To present the Best Picture category, Clint Eastwood took over for an ailing Charlton Heston. Eastwood and producer Albert S. Ruddy were friends, and Ruddy joked beforehand that Eastwood should just announce “And the winner for Best Picture is … Al Ruddy for The Godfather!” and then tear up the ballot and swallow it—nobody would know the difference. The night wasn’t going as well as everyone had hoped for The Godfather—in addition to Brando’s no-show, Cabaret won many of the awards, including Best Director. When Eastwood got to the podium, he opened the envelope and announced the winner: “Albert S. Ruddy, for The Godfather!” A shocked Ruddy thought for a moment that Eastwood was actually doing his friend a favor. According to Ruddy, Eastwood called him an “idiot” and showed him the ballot. The Godfather had indeed won. A footnote to the story is that thirty-two years later, Ruddy received his second Best Picture Oscar® alongside none other than Clint Eastwood, for Million Dollar Baby. “It was like closing the loop for me,” he said in an interview with the author.
PRODUCER ALBERT S. RUDDY ACCEPTS HIS FIRST BEST PICTURE OSCAR®.
Coppola was saddened to not receive the award for Best Director. In his personal journal, he framed the loss in this way: “On Losing the Oscar: Certainly, a sense of disappointment—but more because I wanted it to symbolize the end of a phase of my life; the end of the idyll of possessing a career, success, money—so that I could begin a new phase. Sort of like waiting for your bank account to be exactly seven dollars even. I wanted to walk away the complete winner; so that The Godfather: Part II would have been an appendage. Now it becomes my last chance. But NO—give that up. It’s over. It will be whatever it will be—and I will go on anyway.” (See Appendix III: Notable Awards.)
READY FOR PRIME TIME
With The Godfather’s success, it was only a matter of time before television got in on the act. NBC paid a then-record $10 million to air The Godfather over two nights in November of 1974. An estimated 42,400,000 households watched a slightly abridged version of the film.
Three years later, NBC broadcast The Godfather Saga. The four-part miniseries was a combination of The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, edited to tell the Corleone family story in mostly chronological order. It was nine hours long and included about sixty minutes of restored scenes. With 100 million viewers, it became the most-viewed movie on television.
THE GODCHILDREN: FROM FAT TONY TO TONY SOPRANO
The Godfather’s legacy is found in legions of allusions in books, movies, and television. The Internet Movie Database lists more than three hundred films and television shows that have referenced The Godfather, from Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night to You’ve Got Mail, and nearly one hundred programs with spoofs, from Revenge of the Pink Panther to Family Guy. Films as diverse as the comic Old School and the tragic Requiem for a Dream use The Godfather’s trademark orange “death cue.”
Some of the more famous spoofs include John Belushi as Vito Corleone in the Saturday Night Live skit “Godfather Therapy”; Harry Belafonte as an African-American mob boss in Uptown Saturday Night; and the Seinfeld episode “The Bris,” in which Jerry loses out to Kramer in a bid to become godfather to a newborn. Reminiscent of the film’s finale: Jerry watches the infant’s parents kissing Kramer’s hand as the door on his apartment closes. Marlon Brando reprised his character in the most directly referential film, The Freshman.
Several cast members have relished satirizing the film. Billy Crystal’s character in Analyze This has a nightmare mimicking Vito Corleone’s shooting, with the Fredo character played by Robert De Niro (who was in The Godfather: Part II). In Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character quips that he’s “standing out here with the cast of The Godfather,” while waiting in front of a movie theater with Hall (played by Diane Keaton). On the TV show Las Vegas, James Caan’s character, Ed, is pulled aside and told to speak with authority, “the way Sonny spoke to his brother in that scene from The Godfather.” Caan replies, “I’ve never seen the movie.” To which he is admonished: “Are you kidding? That movie is a classic.”
Two television programs that have made a business out of Godfather references are The Simpsons and The Sopranos. The Simpsons creators have even joked that they could re-create the entire film from snippets of their parodies. In one episode, Bart makes his clubhouse into a bachelor pad à la the Playboy Mansion, complete with actor James Caan. Caan is eventually gunned down at a tollbooth and ruefully says, “That’s it! Next time, I fly.” The horse-head scene is parodied in the “Lisa’s Pony” episode. Mo, the bartender, tells bedtime stories from The Godfather (and the real Moe Greene, Alex Rocco, voices the part of Roger Meyer on the show). Mob character Fat Tony (voiced by Joe Mantegna, who appeared in The Godfather: Part III) names his son after Michael Corleone. And the “symbolic” oranges are spoofed often, as is the final scene.
