User:Disc Wheel/sandbox

The American television show The Office's makes a couple references to the film. During "Christening" Michael Scott initially thinks that he is a baby's godfather, and impersonates Marlon Brando's character Don Corleone. In episode entitled "Roy's Wedding", manager Andy Bernard appoints Darryl Philbin to be his consigliere and the scene where Darryl accepts the position parallels the final scene of The Godfather.

In the Boy Meets World episode "Bee True," main characters Shawn Hunter and Cory Matthews operate a bake sale while another character pleads for help in a scene that parallels the opening scene where Bonasera gives his speech.

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• Ring Cinema (talk · contribs · logs)

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Statement of the dispute

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He constantly reverts any edit that I make to the article in question, The Godfather, and has called my writing poor. My summary sums this up well, I believe. Disc Wheel (Talk + Tontributions) 18:33, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

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I would like to have someone intervene and determine if Ring is acting out of line and possibly get him to understand that my revisions are not all poorly written and can benefit the article, and reprimand Ring if warranted for his comments and seeming article ownership. Disc Wheel (Talk + Tontributions) 18:33, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

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I've been working the page The Godfather for about a week now and expanding sections that were either really weak or poorly cited. About two days about Ring Cinema began to revert several of my edits and replace it with the information - which was for the most part unsourced - that was there before I began working on the page and I'll admit that I reverted a couple of times for edits that I thought were especially unreasonable. My edits are constantly being reverted and deleted because Ring feels they are poorly written, bloat the article, or trivial . He later stated that his versions are better than mine. The final thing that pushed me over the edge to come here was an that directly attacked me and my reading comprehension over an honest mistake. I have no problem with people editing my writing or rewriting it, but when they constantly revert or erase it and then insult me, I do. I tried talking on Ring's talk page, but Ring continues to assert his writing and choices for the reasons that I have listed above. I sought out the help of another major contributor to the article as a third party opinion on the edits that have taken place recently to see what he thinks should stay or go, but he has failed to respond and has been inactive of late. I wasn't sure where to take this because to me it comes off as WP:OWN or WP:EW, and now coming close to breaching WP:CIVIL. Disc Wheel (Talk + Tontributions) 18:33, 22 July 2014 (UTC)

Evidence of disputed behavior

(Provide diffs. Links to entire articles aren't helpful unless the editor created the entire article. Edit histories also aren't helpful as they change as new edits are performed.)

1. Edits being reverted and deleted (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
2. My writing being called poorly written (1, 2, 3)
3. My writing bloating the page (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. My contributions being called trivial (1, 2)
5. Ring calling his edits better than mine (1)
6. Ring insulting me (here)

Applicable policies and guidelines

{List the policies and guidelines that apply to the disputed conduct}

1. WP:OWN
2. WP:EW
3. WP:CIVIL

The Godfather

This page is about the 1972 film. For the novel on which the film is based, see The Godfather (novel). For other uses, see Godfather (disambiguation).

The Godfather
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by	Mario Puzo Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by	Albert S. Ruddy
Starring	Marlon Brando Al Pacino James Caan Richard Castellano Robert Duvall Sterling Hayden John Marley Richard Conte Diane Keaton
Cinematography	Gordon Willis
Edited by	William H. Reynolds Peter Zinner
Music by	Nino Rota Carmine Coppola (additional music)
Production companies	Paramount Pictures Alfran Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	March 15, 1972 (1972-03-15) (New York premiere) March 24, 1972 (1972-03-24) (U.S. general release)
Running time	175 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English Sicilian
Budget	$6.5 million
Box office	$245–286 million

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy and based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel novel of the same name. The film stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family. The story, spanning the years 1945 to 1955, centers on the transformation of Michael Corleone from reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss while also chronicling the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone.

Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the Puzo work before it gained popularity, for the price of $80,000. Studio executives had trouble finding a director as their first few candidates turned down the position, until Coppola took the job. When casting the roles for the film, Coppola and studio heads got in several disputes over who was play several characters, in particular Vito and Michael Corleone. Filming was completed quicker than scheduled and visited several locations around New York. The musical scores for the film were composed primarily by Nino Rota, while Carmine Coppola contributed some pieces.

The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema—and as one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. Now ranked as the second greatest film in American cinema (behind Citizen Kane) by the American Film Institute, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1990.

The film was for a time the highest grossing picture ever made, and remains the box office leader for 1972. It won three Oscars that year: for Best Picture, for Best Actor (Brando) and in the category Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Coppola. Its nominations in seven other categories included Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. The success spawned two sequels: The Godfather Part II in 1974, and The Godfather Part III in 1990.

Plot

On the day of his only daughter's wedding, Don Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the head of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest son, Michael, in a Marine Corps uniform, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, to his family at the sprawling reception. Vito's godson Johnny Fontane, a popular singer, pleads for help in securing a coveted movie role, so Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom Hagen, to the abrasive studio head, Jack Woltz, to secure the casting. Woltz is unmoved until the morning he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion.

Shortly before Christmas 1945, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the Corleones' rivals, the Tattaglias, asks Vito for investment in the emerging drug trade and protection through his political connections. Vito disapproves of drug dealers, so he sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. The family then receives two fish wrapped in Brasi's vest, imparting that he "sleeps with the fishes". An assassination attempt by Sollozzo's men lands Vito in the hospital, so his eldest son, Sonny, takes command. Sollozzo kidnaps Hagen to pressure Sonny to accept his deal. Michael thwarts a second assassination attempt on his father at the hospital; his jaw is broken by Police Captain McCluskey, who is also Sollozzo's bodyguard. Sonny retaliates for the attacks on his father by having Tattaglia's son killed. Michael comes up with a plan to hit Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael accepts their offer to meet in a Bronx restaurant, retrieves a planted handgun, and murders them.

Despite a clampdown from the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and the brothers fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and Fredo Corleone is sheltered by associate Moe Greene in Las Vegas. Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister Connie and threatens to kill him if he abuses her again. When it happens again, Sonny speeds for her home but assassins ambush him at a highway toll booth and riddle him with submachine gun fire. Michael's time abroad has led to marriage to Apollonia Vitelli. Their euphoria is shattered when a car bomb intended for him takes her life.

