An American Family—The Godfather Trilogy

“This work of fiction is not really about organized crime or about gangsterism. The true theme has to do with family pride and personal honor. That’s what made The Godfather so popular. It portrayed people with a strong sense of kinship to survive in a cruel world.”

Real life mobster Joseph “Joe Bananas” Bonanno

in his autobiography, A Man of Honor

 

From The Simpsons to Saturday Night Live, from Marlon Brando’s satire of his role in the comedy The Freshman to Tom Hank’s character’s obsession with it in You’ve Got Mail, The Godfather films have been parodied and paid tribute to in numerous films and TV shows over the decades.

A pulp fiction novel written in 1969 by author Mario Puzo, The Godfather (1972) was not expected to be as influential a film as it became. No one knew, least of all Paramount Pictures, the studio that bought the book’s film rights and put it in production, just how big an impact it would have on the history of cinema and the public’s sensibilities.

“My history with The Godfather was very much the history of someone in trouble. I found the first film very tough to do and very tough to pull off. I was a young director, I hadn’t really done a lot of work and I had this opportunity—this novel—I thought of myself as a professional director making an adaptation of a novel,” recalled director Francis Ford Coppola. “I knew that as the book became more popular and more successful, I realized that in a sense it was beginning to outclass me in that I wouldn’t have gotten the job had, you know, five months later the book became the sensation that it was. And even in the early, early weeks of the production, I knew that they were not happy with what I had done. The kind of classic style that I choose in rushes, maybe didn’t impress them, but I, I just wanted to survive it. I knew that my ideas regarding the casting were not popular. It had been a very difficult time to try and convince the studio that my notions about casting were right.”¹

They were. It’s hard to believe it today, with the three Godfather films finished and so honoured (at least parts one and two), that anyone could question the casting. The secret truth of filmmaking, however, is the fact that when successful films are made, often the studio and filmmakers don’t know they’re creating something that will prove successful. Fear of failure, and severe financial losses, plague every production. As such, Paramount fought Coppola on his desire to cast Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone, the head of the Corleone crime family. Brando was notorious for being difficult and costing productions many because of his attitude. The studio only agreed to consider him if he’d do the film for next to no money and did a screen test. Of course, Coppola couldn’t ask the legendary Brando to test for the film, so he tricked the star into testing by telling him he needed to shoot some make-up tests for the character. It was these tests, in which Brando turned himself masterfully into the Don that persuaded the studio he’d be right for the role.

Coppola’s next problem was convincing the studio to cast a young and unknown Al Pacino as Don Vito Corleone’s son, Michael Corleone. Coppola was sold on the young actor, but the studio still made him test James Caan, who was all ready being tapped to play Santini “Sonny” Corleone, Don Vito’s oldest son, for the role of Michael, as well as Martin Sheen. They also considered both Ryan O’Neal and Robert Redford for the role. The latter two, both blonde, would be described as being Northern Italians if cast.

Coppola stuck with Pacino, slipping him into each session of tests, until he finally got his way. Whether Pacino would make it to the end of the shoot or not, however, was still in question. According to the actor, the studio was unhappy with his performance when viewing the dailies. They thought he was dull, that was until the saw the dailies from the Sollozzo (Anthony Lettieri) and Police Captain McClusky (Sterling Hayden) murder scene in the restaurant. Determined to avenge the shooting of his father, and another attempt that he thwarted at the hospital, Michael enters the family business by meeting with the two and killing them. “They kept me after that scene,” recalled Pacino.

 

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The Godfather (1972) tells the story of the Corleone family, ran by the Godfather, Don Vito Corleone. When he refuses to join the five other New York crime families in the narcotics trade, he’s gunned down in the street. Michael, his youngest, Ivy League-educated son, who has yet to join the family business, takes it upon himself to gun down Sollozzo and a corrupt police captain after two attempts on his father’s life. This act sends him to Sicily in exile. During his time away, his brother-in-law, Carlo (Gianni Russo) is enlisted to set up Sonny Corleone (James Caan), the oldest son, who is brutally gunned down. This leaves Michael to take over the family upon his return from Sicily. Even tempered and intelligent, Michael, with his father’s advice, sets out to eliminate the heads of the five ruling families, cementing his hold on organized crime and making him the Godfather.

