At the request of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, the producer of the film The Godfather has eliminated all references to the Mafia and Cosa Nostra from the screenplay, which is based on the best-selling novel about a Mafia family.
Al Ruddy, the producer, also confirmed in an interview that proceeds from the premiere of the film would go to the League. The film begins shooting in 10 days and is expected to be released around Christmas.
Mr. Ruddy announced the changes at a news conference yesterday in the office of the League, at 635 Madison Avenue. He said the changes had come out of several meetings with League representatives, including Anthony Colombo, whose father, Joseph Colombo Sr., is a reputed leader of organized crime in Brooklyn.
“They wanted to sit down with us and see if the movie was going to be an anti-Italian film,” Mr. Ruddy said. “We looked at the script together.”
All that was removed, he added, were three mentions of the crime syndicate.
Mr. Ruddy said yesterday: “We did not have to compromise the book or the script to do what we felt they [the representatives of the League] wanted. I wouldn’t do that for anybody.”
Mr. Ruddy said the carefully delineated ethnic flavor of the novel would be preserved in the film, which is to be shot on location in New York, Sicily, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The Italian names of the characters have not been changed.
In place of the words “Mafia” and “Cosa Nostra,” the crime syndicate will be referred to in the film as “the five families” and other non-Italian phrases.
“If you liked the book,” Mr. Ruddy assured an interviewer, “you’ll love the movie.”
In the past, the Italian-American Civil Rights League has picketed organizations and businesses, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which it feels have discriminated against Italians by linking them as an ethnic group with organized crime.
Last June 29, tens of thousands of its supporters participated in a rally at Columbus Circle organized by the League to combat the use of the term “Mafia.”
As the result of the League’s protest, Attorney General John N. Mitchell last summer ordered Justice Department officials to stop using the terms “Mafia” and “Cosa Nostra.”
The above excerpts are taken from a story in The New York Times.
“Ruddy’s deal” is the subject of many conversations throughout the day, and the production staff reacts with cynicism or dismay. Nothing is mentioned in the Times about what the League has agreed to in return for the concessions granted by the Godfather producer. Around the office it is no secret that we are now getting the go-ahead to use certain locations in the New York area that had been impossible or difficult to “lock in” as filming sites. Godfather location coordinators knew that the League had been spreading the word not to cooperate in the making of the film.
Tuesday, March 23rd, the Times came out with the following editorial:
YES, MR. RUDDY, THERE IS A …
To imply that any ethnic, national or racial group is particularly prone to criminal or antisocial deeds is despicable. It is also—as the melting pot of crime in America shows—simply not supportable by facts.
It is one thing, however, to oppose such irrational smears but quite another to deny that some illegal associations or rings are led or dominated members of certain ethnic or nationality groups. This is why the efforts of the Italian American Civil Rights League in fighting not the Mafia but all references to its existence are so deplorably misguided. The latest chapter in that incredible campaign to make the Mafia disappear by expunging the term from the American language is the League’s success in persuading Al Ruddy, producer of the motion picture The Godfather, to censor the forbidden word.
State Senator John J. Marchi of Staten Island showed both political courage and common sense in describing this hypocritical, craven act of “voluntary” self-censorship as “a monstrous insult to millions upon millions of loyal Americans of Italian extraction.” What Senator Marchi clearly implied was that the overwhelming majority of Italian-Americans have no need to buy self-respect and the esteem of their fellow Americans by pretending that the Mafia never existed. As Mr. Marchi, of Italian extraction himself, put it: “Yes, Mr. Ruddy, there might just be a Mafia…”
The League could render its most constructive service if it were to join with Americans of all nationalities and races in opposing the Mafia, instead of trying to render it invisible by making it unmentionable.