Devastated by Sonny's death, Vito decides to end the feuds. Believing that the Tattaglias were under orders of the now dominant Don Emilio Barzini, he promises, before the heads of the Five Families, to withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo revenge for his son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home to a father saddened by his involvement in the family business and marries Kay the next year.

With his father at the end of his career and his surviving brother too weak, Michael takes the reins of the family, promising Kay that he will make the business legitimate within five years. To that end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to Vito because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; the older man agrees Tom should "have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with rival families. When Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos, Greene derides the Corleones as a fading power. To add injury to insult, Michael sees Fredo falling under Greene's sway.

Vito collapses and dies in his garden while playing with Michael's son, Anthony. At the funeral, Salvatore Tessio arranges a meeting between Michael and Don Barzini, signaling his treachery as Vito had warned. The meeting is set for the same day as the christening of Connie's son, to whom Michael will stand as godfather. As the christening proceeds, Corleone assassins, acting on Michael's orders, murder the other New York dons and Moe Greene. Tessio is told that Michael is aware of his betrayal and taken off to his death. After Carlo is questioned by Michael on his involvement in setting up Sonny's murder and confesses he was contacted by Barzini, Peter Clemenza kills him with a wire garrote. Michael is confronted by Connie, who accuses him of having her husband killed. He denies killing Carlo when questioned by Kay, an answer she accepts. As Kay watches warily, Michael receives his capos, who address him as the new Don Corleone.

Cast

Al Pacino (left) played Michael Corleone, the son and successor of Vito Corleone portrayed by Marlon Brando (right).

• Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone, formerly known as Vito Andolini, who is the Don (the "boss") of the Corleone family. He is a native Sicilian married to Carmela Corleone. Vito is the father of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie.
• Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the Don's youngest son, recently returned from World War II. The only college-educated member of the family, Michael initially wants nothing to do with the "family business". He is the main protagonist of the story and his evolution from doe-eyed outsider to ruthless boss is the key plotline of the film.
• James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Don Corleone's hot-headed eldest son. As underboss, he is being groomed to succeed his father as head of the Corleone family.
• Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is also an old friend of Vito Corleone and Salvatore Tessio.
• Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's informally adopted son, he is the family lawyer and consigliere (counselor). Unlike the Corleones, he is of German-Irish descent, not Sicilian.
• Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone, initially Michael's non-Italian girlfriend and then his second wife and the mother of his two children.
• John Cazale as Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, the middle son of the Corleone family. Deeply insecure and not very bright, he is considered the weakest of the Corleone brothers.
• Talia Shire as Constanzia "Connie" Corleone, the youngest child and only daughter of the Corleone family. She marries Carlo Rizzi at the beginning of the film.
• Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, a caporegime for the family. He is also an old friend of Vito Corleone and Peter Clemenza.
• Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, a heroin dealer associated with the Tattaglia family. He asks Don Corleone to protect the Tattaglia family's heroin business through his political connections.
• Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi, introduced to the Corleone family by Sonny; became Connie's husband. Ultimately he betrays Sonny to the Barzini family.
• Sterling Hayden as Captain McCluskey, a corrupt police captain on Sollozzo's payroll.
• Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, a loyal enforcer utilized by Vito Corleone.
• Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini, Don of the Barzini family.
• Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, a world-famous popular singer and godson of Vito, loosely based on Frank Sinatra.
• John Marley as Jack Woltz, a powerful Hollywood producer.
• Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, a longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel, based on Bugsy Siegel.
• Morgana King as Carmela Corleone, Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie, and adoptive mother to Tom Hagen.
• Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, an old friend of Vito Corleone, who shelters Michael during his exile in Sicily.
• Franco Citti as Calò, Michael's loyal bodyguard in Sicily.
• Johnny Martino as Paulie Gatto, a soldier under Peter Clemenza and Vito's driver.
• Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia, Don of the Tattaglia family.
• Tony Giorgio as Bruno Tattaglia, son and underboss. Sonny Corleone has him assassinated in retaliation for the shooting of Vito Corleone.
• Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, a young girl Michael meets and marries while in Sicily.
• Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi, Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit.
• Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, a soldier under Clemenza who eventually becomes a caporegime in the Corleone family.
• Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, a soldier in the Corleone family.
• Richard Bright as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's personal bodyguard who eventually becomes a caporegime.
• Julie Gregg as Sandra Corleone, the wife and, later, widow of Sonny.
• Jeannie Linero as Lucy Mancini, Sonny's mistress.
• Sofia Coppola (uncredited) as Michael Francis Rizzi, godchild of Michael Corleone.

Production

The film was based on Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, which was a well received novel that remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for 67 weeks and sold over 9 million copies in two years. The novel became the best selling published work in history for several years. Paramount Pictures originally found out about Puzo's novel in 1967 when a literary scout for the company contacted then Paramount Vice President of Production Peter Bart about Puzo's sixty-page unfinished manuscript. Bart believed the work was "much beyond a Mafia story" and offered Puzo a $12,500 option for the work, with an option for $80,000 if the finished work were made into a film. Despite Puzo's agent telling him to turn down the offer, Puzo was desperate for money and accepted the deal. In March 1967, Paramount announced that they backed Puzo's upcoming work and planned to make a feature-length film out of it. In 1969, Paramount confirmed their intentions to make a film out of the novel for the price of $80,000. Their original intentions were to have the film released on Christmas Day in 1971.

Direction

Paramount executive Peter Bart wanted Francis Ford Coppola (pictured) to direct the film because he would accept a low salary and work with a low budget.

