The Godfather Journal

by Ira Zuckerman

  Down on the soundstage the filming is falling further and further behind schedule; Martino’s scene will have to be postponed for another day. Because script changes are made every day, cue cards are being prepared for Brando. Between takes now he often mouths his lines and walks through the action, trying to get the feel of the scene, while director and crew attend to technical problems. His earplugs help him to ignore what is going on around him.

  29th DAY OF SHOOTING: WEDNESDAY MAY 5

  Martino finally gets to start his scene with Brando, but Coppola will not agree to restore any of the lines. He keeps reshooting in hopes of catching something of what he wants in at least one take and finally decides to shoot most of the scene from behind Martino’s back, so that the camera records only the Godfather’s reactions to what Fontaine is saying. The script calls for the Godfather to seize Fontaine by the hair of his head and shake him. Martino wears a hairpiece, so it is decided to have him slapped. Brando slaps him heartily in about a dozen takes. After the first few, Martino, looking slightly dazed, rubs his face and mutters to himself at every pause.

  Between scenes, in the living-room set adjacent to the Don’s study, Brando relaxes with some of the production crew and reminisces with George Newman, the wardrobe supervisor, about the days when they worked together on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.

  “Did you know Jack Palance was my understudy?” Brando asks the assistants. And to Newman: “Remember that running feud we had with one of the prop-men who kept putting out spoiled food in one scene? We kept complaining and finally I got angry and said it smelled like shit. What do you think we got the next night?”

  Brando and Newman also worked together on the film The Fugitive Kind (from the Tennessee Williams play Orpheus Descending) with Anna Magnani. Brando: “I’ll never forget arriving each morning and finding Magnani sitting in the center of the set looking into a hand-mirror and plucking out the hairs of her mustache so they wouldn’t show in closeups.” Newman: “Remember how cheap she was? Did you know she had all the dry goods they used to dress the set packed in boxes and sent back to Italy with her?”

  “Please see that that man is shown out immediately,” says Mona Skager, calling to an assistant as she walks down the hall from her office, behind an embarrassed-looking man who offers no resistance. He was only trying to see Brando, he explains to the assistant; he wants to write a biography of him. “I’ve been trying to get to talk to him personally for over a year now, but his secretary won’t let me. I’ve had a few run-ins with her. She answered when I knocked on his dressing-room door just now. I’ve been trying to get to know him through a favorite aunt of his my family knows, but Alice always gets in the way. I’ll try leaving him a note tomorrow, but if she gets it first he’ll never see it!”

  Alice is still fuming outside Brando’s dressing room. “The nerve of that guy! Do you know he arrived unannounced at Marlon’s house in California one day, with his little child in hand, hoping to gain Marlon’s sympathy? He wants us to authorize a biography. He’s been pestering us ever since. At one point he claimed we gave him permission to write the book. Our lawyers have been all over this. We can’t authorize and biography of Marlon because of legal commitments, but this guy won’t take no for an answer. Make sure he gets thrown out if he ever shows up again.”

  30th DAY OF SHOOTING: THURSDAY MAY 6

  Coppola arrives this morning with a rewrite of the scene to be shot today. Mona types it up and makes Xerox copies. Cue cards are quickly prepared for Brando as there is no time for him to memorize his lines.

  Producers Ruddy and Frederickson join Coppola in an impromptu conference to discuss Jack Ballard’s presence during the assembling of the rough cut of the film. Coppola insists that at this point his control of the film will be lost if Ballard is allowed to be present as Paramount’s representative. Ruddy agrees and goes to his office to telephone Ballard. He will try to talk him into staying away from the cutting sessions.

  On Friday, April 2, the following article made the front page of The Hollywood Reporter:

  JAFFE QUITS AS PARA PRESIDENT

  Frank Yablans Succeeding As Chief Operating Officer; Evans named Executive VP

  New York.—Stanley R. Jaffe has resigned as president of Paramount Pictures, a Gulf & Western subsidiary, effective August 1, to resume his career as an independent supplier of films.