The next day (March 24th) the following front-page article in Variety was more explicit than the Times in detailing the League’s part in the pact, which included “goodwill benefits,” “public relations” and “cooperation” extended toward the Godfather production:
PAR REPUDIATES ITALO-AM. GROUP VS. “GODFATHER”
Paramount Pictures is “taking great umbrage” at the publicity—they call it notoriety—attendant to that press conference in the office the Italian-American Civil Rights League in New York, last Friday (19). Calling the confab between Albert S. Ruddy, producer of The Godfather, as “completely unauthorized,” a Par spokesman stated the company “will go along with the elimination of the terms ‘Mafia’ and ‘Cosa Nostra’ ” from the Mario Puzo–Francis Ford Coppola screenplay, based on Puzo’s smash bestseller per U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell’s previous directive to the Justice Department to drop these terms.
“It is still up in the air,” says the Par exec, about that first-night benefit for the Italian-American Civil Rights League, which might indicate that Par (G&W) may or may not go forward with that.
Par’s press department becoming involved with that Friday press powwow was one of those things where producer Ruddy advised them of the confab, but nothing had been cleared either with Robert Evans (in Europe), Stanley Jaffe (in the Caribbean on vacation) or sales exec veepee Frank Yablans.
Ruddy, who attended a $125-a-plate testimonial dinner Monday night (22) with Colombo for his father, Joseph Colombo Sr., as “the man of the year” for humanitarian services, said that the League had been very cooperative on a public relations basis. Accent was in gaining goodwill and “cooperation” from Staten Island (N.Y.) residents for use of their locale, a “funeral parlor in Brooklyn,” etc. He stressed that League representatives had visited local residents urging them to be “hospitable” to the camera crews.
Ruddy was quoted as stating that being himself Jewish, he was sympathetic to minority groups’ sensitivities, and that he thought the League’s hospital beneficiary was worthy of the film’s premiere funds.
Rumors began to circulate quickly that top-level Paramount executives are incensed and that Ruddy and Frederickson may be taken off the picture.
Among the many comments that “Ruddy’s deal” elicited in the press was the following by Andrew Sarris, which appeared in The Village Voice on April 1:
Show Business of March 25, 1971 carries the following front-page item: “Godfather, or How to Get into the Film Biz/If you want to produce a film on the Mafia, please ask their permission first, you hear? That’s what Paramount did, in effect, via their producer, Al Ruddy. Mr. Ruddy had a conference on the front page of The New York Times and said that nowhere in the film would the words Mafia or Cosa Nostra appear. He did not want to offend Anthony Colombo, the boss of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, who has objected to the use of these words. Furthermore, he said, the opening-night showing of the film would be a premiere benefit for the coffers of this League, which is the organization picketing the FBI, the Staten Island newspaper that ran a series on the ‘five families,’ as Mr. Colombo prefers references to be printed. Mr. Colombo had become the most powerful influence and voice in this fight against blemishing the Italian image.”
Paramount has since repudiated Ruddy’s donation of opening-night proceeds to Mr. Colombo’s group but not the implied script censorship. What’s sauce for the Black Panthers and Black Power generally, Mr. Colombo seems to feel, should be sauce for Italian-Americans enduring the indignity of g
angster stereotypes. Perhaps Al Ruddy should scrap The Godfather altogether and do the life of Dante or Mother Cabrini. But having purchased The Godfather, he should realize that what made it a bestseller was its suggestion that it was tearing the lid off organized crime with a mixture of admiration and abhorrence. If audiences get the idea that organized crime used its power to make the movie pull its punches, even Marlon Brando won’t be able to save it at the box office. Or, perhaps, we have all become so cynical about power, pressure groups and rip-offs that the old guard wants to horn in on the spirit of Altamont, and who knows these days where the money comes from to finance movies?
1st DAY OF SHOOTING: TUESDAY MARCH 23
The call is for 5:30 A.M. outside Best & Co. on Fifth Avenue and 51st Street. Snow flurries are falling but stop by the time the cameras are ready to roll. Two buses arrive filled with 143 extras dressed and made up to look like a street crowd of December 22, 1945. Soldiers and sailors, WACs, Christmas shoppers, children, nuns, taxi drivers, etc. Some of the men have long hair and sideburns and are sent directly to Phil Leto, the hair stylist, and his assistants, to be trimmed.
