito boarded with the Abbandando family on their way to America. He worked in their grocery store in Hell’s Kitchen before being ousted by the nephew of a neighborhood Mafioso.
At the end of the scene, the Don stays with Genco, as Puzo writes, “holding his hand and whispering things we cannot hear, as they wait for death.” According to the novel, Genco dies in the middle of the night. The Don tells Hagen he is the new consigliere. This is a tremendous break in tradition, for the adopted Tom Hagen is not a full-blooded Sicilian. The scene was included in The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980.
HAGEN
The hospital called. Consigliere Genco, he’s not going to last out the night.
DON CORLEONE
Santino, go tell your brothers that I want them to come with me to visit Genco; pay their respects. Tell Fredo to drive the big car.
SONNY
Pop, uh, Michael?
DON CORLEONE
All my sons.
EXT DAY: MALL
Silence.
HIGH ANGLE ON THE MALL, late day. The GUESTS are gone. A single black car is in the courtyard.
MED SHOT: THE DON looks at MICHAEL outside the car.
DON CORLEONE
Will your American girlfriend get back to the city all right?
MICHAEL
Tom said he’d take her in.
They get into the car.
INT DAY: HOSPITAL CORRIDOR
A long, white hospital corridor, at the end of which we can see a group of FIVE WOMEN, some old and some young, but all plump and dressed in black.
DON CORLEONE, his SONS, and JOHNNY FONTANE move toward the end. But then MICHAEL stops to take a drink from a drinking fountain, and THE DON slows. The two look at each other, and THE DON gestures toward MICHAEL’s uniform.
DON CORLEONE
What are all these Christmas ribbons for?
MICHAEL
For bravery.
DON CORLEONE
What miracles you do for strangers.
MICHAEL starts to leave.
DON CORLEONE
Just a minute, Michael, I want to talk to you. What are your plans when you get out?
MICHAEL
Finish school.
DON CORLEONE
That’s fine. I approve of that. Michael, you never come to me as a son should. You know that, don’t you? But when you finish school I want you to come and talk to me, because I have plans for you. You understand?
Slaps face gently.
MICHAEL
Sure.
FRANCO COSARO PLAYS CONSIGLIERE GENCO ABBANDANDO IN A SCENE THAT DID NOT APPEAR IN THE ORIGINAL RELEASE OF THE FILM.
INT DAY: HOSPITAL ROOM
DON CORLEONE enters the hospital room and moves closest to OUR VIEW. He is followed by his SONS and JOHNNY.
DON CORLEONE
(whispered)
Genco, Genco, I’ve brought all my boys to pay their respects—even Johnny from Hollywood.
GENCO is a tiny, wasted skeleton of a man. DON CORLEONE takes his bony hand.
GENCO
Godfather, Godfather, it is your daughter’s wedding day, you cannot refuse me. Cure me, you have the power.
DON CORLEONE
Genco, I have no such power. Don’t be afraid of death.
GENCO
It has been arranged then?
DON CORLEONE
You blaspheme. Resign yourself.
GENCO
You need your old consigliere. Who will replace me?
(suddenly)
Stay, stay with me, Godfather. Help me to meet death. If he sees you, he will be frightened and leave me in peace. You can say a word, pull a few strings, eh? Stay with me, Godfather. Don’t betray me.
THE DON motions all the others to leave the room. They do.
ADAPTATION AND THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
At this juncture in the narrative, there are many minor interludes that were written into the pre-film shooting script. Some scenes and shots that do not appear in the 1972 film:
Tom Hagen on the airplane to California
Carlo and Connie’s wedding night
Sonny visiting Lucy Mancini’s apartment
A close-up of Don Corleone thinking
Michael and Kay on a train to New Hampshire
Luca Brasi taking the subway to his meeting with Tattaglia
Don Corleone embracing Hagen as his new consigliere
THE NUTS AND BOLTS: PRODUCTION DETAIL
The Woltz International Pictures lot is actually Paramount’s lot on Marathon Street at Bronson Avenue in Hollywood. This was not production designer Dean Tavoularis’s choice—he detested the look of it, and had even suggested the Warner Bros. lot as an alternative—but it was used for budgetary reasons. It was also the location for the Paramount backlot scenes in Sunset Boulevard.
