A great Intro to The Godfather by AS Film Student Oliver

1. By
Oliver Nowell

2. Contents
Basic Information
Other Information
The Plot
Production
Filming
Music
Francis Ford Coppola
Albert S. Ruddy
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Games
FIN

3. Contents
Basic Information
Director – Francis Ford Coppola
Producer – Albert S. Ruddy
Screenplay – Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola
Based On – The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Main Stars – Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan & Richard S. Castellano
Music – Nino Rota & Carmine Coppola
Cinematographer – Gordon Willis
Editors – William H. Reynolds & Peter Zinner
Studio – Alfran Productions
Distributed by – Paramount Pictures
Release Date – March 15 1972
Run Time – 175 minutes
Budget - $6.5 million (approx. £4100000)
Box Office - $268,500,000 (approx. £170,000,000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

4. Contents
Other Information
 The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film
directed by Francis Ford Coppala and produced by
Albert S. Ruddy
 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
 The film was for a time the highest grossing movie
of all time, and remains the box office leader for
1972. It won three Oscars that year, one for best
picture, for best actor (Marlon Brando) and best
adapted screenplay for Puzo and Coppola.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

5. Contents
The Plot
Vito Corleone is the aging don (head) of the Corleone Mafia
Family. His youngest son Michael has returned from WWII just in
time to see the wedding of Connie Corleone (Michael's sister) to
Carlo Rizzi. All of Michael's family is involved with the Mafia, but
Michael just wants to live a normal life. Drug dealer Virgil Sollozzo
is looking for Mafia Families to offer him protection in exchange
for a profit of the drug money. He approaches Don Corleone about
it, but, much against the advice of the Don's lawyer Tom Hagen, the
Don is morally against the use of drugs, and turns down the offer.
This does not please Sollozzo, who has the Don shot down by some
of his hit men. The Don barely survives, which leads his son
Michael to begin a violent mob war against Sollozzo and tears the
Corleone family apart.
Written By TheElfstone
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/plotsummary

6. Contents
Production
Coppola was not Paramount Pictures' first choice to direct ‘The Godfather’. Italian director Sergio Leone was
offered the job first but he declined in order to direct his own gangster film, ‘Once Upon A Time In
America’, which focused on Jewish-American gangsters. Peter Bogdanovic was then approached but he also
declined the offer and made ‘What’s Up Doc?’ instead. According to Robert Evans (head of Paramount at the
time), Coppola initially did not want to direct the film because he feared it would glorify the Mafia and
violence, which would reflect poorly on his Sicilian and Italian heritage. On the other hand, Evans specifically
wanted an Italian-American to direct the film because his research had shown that previous films about the
Mafia that were directed by non-Italians had not been that successful at the box office and he wanted to, in his
own words, "smell the spaghetti".
There was intense friction between Coppola and Paramount, and several times Coppola was almost replaced (as
early as the first week). Coppola was nearly fired when Pacino was badly injured, delaying production.
Paramount maintains that its scepticism was due to a rocky start to production, though Coppola believes that the
first week went extremely well. The studio thought that Coppola failed to stay on schedule, frequently making
production and casting errors!
Paramount was in financial trouble at the time of production and was desperate for a "big hit" to boost
business, hence the pressure Coppola faced during filming. They 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 film was originally budgeted for $2 million, and was scripted as a modern adaptation. However, when
Coppola got his hands on the script, he was adamant that it be set in the same time period as the book, from 1945
to 1955.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

7. Contents
Filming
Most of the filming took place from March 29, 1971 to August 6, 1971, although a scene with
Pacino and Keaton was shot in the autumn. There were a total of 77 days of shooting, even though
the production had budgeted for 83 days of shooting.
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. This move which lasts for about
three minutes was shot with a computer-controlled zoom lens designed by Tony Karp.
Sonny's death scene was inspired by
the 1967 film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’. 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 including this scene in the film).
Coppola later stated that the horse's head was delivered to him from a dog food company and that
the horse had not been killed specifically for the movie. According to John Marley (who played
Jack Woltz), his scream of horror was real as he was not informed that a real head was going to be
used.
The most complicated shooting was the death of Sonny Corleone at the toll plaza. Inspired by the
final scene in Bonnie and Clyde, James Caan's suit was rigged with 127 squibs of fake blood that
exploded in a simulation of machine-gun hits (top left picture).
The scene in which Don Barzini is assassinated was filmed on the steps of the New York State
Supreme Court building on Foley Square in Manhattan, New York City.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