Today the crew on The Godfather numbers about 60. One side of Fifth Avenue has been roped off for two blocks to keep back the swelling crowds, which started congregating at rush hour. TPF (Tactical Patrol Force) officers have been assigned to stop traffic and handle the crowds. Both Fifth Avenue and 51st Street must be cleared from time to time so the rented fleet of 1940s cars get through to recreate the period.
The windows of Best & Co. have been specially dressed to display the “New Look.” The modern street lamps within camera range have been replaced with plastic ones made in the studio workshops.
By 8 A.M. the temperature is too warm for the snow machine to work. Instead, wind machines and plastic snow are brought in to simulate light snow flurries. Sidewalks and cars are hosed down to give the effect of wetness and to keep the plastic snow from blowing away.
Background extras and automobile traffic are rehearsed again and again along with the movement of the camera. A portable track has been laid on the sidewalk to guide the camera as it follows alongside the two principle characters in the scene, Michael and Kay (Al Pacino and Diane Keaton).
Passersby gripe about not being able to use the street around the shooting area. Motorists are especially angry to be caught in traffic snarls that result from the periodic clearing of Fifth Avenue.
“I’ll call the Mayor’s office!”
“The streets are for the people, not for movie companies!”
Most of the spectators, even blasé New Yorkers, are curious and excited to see a film being made. Almost all know of the book, and the question most often asked is, “Where’s Marlon Brando?” Assistants holding back the crowd reply, “He’s in California. Doesn’t start on the film for another two weeks.”
During one of the long waits between takes, two good-looking young extras playing soldiers are suddenly surrounded by a group of teenage girls asking them for their autographs.
The director works slowly, asking for many retakes of each shot. The two camera setups for the scene take up the entire morning.
After lunch break, everything is packed up and moved to Polk’s Hobby Shop at Fifth Avenue and 31st Street for the afternoon’s shooting. As the scene is being set up, a display window is accidentally broken and filming is delayed for an hour while it is repaired—at a cost of approximately $5,000. An average eight-hour working day costs the production $40,000.
The gathering of onlookers is larger than that around Best’s this morning and the confusion is compounded by the arrival of equipment, cameras and interviewers representing all of the major TV networks.
The noise of shouts and horns makes work difficult for the sound crew and many takes are spoiled. (The dialogue for this scene can be dubbed in later.)
As the camera rolls, the milling crowds are held back by ropes, TPF officers, 2nd assistant directors hired especially for the day and production personnel hastily called into emergency service. Even Chris Conrad, the attractive young New York City Film Coordinator, is out on Fifth Avenue helping to direct traffic.
It is surprising how many of the spectators have read The Godfather and ask who is playing this or that character. Most of the cast are unknown to them. Everyone knows Brando, of course, and some people have seen or heard of Dick Castellano, who has been nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Lovers and Other Strangers.
Wrap at Polk’s. A quick break for dinner, then on to Radio City Music Hall for an outdoor night scene, the one in which Kay or Michael discover that the Godfather has been shot.
While standing in the freezing night air, someone on the production comments, “Francis had better think fast about replacing Keaton. Not only does she look a head taller than Pacino, she moves like a colt learning to walk.”
Script girl Nancy Tonery replies tartly, “Francis most likely doesn’t even notice it, but I’ll bet Gordy is upset about it.”
Gordon Willis, director of photography, has indeed been aware of Keaton’s awkward movements on camera. “I’ll try to film her mostly from the waist up so it’s not so noticeable, but there’s nothing I can do in the long shots. If Francis is going to let her go he’d better do it fast.”
Tonight again, Coppola requests many takes, and when the wrap is called for the day at about 2 A.M. the short scene has not been completed.
2nd DAY OF SHOOTING: MONDAY MARCH 29
First day of filming in the studio. It is an interior night car scene in which Michael is being taken to the Luna Restaurant for the Sollozzo meeting, with Police Captain McClusky in attendance.
