The Godfather (1972)
On the basis of the first hundred pages of The Godfather,
Mario Puzo was paid $80,000 to finish the novel. By the time the
film was ready, the novel had sold a million copies in hardback
and twelve million in paperback.
Coppola was assigned to The Godfather because of his
Italian-American background which was supposed to assuage the
expressed sensitivity of the Mafia to seeing Mario Puzo's book
filmed.
There was much anxiety during shooting. Paramount were worried
about the casting of Marlon Brando, partly because of his volatile
reputation, and partly because he had not had a box-office success
for over a decade.
The studio were also concerned about the track record of
director Francis Ford Coppola, who normally made intimate art
movies.
The film seemed to have everything against it - It's three
hours long, it gets awfully dark in places (the lighting, not the
plot), you can't understand much of what Brando is saying, and it
is possible to get totally confused just towards the end . . .
But Paramount's fears proved ungrounded, and the film was a
triumph - A brilliant and exciting epic crime drama, masterfully
fashioned by Coppola.
The engrossing plot follows the career of Mafia leader Don Vito
Corleone, and the struggle for power between his family and rival
family organisations.
 The
film is exceptionally well cast with superb acting throughout, and
the drama, suspense, and character development are of the highest
order. Relative newcomer Al Pacino, as the Don's academic son,
Michael, who will succeed his father, comes close to stealing the
film altogether - It is a meticulously constructed, awesomely
controlled performance.
Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman were all
offered the part of Michael Corleone, but all refused.
Many moments in the movie have become legend: The severed
horses head that soaks the bed clothes of a recalcitrant movie
producer in blood; the murder in the restaurant which seals
Michael's blood relationship with his Mafia family; the hospital
siege, and the extraordinary baptism scene near the end when
Michael is acting as godfather to his sister's child.
At the same time that he is explicitly renouncing Satan and his
world, a series of vicious murders organized by him are being
committed to confirm his position as "godfather" in the
other sense.
The extreme violence of the movie excited and shocked many,
provoking a great deal of comment. It was also said that The
Godfather glamorised gangsters - but The Godfather is
more than just a compelling gangster saga; it's also a fascinating
study of the struggle for achievement and success in America.
The Godfather won the best picture Academy Award, while
Brando picked up the best actor award for his role as Don Corleone.
The movie was followed by two superb sequels to make one of the
most fascinating and well-made trilogies in movie history.
Oh . . . and the horse head in the bed . . . it's real.
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