FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA's stunning, allegorical epic masterpieces set in the world of modern American organized crime. Alternately nostalgic and cold blooded in their observations of family relationships, these two films were provocative and deeply resonant achievements that managed also to be enormously popular.
The two Godfather sagas presented the story of the Corleone family. The original film told the tale of elderly Mafia patriarch Vito Corleone's (MARLON BRANDO) death and the struggle for power by his son. The sequel, thanks to a clever structure, managed to be two movies at once, traveling both forward and backward in time, explaining the young Vito's (ROBERT DE NIRO) rise to power while also detailing the expanding role of the mob through the story of Vito's son (AL PACINO).
The Godfather was originally slated to be a modest little gangster film, without a name cast and made on a budget of less than $2 million. The film rights to Mario Puzo's blockbuster best-seller had actually been bought by Paramount for a mere $35,000 before the novel became a hit. The decision to use non–name actors in major roles held firm except for the pivotal, if modest, part of Don Vito Corleone. As the budget escalated to more than $6 million to meet the growing expectations of the public, the studio considered EDWARD G.
ROBINSON and Danny Thomas. Coppola's first choice, however, was LAURENCE OLIVIER, who turned it down. His second choice, Marlon Brando, wanted the role, but Paramount didn't want Brando. The studio was afraid the actor's sometimes erratic behavior might send the movie overbudget, not to mention the problem of Brando's diminishing drawing power after a number of recent box-office failures. But Coppola held firm, and Brando won the role after performing in a makeshift screen test the actor shot himself at his home.
Coppola would seem an odd choice for such an increasingly important movie. His track record as a director was anything but impressive. He had had one modest success, You're a Big Boy Now (1967), and two highly publicized flops, Finian's Rainbow (1968) and The Rain People (1969). His biggest claim to fame was his Oscar for the screenplay of Patton (1970). James Monaco, writing in American Film Now, astutely speculated that "[Coppola] was the only thinkable choice with an Italian surname. The producers were already having trouble with the Mafia and with Italian-American lobbying groups. A director named Coppola would (and did) take some of the heat off." Just the same, Coppola was reportedly nearly fired at least three times during filming.
The Godfather was, for a short while, the highest-grossing film in Hollywood history. In addition to making the otherwise struggling young writer-director Francis Coppola a household name, the films also made stars of such performers as Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and ROBERT DUVALL. The original movie also resurrected the career of Marlon Brando. Besides its critical and popular success, The Godfather also won the acclaim of the industry, winning three Oscars for Best Film, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), and Best Screenplay (Mario Puzo and Francis Coppola). It also won three nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Al Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall). It was the only gangster film, before being joined by its sequel, to win a Best Picture Oscar.
The Godfather, Part II won six Academy Awards, for Best Film (Coppola producing), Best Direction (Coppola), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Screenplay Adaptation (Coppola and Puzo), Best Art Direction (Dean Tavoularis and Angelo Graham, George R. Nelso—set direction), and Best Original Dramatic Score (Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola—the director's father). Also nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscars were Michael V. Gazzo and Lee Strasberg. Part II remains the only sequel ever to win a Best Picture Oscar in Hollywood history. The cast of The Godfather includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte, Diane Keaton, Al Lettieri, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Abe Vigoda, Al Martino, Morgana King, Alex Rocco.
The cast list of The Godfather, Part II includes Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, G. D. Spradlin, Morgana King, Mariana Hill, Troy Donahue, Joe Spinell, Abe Vigoda, Fay Spain, Harry Dean Stanton, Danny Aiello, and James Caan. The Godfather Part III was completed and released in 1990. Though it offered fans a continuation and conclusion of the storyline begun in The Godfather, the film was not up to the standards of the earlier movies and critics panned it.
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