The Sopranos often alludes to The Godfather, as when mob boss Tony Soprano stops to buy orange juice just before an attempt is made on his life, but it also uses The Godfather in a subtler way—to give contextual reference to the characters. Tony, one of the old guard, loves the first two Godfathers and laments how he has come into the “business” at a time when the type of respect shown in The Godfather is at an end; “the best is over.” The young up-and-comer Christopher Moltisanti is partial to the more contemporary gangster flick Scarface. To fit in with his colleagues, Christopher quotes The Godfather—ineptly: “Lewis Brazi sleeps with the fishes.” Big Pussy corrects him exasperatedly: “LUCA Brasi, Luca!” There is a conflict inherent in the Godfather references: although The Sopranos characters revere the movie, they are also sensitive to the implicit stereotypes; Tony bemoans the Italian-American “mayonnaisers” and their queries to him about The Godfather.
“I don’t think people [at the time] realized the extraordinary alchemy: an aging star, a young actor … a lot of people in the right moment in their careers. An amazing alchemy was taking place. Making movies is a tough process but this was particularly difficult. It was a great moment in the movie business—a great era—and it all crystallized in this time. Being in the combat zone was daunting, but also absolutely thrilling. We were a little young to appreciate it, as well as being really in the thick of it, day by day. Looking back, it was such an exciting time to be around, in the middle of things. The excitement was such that it defied what you could conventionally call ‘enjoying it.’ An exciting ride—and at the time you didn’t quite realize the import of what you were doing.”
—Peter Bart, 2007
APPENDIX I: THE GODFATHER CREDITS
CAST
Vito Corleone:
Marlon Brando
Michael:
Al Pacino
Sonny:
James Caan
Clemenza:
Richard Castellano
Tom Hagen:
Robert Duvall
Capt. McCluskey:
Sterling Hayden
Jack Woltz:
John Marley
Barzini:
Richard Conte
Sollozzo:
Al Lettieri
Kay Adams:
Diane Keaton
Tessio:
Abe Vigoda
Connie:
Talia Shire
Carlo:
Gianni Russo
Fredo:
John Cazale
Cuneo:
Rudy Bond
Johnny Fontane:
Al Martino
Mama Corleone:
Morgana King
Luca Brasi:
Lenny Montana
Paulie Gatto:
John Martino
Bonasera:
Salvatore Corsitto
Neri:
Richard Bright
Moe Greene:
Alex Rocco
Bruno Tattaglia:
Tony Giorgio
Nazorine:
Vito Scotti
Theresa Hagen:
Tere Livrano
Philip Tattaglia:
V
ictor Rendina
Lucy Mancini:
Jeannie Linero
Sandra Corleone:
Julie Gregg
Mrs. Clemenza:
Ardell Sheridan
Sicilian Sequence
Apollonia:
Simonetta Stefanelli
Fabrizio:
Angelo Infanti
Don Tommasino:
Corrado Gripa
Calo:
Franco Citti
Vitelli:
Saro Urzí
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay:
Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
Producer:
Albert S. Ruddy
Director of Photography:
Gordon Willis
Production Designer:
Dean Tavoularis
Costume Designer:
Anna Hill Johnstone
Editors:
William Reynolds, Peter Zinner
Associate Producer:
Gray Frederickson
Music:
Nino Rota, conducted by Carlo Savina
Additional Music
Mall Wedding Sequence:
Carmine Coppola
Songs
“I Have But One Heart”
Johnny Farrow, Marty Symes
“Luna Mezz’ ‘O Mare”
Paolo Citarella
“Manhattan Serenade”
Louis Alter
“Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas”
Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots
“The Bells of St. Mary’s”
A.E. Adams, Douglas Furber
“All of My Life”
Irving Berlin
“Mona Lisa”
Jay Livingston, Ray Evans
Baptism Sequence
J.S. Bach
Production Recording:
Christopher Newman
Re-recording
Bud Brenzbach, Richard Portman
Art Director:
Warren Clymer
Set Decorator:
Philip Smith
Casting:
Fred Roos, Andrea Eastman, Louis Digiamo
Post Production Consultant:
Walter Murch
Makeup:
Dick Smith, Philip Rhodes
Hair Stylist:
Phil Leto
Wardrobe Supervisor:
George Newman
Women’s Wardrobe:
Marilyn Putnam
Camera Operator:
Michael Chapman
Script Continuity:
Nancy Tonery
Production Recording:
Christopher Newman
Re-recording:
Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman
Assistant to Producer:
Gary Chazan
Executive Assistant:
Robert S. Mendelsohn
Location Coordinators:
Michael Briggs, Tony Bowers
Foreign Post Production:
Peter Zinner
OAKTREE PRODUCTIONS
Unit Production Manager:
Fred Caruso
Assistant Director:
Fred Gallo
Unit Coordinator:
Robert Barth
Special Effects:
A.D. Flowers, Joe Lombardi, Sass Bedig
Location Service:
Cinemobile Systems, Inc.