COPPOLA’S NOTES ON THE WOLTZ SCENES, IN “THE GODFATHER NOTEBOOK.”
FADE IN:
EXT DAY: AIRFIELD
A plane touches down for landing.
DISSOLVE TO:
Overhead shot of Hollywood.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAY: WOLTZ STUDIOS
Studio front gate displays: “WOLTZ INTERNATIONAL PICTURES.”
Cab pulls up, HAGEN exits.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAY: STUDIO LOT
HAGEN, carrying a briefcase, walks across the lot.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAY: LOT ALLEYWAY
HAGEN walks through an alleyway and enters sound stage.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT DAY: Stage 7
MAN
You need a little more heat on that arc.
JACK WOLTZ kisses a young starlet in front of a group as flashbulbs pop, then turns his attention to HAGEN, standing in the background. An ASSISTANT holds papers for WOLTZ to sign while they talk.
“I like the idea of Tom with a big shot, where you can’t even sit down with him. You have to catch him between his other things. Talk-to-me-while-I-am-taking-a-walk kind of thing. And that really puts Tom in second place.”
—Coppola, in a preproduction crew meeting
WOLTZ
All right, start talking.
HAGEN
I was sent by a friend of Johnny Fontane. This friend is my client—he would give his undying friendship to Mr. Woltz if Mr. Woltz would grant us a small … favor.
WOLTZ
(not looking up)
Woltz is listening.
HAGEN
Give Johnny the part in that new war film you’re starting next week.
WOLTZ looks at the ASSISTANT with raised eyebrows and chuckles. He finishes signing papers and takes HAGEN by the arm, leading him on a walk through the sound stage toward the exit.
WOLTZ
Huh! And what favor would your friend grant Mr. Woltz?
HAGEN
You’re gonna have some union problems; my client could make them disappear. Also one o’ your top stars has just moved from marijuana to heroin.
They reach the door. WOLTZ turns to face HAGEN suddenly.
WOLTZ
Are you trying to muscle me?
HAGEN
Absolutely not. I’ve come to ask a service for a friend.
WOLTZ
(interrupts)
Now you listen to me, you smooth-talkin’ son of a bitch! Let me lay it on the line for you and your boss, whoever he is. Johnny Fontane will never get that movie! I don’t care how many dago, guinea, wop, grease-ball goombahs come out of the woodwork.
ADAPTATION AND THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
Puzo’s novel doesn�
�t pull any punches with Woltz’s dialogue. He yells: “I don’t care how many guinea Mafia goombahs come out of the woodwork,” and “That’s the Mafia style,” and “if that Mafia goombah tries any rough stuff …” (italics added). The term Mafia doesn’t appear in the film.
HAGEN
(calmly)
I’m German-Irish.
WOLTZ
Well, let me tell ya something, my Kraut-Mick friend. I’m gonna make so much trouble for you, you won’t know what hit you.
HAGEN
Mr. Woltz, I’m a lawyer. I have not threatened you.
WOLTZ
I know almost every big lawyer in New York; who the hell are you?
HAGEN
I have a special practice. I handle one client. Now, you have my number; I’ll wait for your call.
HAGEN moves to shake WOLTZ’s hand.
HAGEN
By the way, I admire your pictures very much.
HAGEN exits. The ASSISTANT moves to WOLTZ’s side.
WOLTZ
Check ‘im out.
ADAPTATION AND THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
One line in the novel was so beloved by Puzo he used it twice—first as “A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns” and second as “Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks.” He was adamant about its inclusion in the film, but it is never uttered. It did appear in the shooting script, in a scene where the Don embraces Tom Hagen as his new consigliere, but Brando considered it preachy and dissuaded Coppola from using it. Puzo was so annoyed by its exclusion that he used the quote on the frontis page of his book The Godfather Papers: and Other Confessions.
