The Godfather (1972)

March 5, 2015 7:37 PM

Francis Ford Coppola directs Mario Puzo's story of a fictional New York crime family. This is the first of a trilogy.

Second-highest ranked movie on IMDB.

Vincent Canby's original NYT review.

Roger Ebert writes about it in 1997.

Anatomy of a scene: The Guardian.

Francis Ford Coppola talks about his "Godfather Notebook." (Y/T)

Mario Puzo writes about "The Godfather Business" for New York Magazine in 1972 (Google Books result, starts at page 22).

What Puzo Godfathered 40 Years Ago - WSJ (2009)

posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord (17 comments total)

They almost set it in Kansas City! :-O
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 7:38 PM on March 5, 2015

Here's a page from the "Godfather Notebook."
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 8:12 PM on March 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is the first of a trilogy.

LIES.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:25 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Well, we can pretend it didn't happen, I guess....
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:03 PM on March 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you're going on a 400 mile road trip, I suggest listening to The Hollywood Gauntlet's 6.5 hour Godfather vs. Godfather podcast episode, breaking down the entire trilogy from page to screen, plus the Godfather Saga edit of parts I and II, and the rumored unused plot developments for III and an as yet unmade IV.
posted by doctornecessiter at 3:57 AM on March 6, 2015 [6 favorites]

I completely understand why there are disagreements on whether this or Part II is better, but I'll always be Team Part I. I understand the achievement in epic storytelling that Part II represents (we can dig into that more on its post), but to me as a single stand-alone piece of work the original Godfather is unparalleled.
posted by doctornecessiter at 6:58 AM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

True story...At my last office job, I worked with much younger guy. One day, he told me that he *finally* saw The Godfather. His main takeaway, though, was that he now understood why comics all did Marlon Brando imitations the way they do. He could never figure it out, until he saw Godfather.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:14 AM on March 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

He could never figure it out, until he saw Godfather.

Hopefully this hasn't happened to anyone who knows the impression but missed seeing The Godfather: "Why does everyone do an impression of Brando from that mediocre movie he did with Matthew Broderick? What's so special about that one, I wonder?"
posted by doctornecessiter at 7:21 AM on March 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

My father-in-law, who is an intelligent man, HATES this movie. He found it too "operatic" and "talky" -- not enough gunplay for his tastes. Also too dark (literally). щ(ಠ益ಠщ)

He's also partially deaf, which might explain some of his distaste for it.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:12 AM on March 6, 2015

Diane Keaton vs. Brando, it's a Brando-off.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:33 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

To contribute something more substantial: The Clothes of Kay Corleone by Pablo Villaça on RogerEbert.com; I believe this was linked on the blue.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:36 AM on March 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

A friend and I used to celebrate the Don's birthday every year. December 11th, maybe? Definitely December. We would buy some Italian wine (she was a big chianti drinker), buy a big spread of bread, cured meats, and cheeses, and head to the local Italian bakery for treats including, of course, cannoli. We'd alternate watching I or II. She made me watch III one year, but only because I'd never seen it. One year we did a double feature, which I thought was going to be too much, but it was magnificent. We stopped II part-way through at like 2am, and when we woke up the next morning, we immediately put it back on and made coffee. One year, she had just gotten a new bed, and the old one was getting picked up in a few days, so we dragged the mattress into her living room so we could literally "go to the mattresses" and eat our picnic on it while we watched.
posted by missmary6 at 4:46 PM on March 6, 2015 [14 favorites]

That's a great tradition! I always have a hankering for a hearty spaghetti while watching this film.

One of the cable stations (AMC, maybe) had a Godfather marathon over Thanksgiving weekend a couple of years ago -- "Spend the holidays with The Family" I think the tagline was. It was sooooooo great (except commercials! Bah!).
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 7:12 PM on March 6, 2015

Conflict re: Vito Corleone's birth date!

In The Godfather, Vito's tombstone lists his birthday as April 29, 1887. In The Godfather Part II this is changed to December 7, 1891.

posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 1:39 AM on March 7, 2015 [1 favorite]

I really can't recommend watching Coppola's director's commentary enough. It's illuminating.

- They were too short on funds to go to LA to shoot the LA exteriors, so Coppola got his buddy George Lucas (already in LA) to shoot some b-roll.
- The scene where Clemenza makes red gravy is so that people would at least get a good meal out of watching the movie
- The studio was nervous and wanted to fire Coppola, citing the badness of the first week of filming. That first week includes the wedding and Michael killing Solottzo.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:47 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

3/8/19: Fresh Air marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Puzo's novel by listening back to our '96 interview with Puzo, and our '16 interview with Coppola
posted by growabrain at 5:40 PM on March 8, 2019

Pacino, James Caan and Martin Sheen's screen test for Michael
posted by growabrain at 5:55 PM on March 8, 2019 [2 favorites]