Paramount production head Robert Evans wanted the movie to be directed by an Italian American to make the movie "ethnic to the core." Sergio Leone was Paramount Pictures' first choice to direct the film. Leone turned down the option to work on his own gangster film Once Upon a Time in America. Peter Bogdanovich was then approached but he also declined the offer because he was not interested in the mafia. In addition, Peter Yates, Richard Brooks, Arthur Penn, Costa-Gavras, and Otto Preminger were all offered the position and declined. Peter Bart wanted Francis Ford Coppola to get the job as director because he believed Coppola would work for a low sum and budget. Coppola initially turned down the job because he did not finish Puzo's novel. At the time Coppola's studio, American Zoetrope, owed over $400,000 to Warner Bros. for budget overruns with the film THX 1138 and when coupled with his poor financial standing, along with advice from friends and family, Coppola reversed his initial decision and took the job. Coppola was officially announced as director of the film on September 28, 1970. Paramount had offered twelve other directors the job with The Godfather before Coppola agreed. Albert S. Ruddy was hired as the movie's producer after studio executives were impressed with his interview and because he was known for bringing his films in under budget.

Coppola and Paramount

Before The Godfather was in production, Paramount Pictures had been going through an unsuccessful period. Their latest mafia based movie, The Brotherhood, had been a box office bomb. In addition, the studio had usurped their budget for their recent films: Darling Lili, Paint Your Wagon, and Waterloo. The budget for the film for the was originally $2.5 million but as the book grew in popularity and Coppola argued for a larger budget, the budget was raised to $6 million. Paramount executives wanted the movie to be set in then modern-day Kansas City and shot in the studio backlot in order to cut down on costs. Coppola objected and wanted to set the movie in the same time period as its eponymous novel, between the years of 1945 and 1955; Coppola's reasons included: Michael Corleone's Marine Corps stint, the emergence of corporate America, and America in the years after World War II. The executives eventually agreed to Coppola's wish as the novel became increasingly successful. The studio heads subsequently let Coppola film on location in New York and Sicily.

Gulf & Western executive Charles Bluhdorn was frustrated with Coppola over the number of screen tests he had performed without finding a person to play the various roles. Production quickly fell behind because of Coppola's indecisiveness and conflicts with Paramount, which led to costs being around $40,000 per day. With the rising costs, Paramount had then Vice President Jack Ballard keep a close eye on production costs. While filming, Coppola stated that he felt he could be fired at any point as he knew Paramount executives were not happy with many of the decisions he had made. Around the time when shooting the Sollozzo dinner scene was taking place, it was known that Aram Avakian and Steve Kesten had been talking down the footage to Paramount executives. Paramount even forbade Coppola to film the scene again, which Coppola took as a sign he was going to be fired. Coppola fired the two men and re-shot the dinner scene, which made it harder for Paramount to fire him and keep costs low. It was revealed later on that Brando told executives that he would quit the project if Coppola were fired.

Paramount wanted The Godfather to appeal to a wide audience and threatened Coppola with a "violence coach" to make the film more exciting. Coppola added a few more violent scenes to keep the studio happy. The scene in which Connie smashes crockery after finding out Carlo has been cheating was added for this reason.

Writing

On April 14, 1970, it was revealed that Puzo was hired by Paramount for $100,000, along with a percentage of the film's profits, to work on the screenplay for the film. His initial draft was finished on August 10, 1970, and was 150 pages in length. After Coppola was hired as director, both Puzo and Coppola worked on the screenplay, but separately. Puzo worked on his draft in Los Angeles, while Puzo wrote his version in San Francisco. Coppola created a book where he tore pages out of Puzo's book and pasted them into the book. There, he made notes about each of the books fifty scenes, which related to major themes prevalent in the scene, whether the scene should be included in the film, along with ideas and concepts that could be used when filming to make the film true to Italian culture. The two remained in contact while they wrote their respective screenplays and made decisions on what to include and what to remove for the final version. A second draft was completed on March 1, 1971 and was 173 pages long. The final screenplay was finished on March 29, 1931, wound up being 163 pages long, 40 pages over what Paramount had asked for. When filming, Coppola referred to the notebook he had created over the final draft of the screenplay. Screenwriter Robert Towne did uncredited work on the script, particularly on the Pacino-Brando garden scene.

Casting

After viewing Marlon Brando's screen test, Paramount approved Mario Puzo's and Francis Ford Coppola's request to have Brando play Vito Corleone.

Mario Puzo was first to show interest in having Marlon Brando portray Don Vito Corleone by sending a letter to Brando in which he stated Brando was the "only actor who can play the Godfather." Despite Puzo's wishes, the executives at Paramount were against having Brando play the part due to the poor success of his recent films and short temper. Director Coppola favored Brando and Laurence Olivier for the role. Olivier's agent refused the role saying that "[Olivier] wasn't taking any jobs" and "was very sick"; however, Olivier went on to star in Sleuth later that year. At one point, Paramount favored Danny Thomas, but the studio mainly pushed for Ernest Borgnine to receive the part. Other actors that were considered for the part were: George C. Scott, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, Carlo Ponti. Frank Sinatra showed some interest in the part of Vito Coreleone, despite being frustrated that a character, Johnny Fontaine, was rumored to be based off himself.

After months of debate between Coppola and Paramount over Brando, the two finalists for the role were Borgnine and Brando, the latter of which Paramount president Stanley Jaffe required to perform a screen test. Coppola did not want to offend Brando and stated that he needed to test equipment in order to set up the screen test. Coppola traveled to Brando's residence in California to perform the screen test in make-up, which Brando allowed Coppola to film. For make-up, Brando stuck cotton balls in his cheeks, put shoe polish in his hair to darken it, and rolled his collar. Coppola placed Brando's audition tape in the middle of the videos of the audition tapes as the Paramount executives watched them. After Brando's tape ended, the executives were impressed with Brando's efforts and allowed Coppola to cast Brando for the role. Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if he accepted a lower salary than for his previous films, performed a screen-test, and put up a bond insuring that he would not cause any delays in production.