THE NUTS AND BOLTS: PRODUCTION DETAIL
The Hollywood scenes demonstrate the tightness of the film’s budget. For the long exterior shots of Tom Hagen entering the studio lot, and of Hagen and Woltz walking around the grounds, the second unit filmed extras with wigs and hats to avoid having to pay actors Robert Duvall and John Marley. The actual backstage of the Corleone house set served as the set for the backstage of Woltz International Pictures. The horse stable scenes were also shot on a studio set with the second unit filming.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAY: JACK WOLTZ ESTATE
A car drives up a winding road and enters an opulent estate. Overhead shot of the car approaching the house. It stops, and HAGEN exits.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAY: WOLTZ GARDENS
HAGEN and WOLTZ comfortably stroll along beautiful formal gardens, martinis in hand.
HAGEN
It’s really beautiful.
WOLTZ
Well, look at this. It used to decorate the palace of a king.
HAGEN
Yeah. Very nice.
WOLTZ
Why didn’t you say you work for Corleone, Tom? I thought you were just some cheap, two-bit hustler Johnny was running in tryin’ to bluff me.
HAGEN
I don’t like to use his name unless it’s really necessary.
WOLTZ
How’s your drink, Tom?
HAGEN
Fine.
They cross the garden and head toward the stables.
WOLTZ
Hey, come on over here with me, I want to show you something really beautiful. You do appreciate beauty, don’t you?
THE NUTS AND BOLTS: PRODUCTION DETAIL
Exterior shots of the Woltz estate are actually Greenacres, the Beverly Hills estate of silent film star Harold Lloyd. Interior scenes were shot at the Guggenheim estate on Sands Point Preserve in Long Island. Guards had to be hired for the priceless art. And, needless to say, the bed was a rental.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT DAY: STABLES
They come to rest by a stall. Two GROOMS lead out a horse.
WOLTZ
There you are—six hundred thousand dollars on four hoofs. I’ll bet Russian czars never paid that kinda dough for a single horse.
The animal is truly beautiful. WOLTZ whispers to him with true love in his voice, stroking his face.
“Woltz must be plausible; as Hitcho said, good villains make good movies. He is bigger than life, but we believe him, and see that he has other areas to him. His love for Khartoum, real love …”
—Coppola’s notebook
WOLTZ
Khartoum … Khartoum. I’m not gonna race him, though. I’m gonna put him out to stud.
(to GROOM)
Thanks, Tony.
GROOM
Welcome. Come on.
WOLTZ
Let’s get somethin’ to eat, huh?
HAGEN and WOLTZ exit.
BEHIND THE SCENES
In 1885, General Charles Gordon, British commander of Khartoum (the capital of Sudan), was attempting to evacuate Egyptian forces from the area when rebels beheaded him. The Mahdi Mohammed Ahmed’s soldiers hoisted his decapitated head on a pike as a declaration of victory.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT NIGHT: WOLTZ DINING ROOM
HAGEN and WOLTZ sit at an enormous dining room table, attended by SEVERAL SERVANTS. Great paintings hang on the walls. The meal is elaborate and sumptuous. A bowl of oranges is a centerpiece.
GOOFS, GAFFES, AND BLOOPERS
In the dinner scene, the waiter fills Tom’s empty glass twice in rapid succession, from two different angles.
HAGEN
… Corleone is Johnny’s godfather. To the Italian people, that’s a very religious, sacred, close relationship.
WOLTZ
I respect it. Just tell him he should ask me anything else. But this is one favor I can’t give ‘im.
HAGEN
He never asks a second favor when he’s been refused the first. Understood?
WOLTZ
You don’t understand. Johnny Fontane never gets that movie. That part is perfect for ‘im. It’ll make him a big star. I’m gonna run him outta the business! And let me tell you why.
WOLTZ stands up and walks over to HAGEN, leaning on the table as he speaks. HAGEN continues to eat.