8. Contents
Music
The film's famous score was composed by Nino Rota. Francis Coppola's father Carmine Coppola contributed to the music performed in the
film's wedding scene. Later, his son would call on him to compose additional music for the score of ‘The Godfather Part II’ (1974) and most of
the score for ‘The Godfather Part III’ (1990).
Track List
"Mall Wedding Sequence"
(1972)
"I Have But One Heart"
(1945)
"Luna mezz' 'o mare"
(aka"Che La Luna")
"Manhattan Serenade"
(1928)
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
(1944)
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
(1934)
"The Bells of St. Mary's"
(1971)
"All Of My Life"
(1944)
"Mona Lisa"
(1950)
"Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor"
(1706? - 1713?)
"Non so più"
(1786)
"Brindisi (Libiamo ne' lieti calici)"
(1853)
"This Loneliness"
(1972)
"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

9. Contents
Francis Ford Coppola
Born – April 7 1939, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Nationality – American
Occupation – Film Director, Producer & Screenwriter
Spouse – Eleanor Jessie Neil
Children – Sofia, Roman & Gian-Carlo Coppola
Parents – Carmine Coppola & Coppola Italia
Other Family – Nicholas Cage (Nephew)
Career:
 Patton (1970) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ford_Coppola
 The Godfather (1972)
 The Conversation (1974)
 The Godfather Part II (1974)
 Apocalypse Now (1979)
 One from the Heart (1982)
 Hammett (1982)
 The Outsiders (1983)
 Rumble Fish (1983)
 The Cotton Club (1984)
 Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
 Gardens of Stone (1987)
 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
 New York Stories (1989)
 The Godfather Part III (1990)
 And many more…

10. Contents
Albert S. Ruddy
Albert S. Ruddy is a Canadian-born producer. Ruddy was born March 28, 1930 in Montreal
and raised in New York City with his mother. Ruddy attended Brooklyn Technical High
School before earning a scholarship to allow him to study chemical engineering at City
College of New York. He graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of
Southern California and then he worked in the construction industry on the East Coast.
Awards
 Won: 1973 Academy Award for Best Picture The Godfather
Clint Eastwood presented Ruddy with the Best Picture Oscar for The Godfather. Over
30 years later, Eastwood and Ruddy would share Best Picture Oscars as producers of
Million Dollar Baby.
 Nomination: 1983 Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture Megaforce
 Nomination: 1985 Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Picture Cannonball Run II
 Nomination: 1985 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay Cannonball Run II
(with Hal Needham, Harvey Miller)
 Won: 2005 Academy Award for Best Picture Million Dollar Baby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_S._Ruddy

11. Contents
The Godfather Part II
The film was released in 1974 to great critical acclaim, some even deeming it superior to the
original. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Its six Oscars included Best Director
for Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for De Niro and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and
Puzo. Pacino won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor and received a nomination for the Academy
Award for Best Actor.
Like its predecessor, the sequel remains a highly influential film in the gangster genre. It was
ranked as the thirty-second greatest film in American cinematic history by the American Film
Institute in 1997 and it kept its rank 10 years later. It was selected for preservation in the United
States National Film Registry in 1993.
A sequel, The Godfather Part III, was released 16 years later in 1990
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_Part_II

12. Contents
The Godfather Part III
The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime film written by Mario
Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. It completes
the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who tries to legitimize
his criminal empire. The movie also weaves into its plot a fictionalized
account of real-life events—the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the
Papal banking scandal of 1981–1982—and links them with each other
and with the affairs of Michael Corleone. The film stars Al Pacino,
Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy Garcia, and features Eli Wallach,
Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, and Sofia Coppola.
Coppola and Puzo originally wanted the title to be The Death of
Michael Corleone. However, Paramount Pictures would not accept that
title. Coppola states that The Godfather series is in fact two films, and
Part III is the epilogue. Part III received mixed to positive reviews,
grossed $136,766,062 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_Part_III

13. Contents
The Godfather Games
Paramount Pictures converged with EA (Electronic Arts) to create two games linked with
‘The Godfather Part I & II’.
‘The Godfather’ The Game is an action/adventure game developed and published by
Electronic Arts. It is the first video game in the Godfather series and based upon the 1972
film. Originally released in March 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft
Windows, The Godfather has since been released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
A smaller variant of the game has also been published for the PSP (PlayStation Portable).
The game is notable in that it features the return of several actors from the original film to
voice characters within the game. The participating actors are James Caan as Sonny
Corleon, Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, John Martino as Paulie Gatto, and Abe Vigoda as
Salvatore Tessio
The Godfather II is a 2009 video game based on The Godfather Part II. The game is
published by Electronic Arts and was released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and
Microsoft Windows. This is also a sequel to The Godfather: The Game, which was also
developed and published by EA in 2006. The game was released on April 7, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather:_The_Game

14. FIN