The Paramount executives wanted a popular actor to portray Michael Corleone, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Robert Redford were all offered the part and declined the role. In addition, producer Robert Evans wanted Ryan O'Neal to receive the role in part due to his recent success with the Paramount film, Love Story. Al Pacino was Coppola's favorite for the role as he could picture Pacino roaming the Sicilian countryside and because Coppola wanted an unknown actor who looked like an Italian-American. However, Paramount executives found Pacino to be too short to play Michael. Dustin Hoffman, Martin Sheen, and James Caan also auditioned. Caan was well received by the Paramount executives and was given the part of Michael initially, while the role of Sonny Corleone was awarded to Carmine Caridi. Coppola still pushed for Pacino to play Michael after the fact and Evans eventually conceded, allowing Pacino to have the role of Michael as long as Caan played Sonny. Evans wanted Caan instead of Caridi because Caan was seven inches shorter than Caridi, which was much closer to Pacino's height. Despite agreeing to play Michael Corleone, Pacino was contracted to star in MGM's The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight, but the two studios agreed on a settlement and Pacino was signed by Paramount within three weeks before shooting began.

Robert Duvall was Coppola's only choice to play the role of consigliere Tom Hagen.

From the start of production, Coppola wanted Robert Duvall to play the part of Tom Hagen. Coppola eventually got his wish and Duvall was awarded the part of Tom Hagen, but only after conducting several screen test with actors including: Bruce Dern, Caan, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen. Al Martino, a then famed singer in nightclubs, was notified of the character Johnny Fontane by a friend who read eponymous novel and felt Martino represented the character of Johnny Fontane. Martino then contacted producer Al Ruddy, who gave him the part. However, Martino was stripped of the part after Coppola became director and then awarded the role to Italian singer Vic Damone. Damone eventually dropped the role because he did not want to play an anti-Italian American character, in addition to being paid to little. According to Martino, after being stripped of the role, he went to his godfather and crime boss Russ Bufalino who then orchestrated the publication of various news articles that talked of how Coppola was unaware of Ruddy giving Martino the part; that, when coupled with pressure from the mafia who felt Fontaine deserved the role, led Damone to quit as Fontane. Either way, the part of Johnny Fontane ended up with Martino.

Robert De Niro originally was given the part of Paulie Gatto. A spot in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight opened up after Pacino quit the project in favor of The Godfather, which led De Niro to audition for the role. De Niro won the part and left the project to join The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Johnny Martino eventually was given the role of Gatto. Coppola casted Diane Keaton for the role of Kay Adams due to her reputation for being eccentric. John Cazale was given the part of Fredo Corleone after Coppola saw him perform in an Off Broadway production. For the role of Salvatore Tessio, Coppola chose Abe Vigoda. Vanity Fair author Mark Seal wrote that Richard Castellano was given the role of Peter Clemenza because he "was a natural for the Don’s fat, affable lieutenant." Gianni Russo was given the role of Carlo Rizzi after he asked to perform a screen test where he acted out the fight between Rizzi and wife Sandra Corleone.

Coppola gave several roles in the film to family members. He gave his sister, Talia Shire, the role of Connie Corleone. His daughter Sofia played Michael Francis Rizzi, Connie's and Carlo's newborn son. Carmine Coppola, his father, appeared in the film playing a piano. Coppola's wife, mother, and two sons all appeared as extras in the picture.

Filming

The scene where Santino "Sonny" Corleone is killed.

The scene where Sonny Corleone was killed by the toll booths was the most expensive scene to shoot for the film, costing over $100,000.

In March 1971, Coppola brought the cast of the film together to eat at Patsy's, an Italian restaurant in East Harlem. Filming was set to begin on March 29, 1971 with the scene between Michael Corleone and Kay Adams as they leave Best & Co. in New York City after shopping for Christmas gifts. However the weather forecast in New York City on March 24 predicted snow flurries which led producer Al Ruddy to move the filming of the scene forward to that day. Despite the forecast, no snow fell during the day and a snow machine was used to produce the snow for the scene.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis turned down the opportunity to film The Godfather. Willis and Coppola agreed to alternate between light and dark scenes throughout the film. Paramount executive Peter Evans found the initial dark scenes to be too dark and also believed.

The opening shot is a long, slow pullback, starting with a close-up of Bonasera, who is petitioning Don Corleone, and ending with the Godfather, seen from behind, framing the picture. This move, which lasts for about three minutes, was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens designed by Tony Karp.

The scene of Michael driving with McCluskey and Sollozzo avoided the cost of back-projection. Instead, technicians moved lights behind the car to create the illusion.

The cat in the opening scene used to hang around the studio, and was simply dropped in Brando's lap at the last minute by the director.

One of the movie's most shocking moments involved the real severed head of a horse. Animal rights groups protested the inclusion of the scene. Coppola later stated that the horse's head was delivered to him from a dog food company; a horse had not been killed specifically for the movie.

In the novel, Jack Woltz, the movie producer whose horse's head is put in his bed, is also shown to be a pedophile as Tom Hagen sees a young girl (presumably one of Woltz's child stars) crying while walking out of Woltz's room. This scene was cut from the theatrical release but can be found on the DVD (though Woltz can still briefly be seen kissing the girl on the cheek in his studio in the film).

The shooting of Moe Greene through the eye was inspired by the death of gangster Bugsy Siegel. To achieve the effect, actor Alex Rocco's glasses had two tubes hidden in their frames. One had fake blood in it, and the other had a BB and compressed air. When the gun was shot, the compressed air shot the BB through the glasses, shattering them from the inside. The other tube then released the fake blood.

The equally startling scene of McCluskey's shooting was accomplished by building a fake forehead on top of actor Sterling Hayden. A gap was cut in the center, filled with fake blood, and capped off with a plug of prosthetic flesh. The plug was quickly yanked out with monofilament fishing line, making a bloody hole suddenly appear in McCluskey's head.

On June 22, the scene where Sonny is killed was shot at on a runway Mitchel Field in Mineola. On the runway, three tollbooths were built , along with guard rails, and billboard to set the scene. Sonny's car was a 1941 Lincoln Continental that had holes drilled in it to appear as if struck by several bullets.

The most complicated and expensive scene to film was the death of Sonny Corleone at the Jones Beach Causeway toll plaza midway through the film. Filmed for more than $100,000 on a small Long Island airport runway at the former Mitchel Field (though some sources claim the location was Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn), it was accomplished in just one take with at least four cameras. Caan's suit, rigged with 127 squibs of fake blood, and 200 squib-filled holes in the small toll booth building and the 1941 Lincoln auto, simulated the submachine gun ambush.