  As a result of the move, Frank Yablans, senior v-p, marketing, and Robert Evans, senior v-p, production, have been promoted to executive v-p’s and Arthur Barron, v-p, finance, becomes senior v-p, finance and administration.

  No mention has been made of a successor to Jaffe as president. Yablans will take over in August as chief operating officer.

  Jaffe, son of Leo Jaffe, president of Columbia Pictures Industries, joined Paramount in an executive capacity in 1969 after producing Goodbye, Columbus and more recently A New Leaf for the company.

  Accompanying his resignation from the presidency, Jaffe stated:

  “I am very optimistic about the outlook for Paramount. We have put together a strong and forceful team and have basically completed our program to streamline and revitalize the company.”

  G&W chairman Charles F. Bluhdorn also had some complimentary remarks about Jaffe and the job he has done for the company during his two years with Paramount. He joined as executive v-p five years after he was named executive assistant to the then president of Seven Arts.

  Yablans, who had been with Filmways, joined Paramount in June 1969 and in April last year was appointed v-p, distribution. In October he was named senior v-p of marketing.

  Barron was v-p of finance and administration for Paramount TV.

  There was no indication of what prompted the move, beyond Jaffe’s expressed desire to return to active production. Although Paramount had a number of high-budget films with questionable return prior to Jaffe’s tenure, the past two years have been more stable.

  Jaffe’s predecessor in the Paramount post was Martin Davis, now a G&W v-p.

  Scuttlebutt around The Godfather production offices has it that the real reason for Stanley Jaffe resigning as president of Paramount was disagreement as to how to deal with Al Ruddy’s pact with the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Jaffe wanted Ruddy removed from the picture and when the board overruled him he resigned in protest.

  Mona announces word has just arrived from Italy that shooting dates in Sicily may have to be rescheduled or canceled because of the results of elections there. Rumors have also been circulating for days that since the film has gone over budget the studio is again pressing for the Sicilian sequences to be shot in the mountains of upstate New York.

  Most of the actors in the scene being filmed this afternoon—among others, Morgana King, Talia Shire and Gianni Russo—are new to film acting and slow in getting what the director wants. Talia, in particular, is uneasy under the direction of her brother. After a long, unproductive rehearsal period, Gordon Willis, director of photography, suddenly rushes off the soundstage, shouting to Coppola, “You don’t know how to do anything right!”

  All within earshot freeze in their places or mill about murmuring to one another. Coppola continues to work at setting the shot, as if nothing has happened. He rehearses the actors in a complicated series of movements they have been having trouble timing.

  Freddy Gallo whispers to an assistant, “Get Caruso here immediately!” But Gray Frederickson and Al Ruddy have already run onto the stage, and people from the production office begin to gather. In a moment word has spread throughout the studio there is about to be a confrontation between director and cinematographer.

  “Let’s shoot it now,” Coppola calls out.

  The camera operator and his two assistants look uneasy and make no move to carry out the director’s order.

  Suddenly Coppola screams, “Fuck this picture! I’ve directed five fucking movies without anyone telling me how to do it. I want to make the fucking shot now and we will, even if the fucking director of photography h
as to be thrown off the picture.”

  Frederickson moves in quietly to calm Coppola, but the director turns away from him and charges through the set and off the soundstage to his office on the second floor.

  A few seconds later noises like that of a gun going off are heard from upstairs.

  “My God! Maybe he’s shot himself!”

  Crash of splintering wood.

  “What’s happening?” “What’s going on up there?”

  A break is called. After 10 minutes, all return to the soundstage. Just as the shot is about to be framed again, Caruso calls to two of the carpenters. “Please go upstairs and put a new door on Mr. Coppola’s office.”

