TRIVIA: Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) was so nervous about working with Marlon Brando that, in the first take of their scene together, he flubbed some lines. Francis Ford Coppola liked the genuine nervousness and used it in the final cut. The scenes of Brasi practicing his speech were added later. During an early shot of the scene where Vito Corleone returns home and his people carry him up the stairs, Marlon Brando put weights under his body on the bed as a prank, to make it harder to lift him. Al Pacinos maternal grandparents emigrated to America from Corleone, Sicily, just as Vito Corleone had. Marlon Brando wanted to make Don Corleone look like a bulldog, so he stuffed his cheeks with cotton wool for the audition. For actual filming, he wore a mouthpiece made by a dentist; this appliance is on display in the American Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York. The smack that Vito gives Johnny Fontane was not in the script. Marlon Brando improvised the smack and Al Martinos confused reaction was real. According to James Caan, Martino didnt know whether to laugh or cry. The scene where Sonny beats up Carlo (Connies husband) took four days to shoot and featured more than 700 extras. The use of the garbage can lid was improvised by James Caan. Al Pacino boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony, angry that he was nominated for the Academy Award Supporting Actor, noting that his character had more screen time than his costar, Best Lead Actor nominee (and winner) Marlon Brando. James Caan improvised the part where he throws the FBI photographer to the ground. The extras frightened reaction is genuine. The scenes in which Enzo comes to visit Vito Corleone in the hospital were shot in reverse with the outside scene shot first. Gabriele Torrei, the actor who plays Enzo, had never acted in front of a camera before and his nervous shaking after the car drives away was real. During filming, James Caan and Gianni Russo did not get along and were frequently at loggerheads. During filming Sonnys beating on Carlo, Caan nearly hit Russo with the stick he threw at him, and actually broke two of Russos ribs and chipped his elbow. For the scene where Clemenza is cooking, Francis Ford Coppola originally wrote in the script, Clemenza browns some sausage. Upon seeing this, Mario Puzo crossed out browns and replaced it with fries, writing in the margin, Gangsters dont brown. In 1974, The Godfather (1972) premiered on NBC over 2 nights - Saturday November 16th, and Monday November 18th, from 9-11pm. Both nights, at 11pm, New York Citys Municipal Water Authorities had some overflow problems from all the toilets flushing around the same time. Note the attention to detail: most of the cars have wooden bumpers, as they did just after the war as car manufacturers handed over the chrome that was supposed to be used on bumpers for the war effort. According to Al Pacino, those were real tears in Marlon Brandos eyes when Michael pledges himself to his father in the hospital scene. Gordon Willis insisted that every shot represent a point of view, usually setting his camera about four feet off the ground, keeping the angle flat and even. Francis Ford Coppola managed to get him to do one aerial shot in the scene when Don Vito Corleone is gunned down, telling Willis that the overhead shot represented Gods point of view. Marlon Brando did not memorize most of his lines and read from cue cards during most of the film. Although there are many claims of real Mafiosi as cast members Francis Ford Coppola stated in a May 2009 interview with Howard Stern that no organized crime members were cast or used as consultants. Coppola went on to explain there are expectations of reciprocity once one is provided a favor by an organized crime member or otherwise involved in a business action with the same. He specifically denied the connection of Gianni Russo to organized crime. The closest Coppola claims to have come to a real gangster during production, at least to his knowledge, was an interaction with Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi. Coppola said when he asked if Montana knew how to spin the cylinder of the revolver Montana replied You kiddin?. The character Moe Greene was modeled after Jewish mobster Bugsy Siegel, although Siegel was not known for wearing glasses. Both were assassinated with a shot through the eye, with the glasses worn by Greene being necessary in order to accomplish the special effect eye shot. According to Francis Ford Coppola, the term Don Corleone is actually incorrect Italian parlance. In Italian, addressing someone as Don would be like addressing them as Uncle in English, so the correct parlance would be Don Michael or Don Vito. Coppola says that Mario Puzo, who couldnt speak Italian, simply made up the idea of using Don with a persons last name, and it has now become a pop culture staple. The early buzz on the film was so positive that a sequel was planned before the film was finished filming. A young Sylvester Stallone auditioned for the roles of Paulie Gatto and Carlo Rizzi, but was not cast for either. Stallone instead decided to try his hand at writing, first completing the screenplay for the modestly successful The Lords of Flatbush (1974). He would later get his break in Rocky (1976), alongside Talia Shire, who portrays Connie Corleone in this film. Gianni Russo used his organized crime connections to secure the role of Carlo Rizzi, going so far as to get a camera crew to film his own audition and send it to the producers. However, Marlon Brando was initially against having Russo, who had never acted before, in the film; this made Russo furious and he went to threaten Brando. However, this reckless act proved to be a blessing in disguise: Brando thought Russo was acting and was convinced he would be good for the role. Al Pacino wore a foam latex facial appliance that covered his entire left cheek and was made up with colors to match his skin tone and give the effect of bruising, to simulate the effect of having his jaw broken by Captain McCluskey. The cat held by Marlon Brando in the opening scene was a stray the actor found while on the lot at Paramount, and was not originally called for in the script. So content was the cat that its purring muffled some of Brandos dialogue, and, as a result, most of his lines had to be looped. George Lucas put together the Mattress Sequence (the montage of crime scene photos and headlines about the war between the five families) as a favor to Francis Ford Coppola for helping him fund American Graffiti (1973). He asked not to be credited. James Caan originally heard the phrase bada-bing! from his acquaintance, the real-life mobster Carmine Persico, and improvised its use in the film. According to Mario Puzo, the character of Johnny Fontane was NOT based on Frank Sinatra. However, everyone assumed that it was, and Sinatra was furious; when he met Puzo at a restaurant he screamed vulgar terms and threats at Puzo. Sinatra was also vehemently opposed to the film. Due to this backlash, Fontanes role in the film was scaled down to a couple of scenes. At the meeting in the restaurant, Sollozzo speaks to Michael in Sicilian so rapid subtitles could not be used. He begins with: I am sorry. What happened to your father was business. I have much respect for your father. But your father, his thinking is old-fashioned. You must understand why I had to do that. Now lets work through where we go from here. When Michael returns from the bathroom, he continues in Sicilian with: Everything all right? I respect myself, understand, and cannot allow another man to hold me back. What happened was unavoidable. I had the unspoken support of the other Family dons. If your father were in better health, without his eldest son running things, no disrespect intended, we wouldnt have this nonsense. We will stop fighting until your father is well and can resume bargaining. No vengeance will be taken. We will have peace. But your Family should interfere no longer. Orson Welles lobbied to get the part of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972), even offering to lose a good deal of weight in order to get the role. Francis Ford Coppola, a Welles fan, had to turn him down because he already had Marlon Brando in mind for the role and felt Welles wouldnt be right for it. Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton were all paid $35,000 for their work on the film. Walter Frith is watching...
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 21:20:51 +0000
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