Locations

The assassination of Don Barzini was filmed on the steps of the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Locations around New York City were used for the film, including the then-closed flagship store of Best & Company on Fifth Avenue, which was dressed up and used for the scene in which Pacino and Keaton are Christmas shopping. At least one location in Los Angeles was used also (for the exterior of Woltz's mansion), for which neither Robert Duvall nor John Marley was available; in some shots, it is possible to see that extras are standing in for the two actors. A scene with Pacino and Keaton was filmed in the town of Ross, California. The Sicilian towns of Savoca and Forza d'Agrò outside of Taormina were also used for exterior locations. Interiors were shot at Filmways Studio in New York.

A side entrance to Bellevue Hospital was used for Michael's confrontation with police Captain McCluskey. As of 2007, the steps and gate to the hospital were still there but have fallen victim to neglect. The hospital interiors, shown when Michael visits his father there, were filmed at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary on 14th Street, in Manhattan, New York City.

The scene in which Don Barzini is assassinated was filmed on the steps of the New York Supreme Court building on Foley Square in Manhattan, New York City.

The wedding at the Corleone family compound was shot at 110 Longfellow Avenue in the Todt Hill section of Staten Island. The numerous Tudor homes on the block gave the impression that they were part of the same "compound". Paramount built a Plexiglas "stone wall" which traversed the street – the same wall where Santino smashed the camera. Many of the extras in the wedding scene were local Italian-Americans who were asked by Coppola to drink homemade wine, enjoy the traditional Italian food, and participate in the scene as though it were an actual wedding. Coppola revealed in the extras DVD released in 2008 that if you look really close, some of the "daytime" scenes were actually shot at night, with almost blinding backlighting used to simulate the afternoon environment. The production scheduling required this, since this location was on an actual community street and time didn't permit extra days to shoot in daylight.

Two churches were used to film the baptism scene. The interior shots were filmed at Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. For the baptism, Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 was used, as were other Bach works for the pipe organ. The exterior scenes following the baptism were filmed at The Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne in the Pleasant Plains section of Staten Island. In 1973, much of the church was destroyed in a fire. Only the façade and steeple of the original church remained, and were later incorporated into a new structure.

The funeral scene was filmed at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens. The toll booth scene was filmed at the site of Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on Long Island, which was under construction at the time. It also utilized the former Mitchel Field, and the roadway used was once a runway.

Music

See also: The Godfather (soundtrack)

Coppola hired Italian composer Nino Rota to create the underscore for the film, including the main theme, "Speak Softly Love". For the score, Rota to relate to the situations and characters in the film. Paramount executive Evans found the score to be to "highbrow" and did not want to use it; however, it was used after Coppola managed to get Evans to agree. Coppola believed that Rota's musical piece gave the film even more of an Italian feel. Coppola's father, Carmine, created some additional music for the film, particularly the music played by the band during the opening wedding scene.

There was a soundtrack released for the film in 1972 in vinyl form by Paramount Records, on CD in 1991 by Geffen Records, and digitally by Geffen on August 18, 2005. The album contains over 31 minutes of music coming from the movie, with most being composed by Rota, along with a song from Coppola and one by Johnny Farrow and Marty Symes. Allmusic gave the album five out of five stars, with editor Zach Curd saying it is a "dark, looming, and elegant soundtrack." An editor for Filmtracks believed that Rota did a great job of relating the music to the core aspects of the film, which the editor believed to be "tradition, love, and fear."

Release

Paramount Pictures held the world premiere for The Godfather in New York City on March 14, 1972. The money gained from the premiere was all donated to The Boys Club of New York. Before the film premiered, the film had already made $15 million from rentals from over 400 theaters. The following day, the film opened in New York at five theaters. The film next opened in Los Angeles at two theaters on March 22. The Godfather was commercially released on March 24, 1972 throughout the rest of the United States.

Box office

The Godfather was a blockbuster, breaking many box office records to become the highest grossing film of 1972. It earned $81.5 million in theatrical rentals in North America during its initial release, increasing its earnings to $85.7 million through a reissue in 1973, and including a limited re-release in 1997 it ultimately earned an equivalent exhibition gross of $135 million. It displaced Gone with the Wind to claim the record as the top rentals earner, a position it would retain until the release of Jaws in 1975. News articles at the time proclaimed it was the first film to gross $100 million in North America, but such accounts are erroneous since this record in fact belongs to The Sound of Music, released in 1965. The film repeated its native success overseas, earning in total an unprecedented $142 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, to become the highest net earner. Profits were so high for The Godfather that earnings for Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., which owned Paramount Pictures, jumped from seventy-seven cents per share to three dollars and thirty cents a share for the year, according to a Los Angeles Times article, dated December 13, 1972. To date, it has grossed between $245 million and $286 million in worldwide box office receipts, and adjusted for ticket price inflation in North America, ranks among the top 25 highest-grossing films.

Critical response

Since its release, The Godfather has received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reports that all 81 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 9.2/10. Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a perfect weighted average score of 100% based on 14 reviews from mainstream critics, considered to be "universal acclaim". The film is ranked at the top of Metacritic's top 100 list, and is ranked 3rd on Rotten Tomatoes' all time best list (100% "Certified Fresh"). As of July 2014, the film is ranked second on Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 movies of all time.

Movie critic Gene Siskel gave The Godfather four out of four stars.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times praised Coppola's efforts to follow to storyline of the eponymous novel, the choice to set the film in the same time as the novel, and the film's ability to "absorb" the viewer over its three hour run time. While Ebert was mainly positive, he criticized Brando's performance, saying his movements lacked "precision" and his voice was "wheezy." The Chicago Tribune's Gene Siskel gave the film four out of four stars, commenting that it was "very good." Village Voice's Andrew Sarris believed Brando portrayed Vito Corleone well and that his character dominated each scene it appeared in, but felt Puzo and Coppola had the character of Michael Corleone too focused on revenge. In addition, Sarris stated that Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, and James Caan were good in their respective roles. Desson Howe of the Washington Post believed that the film is a "jewel" and that Coppola deserves most of the credit for the film. The New York Times Vincent Camby felt that Coppola had created one of the "most brutal and moving chronicles of American life" and went on to say that it "transcends its immediate milieu and genre." Director Stanley Kubrick thought the film had the best cast ever and could be the best movie ever made.