Johnny Fontane ruined one of Woltz International’s most valuable protégées. For five years we had her under training—singing lessons, acting lessons, dancing lessons; I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ‘er—
(gesturing emphatically)
I was gonna make ‘er a big star. And let me be even more frank—just to show you that I’m not a hard-hearted man, that it’s not all dollars and cents. She was beautiful! She was young; she was innocent! She was the greatest piece of ass I ever had, and I’ve had ‘em all over the world! And then Johnny Fontane comes along with his olive-oil voice and guinea charm, and she runs off. She threw it all away just to make me look ridiculous! AND A MAN IN MY POSITION CAN’T AFFORD TO BE MADE TO LOOK RIDICULOUS!! Now you get the hell outta here! And if that goombah tries any rough stuff, you tell him I ain’t no bandleader.
HAGEN reacts.
WOLTZ
Yeah. I heard that story.
HAGEN
Thank you for the dinner and a very pleasant evening.
HAGEN stands up to leave.
HAGEN
Maybe your car could take me to the airport. Mr. Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately.
HAGEN exits.
ADAPTATION AND THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR
In the novel, when pleading his case to the Don, Johnny explicitly explains why Woltz doesn’t like him. Coppola changed this, preferring to have the explanation come from Woltz’s tirade. This adjustment underscores the key line of the scene: “A man in my position can’t afford to look ridiculous.” Don Corleone makes him look exactly that in the next scene where Woltz discovers Khartoum’s head in his bed.
“If the audience does not jump out of their seat on this one, you have failed. Too much in the Corman horror film tradition would also be a mistake. One must find the perfect balance of horror without losing the thread of the overall film. Deliver it and get out.”
—Copp
ola’s notebook
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT DAWN: WOLTZ ESTATE
LONG SHOT of the house and pool.
DISSOLVE TO:
Pan over house and courtyard and up to a second-story window.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT DAY: WOLTZ’S BEDROOM
It is a large bedroom, dominated by a huge bed, in which a man, presumably WOLTZ, is sleeping. Soft light bathes the room from the large windows. We move closer to him until we see his face, and recognize JACK WOLTZ. He turns uncomfortably, mutters, feels something strange in his bedsheets. Something wet.
He wakens, feels the sheets with displeasure; they are wet. He looks at his hand; the wetness is blood. He is frightened, pulls aside the covers, and sees fresh blood on his sheets and pajamas. He grunts, pulls the sheets off further, and is terrified to see a great puddle of blood in his bed. He feels his own body frantically, moving down, following the blood, until he is face-to-face with the great, severed head of Khartoum lying at the foot of his bed. The blood comes from the hacked neck. White, reedy tendons show. He struggles up to his elbows in the puddle of blood to see more clearly. Froth covers the muzzle, and the enormous eyes of the animal are yellowed and covered with blood.
Finally, and suddenly, an ear-splitting scream of pure terror escapes from WOLTZ, who is rocking on his hands and knees in an uncontrolled fit, blood all over him.
WOLTZ
Oh God …
A REAL HORSE HEAD AND LOTS OF KARO SYRUP MADE FOR A FRIGHTENING AND MEMORABLE SCENE.
KHARTOUM’S DEMISE
“That horse’s head thing was strictly from Sicilian folklore, only they nailed the head of your favorite dog to your door as the first warning if you didn’t pay the money. They were great believers in collecting money before doing the job.”
—Mario Puzo, in an interview with Terry Gross, National Public Radio, 1996
Coppola did not appreciate the novel’s gruesome horse-head scene but recognized that it was too famous to delete—the audience would be disappointed if it wasn’t done, and done right. However, animal rights activists protested the scene’s inclusion. The crew first tried to use a stuffed horse’s head, but it looked fake and dusty. So they eventually procured one from a pet food slaughterhouse in New Jersey. Coppola contemptuously shrugged off the concerns, afterward saying in a Variety interview: “There were many people killed in that movie, but everyone worries about the horse. It was the same on the set. When the head arrived, it upset crew members who are animal lovers, who like little doggies. What they didn’t know is that we got the head from a pet food manufacturer who slaughters two hundred horses a day just to feed those little doggies.”