  31st DAY OF SHOOTING: FRIDAY MAY 7

  The first business of the day is to carry Brando on a stretcher up the stairway to the Godfather’s bedroom. The two extras hired as orderlies show themselves to be incapable at the first attempt and are replaced by two burly grips from the crew, hastily costumed in white jackets and pants, who, with some puffing and fumbling, manage the task. Before the actual take, other members of the crew, by way of celebrating their buddies’ debut in front of the camera, surreptitiously load the stretcher with 300 pounds of sandbags under the bedding. On the first take the grips turn red with strain and buckle under halfway up the stairs, embarrassed by their failure and the general laughter. Brando, more uproarious than anyone else, rolls off the stretcher laughing and admits to having masterminded the joke.

  “We really needed that, to clear the air of some of yesterday’s tension,” says Jack Stager, the still photographer. The relief in the atmosphere cost the production approximately $5,000 in time and labor.

  32nd DAY OF SHOOTING: MONDAY MAY 10

  Mona Skager calls a passing assistant into her office. “Mario Puzo just called. He wants us to make sure that at least this one line from the book is used in the film: A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns. Check with Francis as soon as you can and let me know, so I can get back to Puzo.”

  Coppola is sitting in an orange director’s chair, waiting for the lighting setup to be completed for the next scene. He looks puzzled. “I know that line was in the final draft of the screenplay,” he says. “I don’t remember if we shot the scene yet. Check with Nancy.”

  The assistant makes his way through a tangle of cables, cameras and crew to where Nancy Tonery sits on her tiny canvas stool, making notes on a huge master script.

  “Nancy, do you remember if the line A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns has been filmed yet?”

  “Let’s see. There was some discussion about it when they were working on that scene. Oh, yes, I remember. Brando said it was too preachy and he persuaded Francis to cut it.”

  33rd DAY OF SHOOTING: TUESDAY MAY 11

  After a long rehearsal period in the morning starting at 8 A.M., Brando is sent to Dick Smith to get into an older version of his character makeup, which takes about two hours to complete. Brando is back on the set ready to go about one o’clock, but the director decides that the new makeup makes the actor look too old and will have to be completely redone. Lunch break is called, during which time Smith works on Brando. It is hoped that filming can start immediately after the break.

  Coppola has lunch in his office, with Mona heating up food from the trays sent in each day from a special catering service. Afterward, Phil Leto, hair-stylist, takes advantage of the long break to give the director a much-needed haircut.

  Last-minute script revisions of the scenes to be filmed today are still being typed and Xeroxed; they are distributed immediately after lunch. Again cue cards must be made for Brando as the changes are too numerous for him to commit to memory in the time available.

  Al Pacino rehearses the scene of his ruthless takeover as the new Don. The young actor is in makeup and costume and wears a long powder-blue hair net necessary for his new mature hair style to set.

  Today’s scene takes place in 1955, and the Don’s study set has been repainted and dressed in lighter colors and up-to-date furniture. Gordy Willis is having trouble getting the camera angle he wants. One wall of the set must be ripped out to make room for the camera. (Unfortunately, this particular wall was not constructed to be “wild,” i.e., easily removable.)

  Upstairs an extremely youthful assistant sits on his desk and talks about The Godfather's director. “The trouble with Francis is that he is philosophically caught between the old-time Hollywood directors and the new young breed, but his main problem is that he has corny taste. His four feature films have all been flops at the box office and weren’t much artistically either. The secret is he’s very good at talking people into things. He really has the gift of gab. He can talk people into anything and is great at promoting himself. This flick may end up a disaster, but I’ll bet anything Francis will come out smelling like a rose!”

  Downtown, in several rented editing rooms, Mark Laub and a team of editors are at work putting together assemblies from the dailies already reviewed by the director. Barbara Marks, an assistant editor, reports over the telephone, “Our working procedures are somewhat up in the air since Paramount sent us two ‘super editors’ from the coast. Nobody seems to know who’s boss down here!”

  At the moment there are six editors assigned to get out the first rough cut of The Godfather, and because of power politics between Alfran and Paramount none of them has been authorized to supervise the vast amounts of footage to be assembled.