The soundtrack's main theme by Nino Rota was also critically acclaimed; the main theme ("Speak Softly Love") is well-known and widely used.

Previous Mafia movies had looked at the gangs from the perspective of an outraged outsider. In contrast, The Godfather presents the gangster's perspective of the Mafia as a response to corrupt society. Although the Corleone family is presented as immensely rich and powerful, no scenes depict prostitution, gambling, loan sharking or other forms of racketeering. Some critics argue that the setting of a criminal counterculture allows for unapologetic gender stereotyping, and is an important part of the film's appeal ("You can act like a man!", Don Vito tells a weepy Johnny Fontane).

Real-life gangsters responded enthusiastically to the film, with many of them feeling it was a portrayal of how they were supposed to act. Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, the former underboss in the Gambino crime family, stated: "I left the movie stunned ... I mean I floated out of the theater. Maybe it was fiction, but for me, then, that was our life. It was incredible. I remember talking to a multitude of guys, made guys, who felt exactly the same way. " According to Anthony Fiato after seeing the film, Patriarca crime family members Paulie Intiso and Nicky Giso altered their speech patterns closer to that of Vito Corleone's. Intiso would frequently swear and use poor grammar; but after the movie came out, he started to articulate and philosophize more.

Remarking on the 40th anniversary of the film's release, film critic John Podhoretz praised The Godfather as "arguably the great American work of popular art" and "the summa of all great moviemaking before it". Two years before, Roger Ebert wrote in his journal that it "comes closest to being a film everyone agrees... is unquestionably great."

Awards and honors

The Godfather was nominated for seven awards at the 30th Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture – Drama, James Caan for Best Supporting Actor, Al Pacino and Marlon Brando for Best Actor – Drama, Best Score, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. When the winners were announced on January 28, 1973, the film had won the categories for: Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor - Drama, Best Original Score, and Best Picture – Drama. The Godfather won a record five Golden Globes, which still stands today.

Rota's score for the film was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture or TV Special at the 15th Grammy Awards. Rota was announced the winner of the category on March 3 at the Grammys' ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.

When the nominations for the 45th Academy Awards were revealed on February 12, 1972, The Godfather was nominated for eleven awards. The nominations were for: Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Marlon Brando for Best Actor, Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola for Best Adapted Screenplay, Pacino, Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Nino Rota for Best Original Score, Coppola for Best Director, and Best Sound. Upon further review of Rota's love theme from The Godfather, the Academy found that Rota had used a similar score in Eduardo De Filippo's 1958 comedy Fortunella. This led to re-balloting, where members of the music branch chose from six films: The Godfather and the five films that been on the shortlist for best original dramatic score but did not get nominated. John Addison's score for Sleuth won this new vote, and thus replaced Rota's score on the official list of nominees. Going into the awards ceremony, The Godfather was seen as the favorite to take home the most awards. From the nominations that The Godfather had remaining, it only won three of the Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.

Brando, who had also not attended the Golden Globes ceremony two months earlier, boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony and refused to accept the Oscar, becoming the second actor to refused a Best Actor award after George C. Scott in 1970. Brando sent American Indian Rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place, to announce at the awards podium Brando's reasons for declining the award which were based on his objection to the depiction of American Indians by Hollywood and television. In addition, Pacino boycotted the ceremony. He was insulted at being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor award, noting that he had more screen time than his co-star and Best Actor winner Brando and thus he should have received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

The Godfather had five nominations for awards at the 26th British Academy Film Awards. The nominees were: Pacino for Most Promising Newcomer, Rota for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, Duvall for Best Supporting Actor, and Brando for Best Actor, the flim's costume designer Anna Hill Johnstone for Best Costume Design. All of The Godfather's nominations failed to win except for Rota.

Awards and Nominations received by The Godfather

Award	Category	Nominee	Result
45th Academy Awards	Best Picture	Albert S. Ruddy	Won
	Best Director	Francis Ford Coppola	Nominated
	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Marlon Brando	Won
	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	James Caan	Nominated
		Robert Duvall	Nominated
		Al Pacino	Nominated
	Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium	Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola	Won
	Best Sound	Charles Grenzbach, Richard Portman, and Christopher Newman	Nominated
	Best Costume Design	Anna Hill Johnstone	Nominated
	Best Film Editing	William H. Reynolds and Peter Zinner	Nominated
	Best Music, Original Dramatic Score	Nino Rota	Revoked
26th British Academy Film Awards	Best Actor	Marlon Brando (Also for The Nightcomers)	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor	Robert Duvall	Nominated
	Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles	Al Pacino	Nominated
	Best Film Music	Nino Rota	Won
	Best Costume Design	Anna Hill Johnstone	Nominated
25th Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures	Francis Ford Coppola	Won
30th Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture - Drama		Won
	Best Director - Motion Picture	Francis Ford Coppola	Won
	Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama	Marlon Brando	Won
		Al Pacino	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture	James Caan	Nominated
	Best Screenplay	Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola	Won
	Best Original Score	Nino Rota	Won
15th Grammy Awards	Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV Special	Nino Rota	Won
25th Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium	Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola	Won

In 1990, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1998, Time Out' conducted a poll and The Godfather was voted the best film of all time. In 2002, Sight & Sound polled film directors voted the film and its sequel as the second best film ever; the critics poll separately voted it fourth. Also in 2002, The Godfather was ranked the second best film of all time by Film4, after Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In 2005, it was named one of the 100 greatest films of the last 80 years by Time magazine (the selected films were not ranked). In 2006, the Writers Guild of America, west agreed, voting it the number two in its list of the 101 greatest screenplays, after Casablanca. In 2008, the film was voted in at No. 1 on Empire magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Entertainment Weekly named it the greatest film ever made. The film has been selected by the American Film Institute for many of their lists.