 

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The beauty of The Godfather as written by Mario Puzo was its liberal use of real life Mafia history to shape its story. Puzo touched upon the ruling structure of the mob, with the five ruling New York families and the Commission that solved problems amongst them. The mob has in fact debated the selling of drugs, many old-timers believing that it brings undue attention to their activities by the authorities and makes it hard for their legitimate contacts on the take (judges, politicians, police officers, etc.) to help them.

Puzo even used rumours. It is obvious the character of Johnny Fontaine (Al Martino) was loosely based on Frank Sinatra. In the movie, Fontaine comes to the Godfather requesting help in convincing a studio executive to cast him in a movie he feels is guaranteed to revive his flagging career. Don Vito sends his consigliere, Thomas Hagan (Robert Duvall) to talk to the executive. He changes his mind when he wakes up one morning to find the head of one of his prized thoroughbred horses in bed with him. One of The Godfather’s most famous scenes!

In 1952, Columbia Pictures was set to adapt James Jones novel, From Here To Eternity into a movie, Sinatra knew he was perfect for the role of Private Angelo Maggio, but couldn’t even get a test for the picture. Sinatra’s career was in the dumper and studio head Harry Cohn had no use for him and had all ready told him so. Unlike the character of Fontaine in The Godfather, no unsavory characters helped Sinatra land the role. Instead, he scored a screen test due to the politicking of his lover Ava Gardner, who was at the top of her fame during that time. Sinatra impressed the studio with his screen test, was willing to work for less than nothing and landed the role. The role earned him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award and relaunched his career and power in Hollywood.

 

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The Godfather became the number one grossing film in 1972, earning $81.5 million at the box office. The film also received three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor for Marlon Brando, who refused the award.

 

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“The second one was a continuation, and in a way it was kind of a descent in a way into trying to hold on to everything and losing it,” said Al Pacino of The Godfather, Part II.

Surprised by the extraordinary success of the original film, Paramount Pictures set Academy Award winners Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo to work on a sequel. Unlike the first film, Coppola had proven his vision was true and the studio stayed out of his way, giving him a $13 million budget as opposed to the $6 million spent on the first.

 

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In The Godfather, Part II, Michael Corleone sets about solidifying his criminal empire, having moved the family’s operations to Nevada. He, his wife Kay (Diane Keaton) and their children are holed up in a fortress-like estate in Lake Tahoe, as Michael plans a move into hotels and gambling in Cuba. To do so, he enters into an alliance with Miami leader Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), who is secretly planning to betray him and is using his slow-witted brother, Fredo Corleone (John Cazale) to do so.

Once again, Michael, whom Coppola refers to as “a master manipulator,” sets out to clean up shop eliminating those who have betrayed him and once again solidify his power base. Unfortunately, in his determination to keep his family together, he losses those closest to him, including his sister, Connie (Talia Shire), who runs off with a man he disapproves of, his wife Kay, who can no longer stand the man he’s become, and his brother, Fredo, who has always longed for respect.

Intercut with Michael’s story is the story of his father, Don Vito Corleone’s (Robert De Niro, who originally tried out for the role of Sonny Corleone in the first film) rise to power, from escaping Sicily after his entire family is murdered, to building a life in New York and eventually seeking revenge on the man who murdered his family.

 

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Once again, for The Godfather, Part II, Puzo tapped into real life Mafia history, putting Michael Corleone before Senate Hearings on organized crime (i.e. the Kefauver Committee Hearings and the McClellan Committee) and documenting the move into Cuba, including a summit meeting there between the Mafia bigwigs. At the real life Cuban meeting in 1946, Charles “Lucky” Luciano met up with other crime family bosses in Havana to discuss business, including his old play Meyer Lansky. One of the decisions made at that meeting was the death of Luciano and Lansky’s pal and partner, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, whose building of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas was rife with rumours of money skimming.

The character of Hyman Roth, the Jewish financial wizard and mob leader is obviously based on Lansky, but unlike Lansky, who wasn’t shot to death when returning to America, after being refused citizenship in Israel, Roth is.