Produced by:
Alfran Productions, Inc.
SICILIAN UNIT
Production Manager:
Valerio Deprolis
Assistant Director:
Tony Brandt
Assistant Art Director:
Samuel Yerts
APPENDIX II: THE GODFATHER TIMELINE
3/5/67
Paramount buys rights to Mario Puzo’s book Mafia (later renamed The Godfather), reported in the New York Times.
9/17/69
Paramount exercises their option on the film. “Paramount Pictures probably made the prime deal for a bestseller in modern film history with its $80,000 ceiling for Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.” —Variety
11/26/69
Variety headline: “Par to Produce Godfather Film”
“The studio is currently in discussions anent [sic] a producer and director for the motion picture, slated for production next year.” —Variety
3/23/70
Al Ruddy announced as producer in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
4/14/70
Mario Puzo announced as screenplay writer in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
7/70
Italian-American Civil Rights League rally against The Godfather in Madison Square Garden.
8/10/70
Puzo completes first full draft of screenplay (and mails copy to Marlon Brando).
9/2/70
Variety reports that Paramount won’t make the film in New York, the budget is set at $3 million, and that the production is besieged by “members and pseudo-members” of the Italian community. Will start production middle of November, “if all goes well.”
9/28/70
Coppola announced as director in Variety.
11/70
Filming originally scheduled to begin. Delayed to 1/2/71 with Christmas release.
1/27/71
Marlon Brando (Vito Corleone) signing announced in Variety.
2/71
Coppola leaves for London to meet with Marlon Brando, then to Italy to cast Sicily scenes. Production staff moves into offices on the Filmways Studio lot. Production start date moved to 3/29.
2/15/71
Robert Duvall (Tom Hagen) and Diane Keaton (Kay Adams) signed.
2/18/71
Richard Castellano (Pete Clemenza) and John Marley (Jack Woltz) signed. Both had just been nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscars®.
2/22/71
Coppola casting in Rome. Lunches with Vittorio De Sica. Talia Shire (Connie Corleone) signed.
2/25/71
Coppola returns to the States. Trouble with Manhasset location.
3/1/71
Puzo and Coppola complete second draft of script.
3/4/71
Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) cast. Sterling Hayden (Captain McCluskey) cast.
3/8/71
Preshooting rehearsals scheduled but have to be moved because of Pacino’s legal problems with MGM.
3/10/71
Snow machine tested. Brando’s first makeup and costume tests scheduled.
3/12/71
Pacino finally cleared to be in picture.
3/16/71
Third draft of script completed (marked 3/29/1971).
3/17/71
Brando’s first rehearsal. Informal cast “rehearsal” dinner at Patsy’s Restaurant.
3/18/71
Alex Rocco (Moe Greene) signing announced in The Hollywood Reporter.
3/19/71
Ruddy’s deal with Italian-American Civil Rights League announced.
3/23/71
First unofficial production date (with the second camera unit)—a week earlier than planned to take advantage of predicted snow. Scenes: Michael and Kay outside Best & Co., Hagen abduction outside Polk Toy Store, Michael discovering his father has been shot.
3/29/71
First day of principal photography. Scene: Michael in car with Sollozzo and McCluskey.
3/31/71
Production moved to the Bronx. Scene: Louis’ restaurant.
4/2/71
Paramount CEO Stanley Jaffe resignation, effective 8/1, announced in Variety.
4/12/71
Brando scheduled to begin shooting at 8 a.m. but misses his plane to New York.
4/13/71
Scene: Exteriors of The Don being taken from the hospital to go home.
4/15/71
43rd Academy Awards ceremony. Coppola wins for his screenplay of
Patton but doesn’t attend.
4/19/71
Scene: The Don assassination attempt.
4/21/71
Scene: Genco Abbandando’s death (does not appear in original release).
4/26/71
Scene: Bonasera’s Funeral Parlor (Bellevue Morgue).
4/27/71
Thompson and Bleecker streets location, reshooting scenes ruined at the lab: Sonny leaving Lucy Mancini’s apartment and “button men hiding out ‘at the mattresses’.”
The Annotated Godfather: The Complete Screenplay with Commentary on Every Scene, Interviews, and Little-Known Facts Page 23