American Film Institute Accolades

Year	Category	Nominee	Rank	Ref(s)
1998	AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies		3
2001	AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills		11
2005	AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes		2
2006	AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores	"Speak Softly Love"	5
2007	AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)		2
2008	AFI's 10 Top 10 Gangster		1

Cinematic influence

Although many films about gangsters preceded The Godfather, Coppola's nuanced treatment of the Corleone family and their associates, and his portrayal of mobsters as characters of considerable psychological depth and complexity was an innovation. He took it further with The Godfather Part II, and the success of those two films, critically, artistically and financially, opened the doors for more and varied depictions of mobster life, including films such as Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas and TV series such as David Chase's The Sopranos.

The image of the Mafia as a feudal organization with the Don as both the protector of the small fry and the collector of obligations from them for his services is now a commonplace trope which The Godfather helped to popularize. Similarly, the recasting of the Don's family as a figurative "royal family" has spread beyond fictional boundaries into the real world as well – (cf. John Gotti – the "Dapper Don", and his celebrity family.) This portrayal is echoed in the more sordid reality of lower level Mafia "familial" entanglements depicted in various post-Godfather Mafia fare, such as Scorsese's Mean Streets and Casino, and also to the grittier hard-boiled pre-Godfather films.

In the DVD commentary for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas states that the interwoven scenes of Anakin Skywalker killing Separatist leaders and Palpatine announcing the beginning of the Galactic Empire was an homage to the christening and assassination sequence in The Godfather.

In popular culture

The Godfather epic, encompassing the original trilogy and the additional footage Coppola incorporated later, is by now thoroughly integrated into American life, and the first film had the largest impact. Unlike any film before it, its depiction of Italians who immigrated to the United States in the first half of the twentieth century is perhaps attributable to the director, himself an Italian-American, presenting his own understanding of their experience. Setting aside the stereotypes of the criminal element and the simple peasant, the films explain through their action the uneven integration of a particular population into a new milieu. Ironically, The Godfather increased Hollywood's unsavory depictions of immigrant Italians in the aftermath of the film and was a recruiting tool for organized crime. Still, the story is of a piece with all immigrant experience as much as it is rooted in the specific circumstances of the Corleones, a family of privilege who live outside the law, are not robbed of their universality yet assume a heroic aspect that is at once admirable and repellent. Released in a period of intense national cynicism and self-criticism, the American film struck a chord about the dual identities inherent in a nation of immigrants.

The concept of a mafia "Godfather" was an invention of Mario Puzo's and the film's effect was to add the fictional nomenclature to the language. Similarly, actual gangsters adopted Don Vito Corleone's unforgettable "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse" for themselves—voted the second most memorable line in cinema history in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute. In the French novel Le Père Goriot, Honoré de Balzac wrote of Vautrin telling Eugene: "In that case I will make you an offer that no one would decline."

An indication of the continuing influence of The Godfather and its sequels can be gleaned from the many references to it which have appeared in every medium of popular culture in the decades since the film's initial release. That these homages, quotations, visual references, satires, and parodies continue to pop up even now shows clearly the film's enduring impact.

In film

References to the film are abundant. In the 1999 film Analyze This, which starred Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, many references are made both directly and indirectly to The Godfather. One dream scene is almost a shot by shot replica of the attempted assassination of Vito Corleone (Crystal playing the Don and De Niro playing Fredo). In the 1990 comedy The Freshman, Marlon Brando plays a role reminiscent of Don Corleone. And one of the most unlikely homages came in 2004, when the PG-rated, animated family film Shark Tale was released with a storyline that nodded at this and other movies about the Mafia. Similarly, Rugrats in Paris, based on a Nickelodeon children's show, began with an extended parody of The Godfather.

In Set it Off, four women - Lita "Stoney" Newsome (Jada Pinkett), Cleopatra "Cleo" Sims (Queen Latifah), Francesca "Frankie" Sutton (Vivica A. Fox), and Tisean "T.T." Williams (Kimberly Elise) - meet around a conference table at the office building they clean to plan a series of bank heists, during which time they do imitations of The Godfather.

In You've Got Mail, Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks) quotes The Godfather, positing:

"The Godfather is the I-ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question. What should I pack for my summer vacation? 'Leave the gun, take the cannoli'. What day of the week is it? 'Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday'."

In television

The Warner Bros. animated show Animaniacs featured several segments called "Goodfeathers", with pigeons spoofing characters from various gangster films. One of the characters is "The Godpigeon", an obvious parody of Brando's portrayal of Vito Corleone.

John Belushi appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch as Vito Corleone in a therapy session trying to properly express his inner feelings towards the Tattaglia Family, who, in addition to muscling in on his territory, "also, they shot my son Santino 56 times".

The Simpsons makes numerous references to The Godfather, including one scene in the episode "Strong Arms of the Ma" that parodies the Sonny-Carlo street fight scene, with Marge Simpson beating a mugger in front of an animated version of the same New York streetscape, including using the lid of a trash can during the fight. The "All's Fair in Oven War" final scene shows James Caan being ambushed by hillbillies (Cletus relatives) at a toll booth, a parody of the scene when Sonny Corleone (portrayed by Caan) is shot and killed; the tollbooth scene is also parodied in "Mr. Plow," except Bart is ambushed by a barrage of snowballs by Nelson, and other students lie in wait behind a snow fortress (in place of the tollbooth). The later episode "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" parodies the film's ending scene, with Lisa Simpson taking Kay Adams' role and Fat Tony's son Michael standing in for Michael Corleone. The horse-head scene is also parodied in the episode Lisa's Pony.

In the television show The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's topless bar is named Bada Bing after the line in The Godfather when Sonny Corleone says, "You've gotta get up close like this and bada-bing! You blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit."