  34th DAY OF SHOOTING: WEDNESDAY MAY 12

  The day passes uneventfully until the crew moves to the second soundstage to set up the last scene scheduled for the day. It is the scene in which Sonny Corleone and Lucy Mancini, fully clothed, make love standing against the upstairs bedroom window with the wedding party going on below.

  Jeanie Linero, the actress playing Lucy, is waiting on the set, made up but wearing her own white dressing-room bathrobe. Coppola, who is constantly being reminded by the producers to speed up his working tempo, half jokes with Gray Frederickson that he is not to blame for the few minutes it will take wardrobe to get the actress in her pink formal dress and large picture hat, so that the scene can be rehearsed for the camera.

  Meanwhile the small bedroom set has been slowly filling up with production staff and office personnel not ordinarily on the set during filming. Gordy Willis quips, “People always come around for the killings and sex scenes.” Coppola sets up the scene quickly, showing Jimmy Caan how he wants Lucy’s dress lifted up, while Jeanie Linero tries not to blush in embarrassment. In deference to the actors, the director then asks everyone to leave except the camera crew. The crowd reluctantly files out and gathers outside the room where they can hear Coppola giving final directions. These are followed by the sexual moaning of Caan and Linero as the scene is quickly filmed in about eight takes.

  Mona Skager has been waiting for the scene to end to tell Coppola that his wife, Elly, is preparing to leave for the hospital to have their third child. The news sends the director quickly scurrying around the studio to borrow a still camera, telephoto lens, and some film so that he can photograph the delivery. After finding what he needs, he quickly leaves for his West End Avenue apartment to pick up his Sony portable videotape recorder and escort his wife to the hospital.

  35th DAY OF SHOOTING: THURSDAY MAY 13

  The company returns to the Staten Island mall location for exterior shooting, but the heavy rain, which is predicted to continue for the next few days, causes a hasty revision of the schedule. Arrangements are made to send some of the principals and the 40 extras who arrived early this morning back to Manhattan.

  While the interior set of Sonny Corleone’s house is dressed and decorated for the Christmas season according to the script, the director sits in the tiny kitchen alcove, playing with the latest of his collection of expensive gadgets—a portable electric adding machine.

  After a production huddle, it is decided that the morning will be best spent in rehearsal with Castellano, C
aan and Julie Gregg, who plays Sonny’s pregnant wife. The tech crew is sent out of the house. Some wait in the rain or the garage, drinking coffee and gossiping.

  Back in Manhattan, Bill Reynolds works steadily editing an assembly from some of The Godfather rushes. Reynolds, a distinguished-looking man with silver-gray hair, is one of the senior editors brought out from Hollywood by Paramount. His editing credits include The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Great White Hope.

  Reynolds carefully and repeatedly goes through the rushes of the scene in which Michael, on the steps of the hospital, waits for help to arrive to protect his wounded father. The sequence ends with Michael getting his jaw broken by police captain McClusky. Reynolds talks as he selects the takes he wants, clipping film together with paper clips for his assistant to splice later. Pointing to the image on the movieola he says, “Here it really calls out for a closeup of Michael, but one was never shot.” He continues running the film through the loudly clattering machine and suddenly stops it with the hand brake. “See, here we need a reverse angle shot, but that’s missing also. That makes it hard to edit the sequence properly. Francis should really do some retakes on this scene.”

  Just then Barbara Marks knocks on the door and announces that Al Ruddy was just on the phone and wants to view the latest batch of assemblies this afternoon. She adds, “They’re all ready. Shall I set it up?” Reynolds looks thoughtful and replies, “Francis is only available to see stuff on the weekend. It’s only right he should be there at the first viewing. I’d better get Ruddy on the phone!” He dials the number of the producer’s office at Filmways. “Hello, Al. About those assemblies you wanted to see today. Can you give us a few more days to get them in shape? Good. We’ll let you know when they’re ready.” He hangs up the phone and turns to Barbara. “See if you can get word to Francis so that we can arrange for him to see those assemblies over the weekend.”