 

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The Godfather, Part II was also a success. Although it only made $30.7 million at the box office, much less than the original, it did win six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director—Francis Ford Coppola, Best Actor—Al Pacino, Best Story/Screenplay—Coppola and Mario Puzo, Best Art Direction/Interior Design, and Best Music/Score/Song.

It appeared that The Godfather story had come to an end. However, in 1990 Paramount Pictures tapped Francis Ford Coppola and most of the cast to return for The Godfather, Part III.

 

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“Three now is about how to sort of cope with all that’s happened and pave the way for the third generation,” explained Pacino of The Godfather, Part III.

The much maligned third film follows Michael Corleone and his search for redemption. Honoured by the Catholic Church with the Order of St. Sebastian, Michael is determined to keep his family’s business interests legitimate. He’s sold the casinos and finally gone legitimate, but unfortunately keeps being dragged back into the criminal world he still rules over.

Taking Sonny’s illegitimate son, Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia) under his wing, Michael attempts to cut a deal with the Vatican for control of a multi-national corporation that will make his family wealthy beyond means (even more so), while dealing with Joey Zasa (Joe Mantagna), a mobster who is making his play for power, which includes a brazen attack on the Commission that wipes out many of its members.

As Michael deals with reuniting his family behind him, including his wife Kay, he knows that someone is playing games with him, slowing down his Vatican deal. He also knows someone more powerful than Zasa is behind the Commission hit. The question is whether or not he’ll find the truth before he’s assassinated.

 

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“By the end of Part II he had become very self-righteous and distrusted everyone,” explained Coppola of Michael Corleone. “Now he is a man who wants to rehabilitate himself. Reflecting the mood in America at that time, Michael wants to take stock of himself honestly.”

“Over the years Michael has grown cold and alienated from those he most loves and is struggling to win back their trust and affection,” added Pacino. “In Michael’s words, ‘One’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a Heaven for?’”

A lot of criticism has come The Godfather, Part III’s way. Most notable has been criticism of Coppola’s daughter’s performance. When Winona Ryder backed out of the film, the director cast his daughter, Sofia Coppola to play Michael’s daughter, Mary Corleone. Although she isn’t the greatest actress, this being her first and last film as an actress (Sofia is now an accomplished director), it is unfair for blame to rest on her shoulders. In actual fact, The Godfather, Part III is an excellent continuation of the Michael Corleone story. In The Godfather, early on, Michael was determined not to get into the family business, but to go legitimate. That didn’t work out. In Part III, after a lifetime of being illegitimate, he has finally taken the family straight and is looking to make up for his sins—his sins in life and his sins against his family. Having ordered the death of his brother Fredo—his own mother’s son—is particularly troubling to him.

In Parts I and II, Michael Corleone was the essence of calculated cool. He ran his empire ruthlessly and without reputation. He didn’t second guess himself. He was the very essence of what all men long to be—wealthy, powerful and confident. In Part III, however, he is full of self-doubt, longing for redemption. He is an old man questioning his life and its meaning. While he can still be ruthless and calculating, there is now a more human side to him. If The Godfather, Part III didn’t do well with audiences, it is undoubtedly because they couldn’t handle a more human Godfather—a Godfather questioning his own mortality.

 

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Once again Coppola and Puzo teamed up for the screenplay for Part III. And once again, real life inspired the story. News stories about the role the Vatican played in the billion-dollar collapse of Italy’s Banco Ambrosiano, the attempted assassination of the Pope, and the revival of Europe as an economic power were all used in the film.

“I have always been fascinated by the effect of pure wealth, pure power,” said Coppola. “The Corleone’s want to be legitimate. The Vatican is legitimate. The Vatican is also a separate state that can move money around the world.

 

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As well as reflecting aspects of mob history within them, The Godfather Trilogy is three well-written, engaging, gripping, substantial films. Parts I and II can rightly be called two of America’s most influential films offerings of the past century, playing a large role in shaping the general public’s perception of the Mafia.

As Coppola summed it up, “For me the tragedy of The Godfather, which is the tragedy of America, is about Michael Corleone. By the end of The Godfather, Part II, just like America in that period, Michael had become wrapped in kind of self-righteousness and distrusted everyone and getting more and more like a paranoid person—a Nixon.”