An episode of SCTV satirizes the film as a story about how the five American TV networks of the time (ABC, CBS, NBC, & PBS) are run like the Mob, with SCTV president Guy Caballero being asked to invest in a pay-TV channel by the Ugatzo family as a way to control of TV; when Caballero refuses, a 'network war' starts, with many of the scenes in the episode being similar to that of the film.

The Modern Family episode, "Fulgencio" makes various references to The Godfather, particularly in the ending scenes. Phil Dunphy attends the christening of his godson and recites the vows of renunciation, which is intercut with scenes of his son Luke carrying out various acts of retaliation, on Phil's orders, against people who are causing problems for Phil and members of his family. In the last of these, it is shown that Luke has placed the head of a stuffed Zebra in the bed of a boy who was making fun of Luke at school (but had a fear of zebras); the boy wakes up and reacts just as Jack Woltz had reacted to the horse's head in his bed, in the film. The final scene has Phil's wife Clair commenting on how odd it was that all of the problems had cleared up, to which Phil, sitting in his office, responds, "don't ask me about my business", after which Luke closes the office door.

Releases for television and video

Main article: The Godfather Saga

The theatrical version of The Godfather debuted on American network television on November 16, 1974 on NBC, and again two days later, with only minor edits. The airing on television attracted a large audience and helped generate anticipation for the upcoming sequel. The next year, Coppola created The Godfather Saga expressly for American television in a release that combined The Godfather and The Godfather Part II with unused footage from those two films in a chronological telling that toned down the violent, sexual, and profane material for its NBC debut on November 18, 1977. In 1981, Paramount released the Godfather Epic boxed set, which also told the story of the first two films in chronological order, again with additional scenes, but not redacted for broadcast sensibilities. Coppola returned to the film again in 1992 when he updated that release with footage from The Godfather Part III and more unreleased material. This home viewing release, under the title The Godfather Trilogy 1901–1980, had a total run time of 583 minutes (9 hours, 43 minutes), not including the set's bonus documentary by Jeff Werner on the making of the films, "The Godfather Family: A Look Inside".

The Godfather DVD Collection was released on October 9, 2001 in a package that contained all three films—each with a commentary track by Coppola—and a bonus disc that featured a 73-minute documentary from 1991 entitled The Godfather Family: A Look Inside and other miscellany about the film: the additional scenes originally contained in The Godfather Saga; Francis Coppola's Notebook (a look inside a notebook the director kept with him at all times during the production of the film); rehearsal footage; a promotional featurette from 1971; and video segments on Gordon Willis's cinematography, Nino Rota's and Carmine Coppola's music, the director, the locations and Mario Puzo's screenplays. The DVD also held a Corleone family tree, a "Godfather" timeline, and footage of the Academy Award acceptance speeches.

Coppola Restoration

During the film's original theatrical release, the original negatives were worn down due to the reel being printed so much to meet demand. In addition, the duplicate negative was lost in Paramount archives. In 2006 Coppola contacted Steven Spielberg — whose studio DreamWorks had recently been bought out by Paramount — about restoring The Godfather. Robert A. Harris was hired to oversee the restoration of The Godfather and its two sequels, with the film's cinematographer Willis participated in the restoration. Work began in November 2008 by repairing the negatives so they could go through a digital scanner to produce high resolution 4k files. If a negative were damaged and discolored, work was done digitally to restore it to its original look. After a year and a half of working on the restoration, the project was complete. Paramount called the finished product The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration and released it to the public on September 23, 2008 on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Dave Kehr of the New York Times believed the restoration brought back the "golden glow of their original theatrical screenings". As a whole, the restoration of the film was well received by critics and Coppola. The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration contains several new special features that play in high definition, along with additional scenes.

Video game

Main article: The Godfather: The Game

In March 2006, a video game version of The Godfather was released by Electronic Arts. Before his death, Marlon Brando provided voice work for Vito; however, owing to poor sound quality from Brando's failing health, only parts of the recordings could be used. A sound-alike's voice had to be used in the "missing parts". James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Abe Vigoda lent their voices and likenesses as well, and several other Godfather cast members had their likeness in the game. However, Al Pacino's likeness and voice (Michael Corleone) was not in the game as Al Pacino sold his likeness and voice exclusively for use in the Scarface video game. Francis Ford Coppola said in April 2005 that he was not informed and did not approve of Paramount allowing the game's production, and openly criticized the move.

See also

• The Godfather (soundtrack)

References

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

• Block, Alex Ben; Wilson, Lucy Autrey (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. New York, New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-177889-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• De Stefano, George (2006). "Chapter 4: Don Corleone Was My Godfather". An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America. New York: Faber and Faber. pp. 94–135. ISBN 978-0-571-21157-9. OCLC 60420173. Retrieved January 26, 2013. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
• Gelmis, Joseph (August 23, 1971). "Merciful Heavens, Is This The End of Don Corleone?". New York Magazine. 4 (34). New York Media, LLC. ISSN 0028-7369. Retrieved July 16, 2014. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Jones, Jenny M. (2007). The Annotated Godfather: The Complete Screenplay. New York, New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. ISBN 978-1-5791-2739-8. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Lebo, Harlan (2005). The Godfather Legacy: The Untold Story of the Making of the Classic Godfather Trilogy Featuring Never-Before-Published Production Stills. London, England: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-8777-7. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Phillips, Gene D. (2004). Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-4671-3. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Santopietro, Tom (2012). The Godfather Effect: Changing Hollywood, America, and Me. New York, New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1-2500-0513-7. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Stanley, Timothy (2014). Citizen Hollywood: How the Collaboration Between LA and DC Revolutionized American Politics. New York, New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-1-2500-3249-2. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Williams, Joe (2012). Hollywood Myths: The Shocking Truths Behind Film's Most Incredible Secrets and Scandals. Minneapolis, Minnesota: MBI Pub. Co. and Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-1-2500-3249-2. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Welsh, James M.; Phillips, Gene D.; Hill, Rodney F. (2010). The Francis Ford Coppola Encyclopedia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7651-4. Retrieved July 15, 2014. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Official website
• The Godfather at IMDb
• The Godfather at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Godfather at Box Office Mojo
• The Godfather at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Godfather at Metacritic