After being rehearsed inside the car by the director, Sterling Hayden, Al Pacino and Al Lettieri (Sollozzo) are sent to complete their makeup and costume while the camera is set up in the space where the motor and hood of the car have been removed. Stand-ins for principal actors are used for the camera to focus. Several grips practice passing screens in front of the stage lights to simulate the shadows on the characters’ faces from the lights reflected through the windows of the car as it drives over the George Washington Bridge. Willis supervises the rigging of small plywood cut-outs with headlights attached, which will appear as traffic in the background. Both prop-men and grips work pulleys attached to the cut-outs to create the effect of cars passing back and forth as seen through the rear window of the car. It looks very phony in the studio, but Willis promises on film it will look like the real thing.
4th DAY OF SHOOTING: WEDNESDAY MARCH 31
On location at the Luna Restaurant in the Bronx. The scene of Michael’s murder of Sollozzo and McClusky, and his getaway.
The front windows of the restaurant have been masked with black paper so the interior light can be controlled without interference from the naturally changing daylight outside and also to prevent the large crowds and traffic in the street from being photographed when the camera reverses angle and shoots in their direction.
The special effects of this double-murder scene are extremely complicated. For each take of Michael shooting Sollozzo and McClusky, the makeup and wiring must be completely reset, so that hours and hours are spent on what will appear on the screen for a few seconds, The back of Sollozzo’s head is blown off. One bullet enters McClusky’s forehead and another his throat, which bursts open at the impact. The blood that spurts over table and floor must be cleaned up and the half-eaten dinners reset for each new take. (The special-effects men used during the blood tests have been replaced by Hollywood expert A. D. Flowers and an assistant. Flowers has been nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Tora, Tora, Tora.)
During the long waits between takes, Sterling Hayden sits quietly nibbling fruit from a large supply he carries in a string bag, and drinking milk from a quart container. He eats only natural foods and brings his lunch and snacks with him every day. Hayden keeps very much to himself, politely refusing to give autographs. (“I just can’t understand why in the hell people want actors’ a
utographs!” he explains.) He almost never speaks unless spoken to and spends most of his waiting time reading a paperback edition of Dear Theo, Van Gogh’s letters to his brother.
Lunch break has been over for about half an hour when it is discovered that Hayden is missing. Aides are dispatched to the nearby beauty parlor, used for makeup rooms, and Pop’s Bar down the street, rented for the day as a lounge and costume area, but the actor is in neither.
“He told someone he was going to take a walk around the neighborhood,” volunteers one of the tech crew. Someone else adds, “I saw him go off in the direction of the river.”
As shooting cannot continue without Hayden, people are now sent off in all directions, some on foot and some in cars, to scour the area. Before long, the actor is spotted walking leisurely up a side street toward the location. He apologizes sheepishly: “I fell asleep down by the riverbank. I’d still be there if some boys hadn’t woken me by throwing rocks at me. I sure am sorry for holding things up.”
The afternoon goes slowly but the owner of the restaurant and his wife, playing their fictional counterparts in the scene, are enthusiastic and fascinated by all that is going on. Some of their friends and neighbors crowd into the kitchen trying to catch a glimpse of the filming.
The director’s mother and father arrive and try unsuccessfully not to be conspicuous.
The one day scheduled at this location has turned into two and it is not until after dinner break that the interior shots are finished and the camera and crew move outside for the shot of Michael being picked up by his getaway car. By now, word of the filming has spread throughout the Bronx neighborhood and hundreds of spectators are gathered under the Elevated on White Plains Road. Under pressure to avoid undue overtime, full rehearsal of the getaway action was neglected, and Al Pacino leaps onto the running board of the moving car and in doing so hurts his ankle badly. The driver was not told to stop to let him in. Pacino saw the car slow down and decided to jump on it as it pulled away from in front of the restaurant, for which he received an ovation from the onlookers. Just a few minutes after the accident 1st A.D. Kesten, hurriedly setting up background car traffic for the final shots, sprains his foot but manages to keep on working.
The Godfather Journal Page 3